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LIBRARY 

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OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

iphen  Collins  Donation 

\ 

BR  520  .M38  1853  v.l  c.l 
Mather,  Cotton,  1663-1728. 
Magnalia  Christi  americana 

V,  1 

Co^^  I 


MAGMLIA  CHRISTI  AMERICANA; 


OR, 


C|e  icdesiastkal  pistoii  flf  |ldu-#iigljtit^; 


FROM  ITS  FIRST  PLANTING,  IN  THE  TEAR  1620,  UNTO  THE  TEAR  OF  OUR  LORD  1698. 


IN      SEVEN      BOOKS. 


BY    COTTON  'MATHER,    D.  D.,    F.  R.  S., 

AND  PASTOR  OF  THE  NORTH   CHURCH   IN  BOSTON,  NEW-ENGLAND. 


AN  INTRODUCTION  AND  OCCASIONAL  NOTES, 

BY    THE    REV.    THOMAS    ROBBINS,    D.   D. 

AND 

TRANSLATIONS  OF  THE  HEBREW,  GREEK,  AND  LATIN  QUOTATIUiNS, 

BY    LUCIUS    F.    ROBINSON,    LL.    B. 
TO    WHICH    IS    ADDED,  > 

A    MEMOIR    OF    C  0  T  T  0  N    M  AT  H  E  R, 

BY  SAMUEL  G.  DEAKE,  M.  A.; 


ALSO,  A  COMPREHENSIVE  INDEX,  BY  ANOTHER  HA\'9. 


IN    TWO   VOLUMES.  —  VOL.    I. 


HARTFORD: 

SILAS    ANDRUS    AND    SON. 

1855. 


EfJTERED,    ACCORDING    TO     ACT    OF    CONGRESS,     IN    THE    YEAR    1852,    BV 

^SILAS     AND  II  US     &     SON, 

IN    THE    CLERK'S     OmCE    OF    THE    DISTRICT    COURT    OF    CONNECTICUT. 


FOUNDRY   OF   SILAS   ANDRUS   AND   SON.  W.    S.  \VILI,.AMS,  PKa'TEn 

W.  C.  Armstrong,  Typographer.  hartford. 


ANTIQUITIES. 

THE     F  I  R  S  T     B  0  OK  . 


OF 


THE   NEW-ENGLISH   HISTORY: 


REPORTING 


THE  DESIGN  WHERE-OiV,  ^  C  THE  SEVERAL  COLONIES 
THE  MANNER  WHERE-/iV,  [  ]  OF  NEW-ENGLAND  WERE 
AND  PEOPLE  WHERE-^F,   )    (  PLANTED. 


A  NARRATIVE  OF  MANY  MEMORABLE  PASSAGES 


RELATING    TO 


THE    SETTLEMENT    OF    THESE    PLANTATIONS, 

AND 

AN  ECCLESIASTICAL  MAP  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

BY  THE   ENDEAVOUR   OF 

COTTON     MATHER. 


TAJ^T^    MOLIS    ERAT,    PRO    CHRISTO     C  O  JV  D  E  R  E    O  EJVTEM. 
[SO    MIGHTY   WAS    THE    WORK    TO    FOUND    CHRIST'S    EMPIRE    HERE.] 


HARTFORD: 

SILAS    ANDRUS    &    SON. 
1855, 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


The  Publisher  of  this  second  Edition  of  Dr.  Mather's  Magnalia,  has  long  been  sensible 
of  the  great  demand  for  the  Work,  both  by  literary  men  and  all  others  who  wish  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  early  history  of  our  country.  The  first  Edition  was  published  in  London 
in  the  year  1702,  in  a  Folio  Volume  of  788  pages.  A  considerable  number  of  Copies  were 
soon  brought  into  New-England;  yet,  as  many  of  these  are  lost,  and  the  work  is  not  to  be 
obtained  in  England  but  with  difficulty,  it  has  become  very  scarce.  In  some  instances  it  has 
been  sold  at  a  great  price,  but,  in  most  cases,  those  who  have  been  desirous  to  possess,  or 
even  to  read  the  volume,  have  been  unable  to  procure  it. 

The  Magnalia  is  a  standard  work  with  American  Historians,  and  must  ever  continue  to  be 
such,  especially,  respecting  the  affairs  of  New-England.  To  this  portion  of  our  country, 
always  distinguished  for  emigrations,  a  great  part  of  the  population  of  New-York,  the 
most  important  state  in  the  American  confederacy,  and  of  all  the  western  states  north  of  the 
Ohio,  will  always  trace  their  origin.  Nor  will  the  lapse  of  ages,  diminish  their  respect  for 
the  land  of  their  forefiithers. 

The  work  now  presented  to  the  American  public  contains  the  history  of  the  Fathers  of 
New-England,  for  about  eighty  years,  in  the  most  authentic  form.  No  man  since  Dr.  Mather's 
time,  has  had  so  good  an  opportunity  as  he  enjoyed  to  consult  the  most  authentic  documents. 
The  greater  part  of  his  facts  could  be  attested  by  living  witnesses  and  the  shortest  tradition, 
or  taken  from  written  testimonies,, many  of  which  have  since  perished.  The  situation  and 
character  of  the  author  afforded  him  the  most  favourable  opportunities  to  obtain  the  docu- 
ments necessary  for  his  undertaking.  And  no  historian  would  pursue  a  similar  design 
with  greater  industry  and  zeal. 

The  author  has  been  accused  of  credulity.  This  charge,  however,  will  not  be  advanced 
with  confidence  by  those  well  acquainted  with  the  character  of  the  times  of  which  he  treats. 
The  great  object  of  the  first  Planters  of  New-England  wa^  to  form  A  Christian  Common- 
wealth— a  design  without  a  parallel  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  The  judicious  reader 
would  expect  to  discover,  in  the  annals  of  such  a  people,  characters  and  events  not  to  be  found 
in  the  history  of  other  communities. — The  geography  and  natural  history  of  the  country  were 
not  the  principal  objects  of  the  author's  attention,  and,  on  these  subjects,  he  has  fallen  into 
some  mistakes. 

The  work  is  both  a  civil  and  an  ecclesiastical  history. — The  large  portion  of  it  devoted  to 
Biography,  affords  the  reader  a  more  distinct  view  of  the  leading  cliaracters  of  the  times, 
than  could  have  been  given  in  any  other  form. 

The  author's  language  is  peculiarly  his  own.  In  the  rapidity  of  his  manner,  he  could 
pay  but  little  attention  to  his  style.     Such  as  it  is,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  retain  it,  in 


vi  PREFACES. 

this  Edition,  as  well  as  his  orthography,  unaltered.*  The  Titles  of  D.  D.  and  F.  R.  S.  were 
given  to  Dr.  Mather  after  the  publieation  of  this  work,  and  are  now  annexed  to  his  name  in 
the  title-page. 

IMany  omissions  in  the  original  worli  have  been  recommended,  buttlie  publisher  concludes 
to  retain  the  whole. — He  is  sensible  of  the  risk  of  publisliing  so  large  a  work,  at  the  present 
time.  But  relying  on  the  utility  of  the  object,  he  entertains  a  hope  th.at  the  liberality  of  the 
public  will  save  him  from  loss. 

T.   R. 

Hartford,  Connecticut,  Jane  \st,  1820. 


PREFACE    TO    THE    PRESENT    EDITION. 

When  I  encouraged  Mr.  Andrus,  some  thirty  years  since,  to  republish  the  Venerable 
Magnalia,  it  was  supposed  that  few  copies  would  be  sold.  A  small  part  of  the  community, 
even,  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  work.  It  was  first  printed  in  England,  in  1702.  The 
most  of  the  second  edition  was  soon  disposed  of,  and  for  some  years  past  has  been  scarce. 
The  demand  for  the  work  is  now  increasing.  The  History  of  New-England  cannot  be 
written  without  this  authority.  It  is  equally  important  in  the  department  of  Biography  and 
History,  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical.  It  is  stated,  in  the  Preface  before  us,  that  "  The  great 
object  of  the  first  Planters  of  New-England  was  to  form  A  Christian  Commonwealth." 
That  is  finely  suggested  by  the  Author,  in  the  elegant  quotation  from  the  great  Latin  Poet, 
with  a  small  variation,  "  Tanttc  Molis  erat,  pro  Christo  condere  Gentem.''''  And  now  we  may 
say,  by  the  favour  of  Heaven,  the  work  is  done.  The  world  looks  with  amazement  on  a 
great  Country,  united  in  one  territory,  more  extensive  than  Rome,  a  great  population  in 
rapid  increase,  all  looking  for  Salvation  in  the  name  of  the  Divine  Nazarene. 

THOMAS   ROBBINS. 

Hartford,  June  \st,  1852. 

*  It  will  be  perceived  that  there  Is  not  by  any  means  a  uniformity  in  the  orthography  of  this  edition ;  bnt 
wlictlier  the  discrepjincies  are  attributable  to  the  author  or  to  the  former  printers,  it  is  impossible  now  to  deter-- 
wiiie.  Except  where  palpable  errors  had  been  overlooked,  the  copy  of  the  last  edition  has  been  strictly  followed 
in  regard  to  orthogi'aphy,  although  maiiy  material  deviations  have  been  made  in  the  typography.  Quotation  marks 
liave  been  introduced,  in  lieu  of  putting  the  numerous  quotations  in  italic,  to  correspond  with  the  antique  style ; 
and  a  difiference  has  been  made  in  the  type  for  the  original  text  and  that  for  the  documentary  portion  and  extracts ; 
ihejeby  so  distinctly  marking  each,  that  they  cannot  be  easily  confounded. — Typooraphkr. 


GEIERAL  CONTENTS  OF  THE  SEVERAL  BOOKS. 


VOLUME    I. 

BOOK   I. 

ANTIQUITIES. — IN  SEVEN  CHAPTERS. — ^WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 

BOOK    II. 
CONTAINING    THE  LIVES  OF  THE  GOVERNORS  AND  NAMES  OF  THE  MAGISTRATES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND 
IN  THIRTEEN  CHAPTERS. WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 

BOOK     III. 
THE  LIVES  OF  SIXTY  FAMOUS  DIVINES,  BY  WHOSE   MINISTRY  THE   CHURCHES  OF   NEW-ENGLAND 
HAVE  BEEN  PLANTED  AND  CONTINUED. 


VOLUME    II. 

BOOK   IV. 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAMBRIDGE  IN  NEW-ENGLAND — IN  TWO  PARTS.  FART  I. 
CONTAINS  THE  LAWS,  THE  BENEFACTORS,  AND  VICISSITUDES  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE,  WITH 
REMARKS  UPON  IT.      PART  II.  THE  LIVES  OF  SOME  EMINENT  PERSONS  EDUCATED  IN  IT. 

BOOK     V. 
ACTS  AND  MONUMENTS  OF  THE  FAITH  AND  ORDER  IN  THE   CHURCHES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND,  PASSED 
IN  THEIR  synods;   WITH  HISTORICAL  REMARKS  UPON  THOSE  VENERABLE  ASSEMBLIES,  AND 
A  GREAT  VARIETY  OF  CHURCH-CASES  OCCURRING  AND  RESOLVED  BY  THE  SYNODS  OF  THOSE 
CHURCHES. — IN  FOUR  PARTS. 

BOOK    VI. 
A  FAITHFUL  RECORD  OF  MANY  ILLUSTRIOUS,  WONDERFUL  PROVIDENCES,  BOTH  OF  MERCIES  AND 
JUDGMENTS  ON  DIVERS  PERSONS  IN  NEW-ENGLAND. IN  EIGHT  CHAPTERS. 

BOOK  VII. 
THE  WARS  OF  THE  LORD BEING  AN  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANIFOLD  AFFLICTIONS  AND  DIS- 
TURBANCES OF  THE  CHURCHES  IN  NEW-ENGLAND,  FROM  THEIR  VARIOUS  ADVERSARIES,  AND 
THE  WONDERFUL  METHODS  AND  MERCIES  OF  GOD  IN  THEIR  DELIVERANCE.  IN  SIX  CHAP- 
TERS. TO  WHICH  IS  SUBJOINED,  AN  APPENDIX  OF  REMARKABLE  OCCURRENCES  WHICH 
NEW-ENGLAND  HAD  IN  THE  WARS  WITH  THE  INDIAN  SALVAGES,  FROM  THE  YEAR  1688  TO 
THE  YEAR  1698. 


f> 


HC  ■  <-/ 


INDEX. 


[WHEN  NO  VOLUME  IS  DESIGNATED,  THE   REFERENCES  ARE  TO  THE  PIRST  YOLUMK] 


A.  PAGE 

Abenquid,  sagamore,  treacherously  killed  by  Cap- 
tain Chub  at  Peraaquid,  vol.  ii G32 

Adams,  Eliphalet,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  32;  minister  of  Litlle 

Compton,  i 87 

Adams,  Hugh,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Adams,  Mrs.  barbarously  murdered  at  Pemaquid,  ii.  627 

Adams,  Thomas,  67;  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Adams,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Adderly,  Sam'l,  original  patentee  of  Massachusetts,    67 

Addington,  Isaac,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Agamcus,  or  Great  Tom,  Ind.  escapes  his  keepers,  ii.  608 
Ahanquil,  of  Penobscot,  signs  agreem't  of  peace,  ii.  620 

Alcock,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Alcock,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Alcock,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Alden,  Mr.  a  prisoner  in  Canada,  ii 360 

Alden,  Zacharias,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Alexander,  son  of  Massasoit,  ii 5.58 

Allen,  Jac(jb,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 32 

Allen,  James,  min.  of  Old  South  Churcli,  Boston,  87,  237 
Allen,  Thomas,  min.  of  Charlestown,  i.  235 ;  returns 

to  England,  588 ;  epitaph, 589 

Allin,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  30 ;  minister  of  Dedham,  235 ; 
birth,  461 ;  theological  character  and  position  at 

Dedham,  462;  death,  ib.;  epitaph, 463 

Allin,  Daniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Ailing,  Jacob,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

AUyn,  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut,  ii 162 

Allyn,  Matthew,  mag.  of  Connecticut,  ii 162 

AUerton,  Isaac,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Ambrose,  Josua,  gr.  h.  o.  ii 30 

Ambrose,  Nehemiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

America,  Columbina  the  just  name  for,  41 ;  Abori- 
gines of,  44 ;  Prophecies  of  the  Church  in, 70 

Ames,  Dr.  his  coui'se  at  Leyden 47 

Ames,  William,  diverted  from  emigrating  to  N.  E. 

236 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Andrew,  .leremiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Andrew,  Lieut,  pursues  Inds.  from  Quocheco,  ii.. .  605 

Andrew,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  sends  a  force  to  quell  Indians 
at  Falmouth,  ii.  584 ;  orders  an  army  against  them,  588 

Angier,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Angier,  Sam'l,  min.  of  Watenown,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    31 
Aosoowe,  Abel,  an  elder  of  Indian  Church  at  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  ii 443 

Apparitions:  of  a  ship, 84 

Appleton,  Maj.  aids  in  destroying  Indians  at  Spring- 
field, ii.  .565;  at  Narraganselt,  567;  sends  aid  to 
Glocester  on  the  strange  alarms  there, 622 


PAOB 

Aristotle,  speculations  on  the  philosophy  of,  ii 21 

Armitage,  Manasseh,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Arnold, ,  minister  of  Rochester, 87 

Arnold,  Samuel,  minister  of  Marshfield, 237 

Ashurst,  Sir  Henry,  a  benefactor  to  h.  c.  ii 11 

Assacombuit,  bloody  women  and  children-killer,  ii.  643 

Astwood, ,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Atherton,  Capt.  personally  threatens  Ninigret,  the 

Indian  sachem,  ii 558 

Atherton,  Humphrey,  ass't  mag.  142;  maj.  gen.. . .  142 

Atherton,  Serantus,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Atkinson,  Nathaniel,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

Atkinson,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Atwood,  John,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Avery,  John,  minister  of  Marblehead,  234;  voyage 

thither  and  death  by  shipwreck,  367;  epitaph,.. .  368 
Awansomeck,  sag.  signs  agreement  for  peace,  ii. . .  626 

B. 

Baccalaureus,  origin  of,  ii 13 

Bacon, ,  his  remarkable  premonitions  and  ful- 
filment, ii 468 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Bagatawawango,a/Mis  Sheepscoat  John,  signs  agree- 
ment for  peace,  i  i 626 

Bailey,  Jacob,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Bailey,  John,  min.  of  Watertown,  237 ;  incidents  of 
his  life,  603 ;  theological  character,  604 ;  author- 
ship, 619;  religious  experience,  621;  death, 626 

Bailey,  Thomas,  minister  of  Watertown, 237 

Baily,  John,  remarkable  death  of  his  wife,  ii 470 

Baker,  Nicholas,  his  private  education,  594;  excels 

as  an  arithmetician, 594 

Baker,  [Sir  Richard,]  often  mistaken, 31 

Baker,  Thomas,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Ballentine,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Bancroft,  Capt.  saves  the  garrison  at  Exeter,  ii....  605 

Band,  Robert,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Bapson,  Ebenezer,  his  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii.  621 
Barnard,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 ;  minister  of  Pem- 
aquid, narrowly  escapes  the  Indians,  ii 639 

Barnard,  Tobias,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Barnet,  Thomas,  minister  of  New  London, 237 

Barrows  Family,  cut  olTby  Indians,  ii 587 

Batty,  John,  his  escape  from  Spaniards,  ii 351 

Baxter,  Joseph,  min.  of  Medfield,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.. .     32 
Baxter,  Richard,  letter  to  Eliot,  583 ;  benefactor  to 

H.  c.  ii 11 

Beers,  Capt.  sent  to  subdue  the  Indi.Tns,  ii 564 

Beggars,  their  scarcity  in  New  England, 103 

Belcher,  Joseph,  rain,  of  Dedham,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. .     32 


xu 


INDEX. 


Belcher,  Sam'l,  min.  of  \V.  Newbiiry,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    31 

Bflltiighum,  Jdhn,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Bellinghiini,  Kichuid,  an  original  grantee  of  Massa- 
chusetts, 07  ;  govtirnor  of  Mass 137 

Belllngham,  Sannu'l,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Benuct,  Andrew,  wonderfully  preserved  at  sea,  ii..  348 

Berry,  Thomas,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Bethel,  Sliiigsby,  "  Interest  of  Europe," 89 

Bickford,  Thomas,  his  bravery, C27 

Hillings,  Ilicliard,  gr.  ii   c.  ii 32 

Bishop,  James,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Bishops  of  England,  commended  and  reproved,...  Sol 
Blackman,  Adam,  min.  of  Stratford,  235;  of  Mil- 
ford,  39C ;  his  plain  preaching,  397 ;  Melancthon's 

Epitaph  by  Beza,  applicable  to, 397 

Blackman,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Blackman,  Capt.  seizes  on  the  Indians  at  Saco,  ii. .  584 

Blackmore,  Dr.  Richard,  his  epic  poem, 65 

Blackstoiie,  William,  an  episcopalian, 2-13 

Blinman,  Richard,  min.  of  Glocester,  235;  returns 

to  England, 585 

Blowers,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Bomaseen,  sagamore,  signs  treaty  of  peace,  ii 626 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  disputed  about, 72 

Boston,  Old,  [St.  Botolph's  town,] 94 

Boston,  metropolis  of  the  whole  P'nglish  America, 
15;  N.  E.  Church  gathered  at,  79;  chief  town  of 
N.  England,  90 ;  called  "  Lost-town,"  91 ;  ten  fires 
in,  92;  highly  favoured  of  Heaven,  95;  guarded 
by  angels,  96 ;  its  widows  helped,  97 ;  its  drinking 
and  disreputable  houses,  100;  idleness  in  reprov- 
ed, 102;  fire  at,  104;  Dr.  John  Owen  prevented 

from  visiting, 245 

Bowers,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 ;  minister  of  Rye,  i.. .     88 

Bowles,  John,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Bracket,  Anthony,  escapes  from  the  Indians,  ii.  609 ; 

killed  at  Casco,  593 ;  services  against  Indians,. . .  637 
Bradford,  Maj.  aids  in  the  great  battle  with  the  Nar- 

ragansetts,  ii.  569;  subsequent  fight  with  Inds.. .  574 
Bradford,  William,  gov.  of  Plymouth,  his  life,  ii.  109 ; 
adventure  in  a  Dutch  ship,  ib. ;  his  mastership  of 
languages,  113;  his  temper  and  government,  ib.; 

epitaph, 114 

Bradstreet,  Dudley,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  32;  his  escape  from 

Indians  atPemaquid, 639 

Bradstreet,  Madam  Ann  (Dudley), 135 

Bradstreet,  Samuel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Bradstreet,  Simon,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Bradstreet,  Simon,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Brainford,  Connecticut,  planted, 83 

Brasile,  attempts  to  settle, 39 

Brattle,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Brattle,  William,  tutor  and  temporary  governor  of 

H.  c.  ii.  19;  gr.  II.  c.  31;  rain,  of  Cambridge,  i.. .     87 
Brattlebank,  Captain  ;  his  slaughter  of  Indians,  and 

death,  ii 571 

Brecy,  Brucy,  min.  of  Brainford,  235  ;  rel'ns  to  Eng.  588 

Brewster,  Nathaniel,  er.  h.  c,  ii 30 

Brewster,  William,  his  aid  at  Leyden,  47;  elder  of 

the  chinch, 63 

Bridges,  Rcibert,  ass't  mag.  of  Massachusetts 141 

bridghani,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Brigdon,  Zacbariah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Brinsmead,  William,  min.  of  Marlborough,  87 ;  ii..     28 
Brock,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30;  born  at  Stradbrook, 
SufT,  35 ;  min.  of  Reading,  36 ;  prayers  answered,    38 

Bronsdon,  Robert,  favourai)le  mention  of,  ii 480 

Brown,  Capt.  pursues  the  Indians  at  Lancaster,  ii..  039 


Brown,  Edmund,  min.  of  Sudbury, 235 

Brown,  James,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth.  117  ;  min- 
ister of  Swansey, 237 

Brown,  John,  67  ;  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Brown,  John,  strange  sight  at  Glocester,  ii 621 

Brown,  John,  his  family  captured  by  Indians, 632 

Brown,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Brown,  Richard,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Brown,  Samuel, 67 

Brown,  William,  ass't  mag 141 

Brown,  Alexander,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Buckingham,  Stephen,  minister  of  Norwalk,  88  ; 
H.  c.  ii 


gr- 


32 


Buckingham,  Thomas,  minister  of  Hartford,  88;  of 

Saybrook,  ib. ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Bulkley,  Gershom,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Bulkley,  John,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Bulkley,  Peter,  min.  of  Concord,  235,  237;  his  ori- 
gin in  Bedfordshire,  family,  and  education,  400; 
nonconformity,  ib.;  discord  with  ruling  elders  at 
Concord,  402;  family,  403;  death  and  epitaph,..  404 

Bulkley,  Peter,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Bunker,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Burden,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Burgis,  William,  secretary, 142 

Burniff,  Mons.  gen.  of  the  French  at  Wells  fight,  ii.  614 
Burr,  Jonathan,  his  birth  and  education,  3C8 ;  pious 
habits  of  life,  370;  min.  of  Dorchester,  372;  his 
modest  vow  to  the  service  of  God,  373 ;  approv- 
ed by  Mr.  Hooker,  374;  death  and  epitaph,  .375; 

gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Burr,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Burroughs,  George,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

Bussie  family,  cut  off  by  Indians,  ii 587 

Butler,  Henry,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 


Cabots,  early  discoveries  of  the, 43 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  favours  Puritans, 49 

Cape  Ann,  attempts  to  settle, 66 

Cape  Cod,  origin  of  the  name  of, 44 

Capen,  Joseph,  min.  of  Topsfleld,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. .     31 

Carter,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Carter,  Thomas,  minister  of  Woborn, 237 

Carver,  John,  chosen  governor, 52 

Case,  Tom,  prodigies  of,  among  the  Quakers,  ii.. . .  528 
Casteen,  Mons.  and  cause  of  Ind.  wars  in  Maine,  ii.  586 

Catechisms,  publishers  of,  in  New  England,  ii 179 

Catharine  de  Medicis,  queen  of  France,  139;  her 

magician's  prophetical  exhibition, 139 

Catter,  Mary, remaikably  preserved  from  famine  at 

Casco,  ii 643 

Chapman,  Robert,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Chase,  Barnabas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Chase,  Charles,  pres.  h.  c.  ii.  14;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Chase,  Elnalhan,  gr.  h.  r.  ii 31 

Chase,  Ichabod,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Chase,  Isaac,  gr.  «.  c.  ii 33 

Chase,  Isaac,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 30 

Chase,  Israel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Chase,  Nathaniel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Chauncy,  Chai  les,  min.  of  Fairfield,  88 ;  of  Scituate, 
235;  birth  in  flartfordshire,  464;  scholarship  and 
preaching,  405;  persecution,  and  his  course,  466; 
parliamentary  complaints  against,  467;  president 
of  H.  c.  408;  religious  habits  and  belief  from  his 
diary,  471 ;  his  course  as  president  of  ii.  c.  472; 
theological  cautions,  473 ;  epitaph, 476 


INDEX. 


Xlll 


Chauncey,  Israel,  minister  of  Fairfield, 88 

Cheeschauraiik,  Caleb,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Cheever,  Sarn'l,  min.  of  Maiblehead,  87;  gr.  h.  o.  ii.    31 

Cbeever,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii ' 31 

Chemical  speculations, 165 

Children,  instancts  of  numerous,  in  some  families,  517 
Chub,  Pasco,  commander  at  Fort  Peinaquid ;   his 
treachery  and  murder  of  Indian  chiefs,  ii.  C32 ; 
basely  surrenders  the  fort  to  French  and  Indians, 

633;  himself  and  wife  murdered  at  Andover, 639 

Church  covenant  adopted,  71 ;  church  at  Lyn  gath- 
ered, 79 ;  )eranants  of  popery  in  protcstant  ch'ch, 

76;  church  at  Roxbury  gathered, 79 

Church  discipline  in  New  England,  remarks  on,  ii,  237 
Church,  Capt.  his  severe  contest  with  the  Indians  at 
Pocasset,  ii.  562 ;  further  encounters  and  slaugh- 
ter, 574— 576;  ordered  to  Casco  Bay, 608 

Church,  John,  informs  of  Indians  at  Winnopisseag 

ponds,  ii.  590;  is  slain  by  Indians  at  Quocheco,. .  633 
Churches,  ecclesiastical  map  of,  80;  farewell  of  pil- 
grims to  English,  74;  at  East-Hampshire, 86 

Clap,  John,  his  remarkable  juvenile  piety,  ii 480 

Clap,  Nnthan'l,  min.  of  Newport,  K.  I.  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.     32 

Clark,  John,  min.  of  Exeter,  83;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Clark,  John,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Clark,  Lieut. ,  his  fight  with  Indians  at  Casco, 

and  death, 603 

Clark,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Clark,  Samuel,  his  account  of  evil  spirits  and  their 

doings  in  Sussex,  England,  ii 453 

Clark,  Thomas,  min.  of  Chelmsford,  87;  ass't  mag. 

141 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Clement,  Peter,  his  sufferings  at  sea,  and  preserva- 
tion, ii 351 

Clifton,  Mr.  Richard, 110 

Cobbet,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Cobbet,  Thomas,  min.  of  Lyn,  i!35;  birth  in  New- 
bury, England,  518;  accompanies  Mr.  Davenport 

to  New  England, 518 

Coddington,  William,  ass't  mag 141 

Colt,  Joseph,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Coligni,  Gasper,  his  attempt  to  settle  America, 39 

Collier,  William,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Columbina,  the  just  name  for  America, 41 

Confession  of  Faith  by  New  England  churches,  ii. .   182 

Connecticut,  magistrates  of, 162 

Convers,  Captain  James,  his  march  to  .Mbany  frus- 
trated, ii.  603 ;  his  proceedings  at  Wells,  613 ;  ma- 
jor, and  made  commissioner  to  the  Indians, 642 

Cole,  Ann,  her  troubles  with  a  witch,  ii 448 

Cole,  Thomas  and  family,  sluin  at  Wells,  ii 632 

Collins,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30;  death  and  epitaph,..   140 

Collins,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Collins,  Nathaniel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Colman,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Commenius,  J.  Amos,  solicited  to  the  presidency  of 

Harvard  college,  ii 14 

Cook,  Elisha,  ass't  mag.  of  Massachusetts, 141 


Cooke,  Elisha,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Cooke,  Elisha,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Cooke,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Cooke,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Cotton,  John,  rain,  of  Plymouth,  87;  of  Hampton, 
8b;  of  Boston,  235;  his  eminence,  246;  his  con- 
uection  with  the  prosperity  of  Boston,  253 ;  parent- 
age, ib. ;  early  education,  254  ;  ministry  at  Boston, 
England,  257 ;  first  marriage,  258 ;  second  mar- 
riage, 262  ;  his  persecution  in  England,  264 ;  is  at 
Boston,  New  England,  265 ;  dissensions  in  his 


church,  267;  Dr.  Iloorn  beck's  imcharitbale  charges 
against  his  theology,  268  ;  his  readings  and  scrip- 
tural researches,  270 ;  his  last  sermon,  271 ;  death, 
and  numerous  eulogies  thereon,  273  ;  character, 
277 ;  habits  of  life,  278  ;  proverbial  charities,  279  ; 
description  of  his  person,  280 ;  his  treatises  and 
published  discourses,  281 ;  advice  to  the  factitious 
petitioners  to  parliament,  283 ;  descendants,  285 ; 

epitaph, ojJ-i 

Cotton,  Rowland,  minister  of  Sandwich,  87;  letter 

from,  ii.  439;  gr.  H.  c.  ii 3) 

Cotton,  Rowland,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Corquillerius,  an  early  Protestant, 39 

Cosmore,  Mr.  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Cowlson,  Christopher,  ass't  mag 141 

Craddock,  Matthew,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,. .   141 

Crane,  Jasper,  mag.  of  Connecticut, IG 

Cretchet,  Charles,  his  sufferings  at  sea,  and  preser-  ■ 

vation,  ii 351 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  prevented   from   emigrating  to 

A  merica, 79 

Crosby,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 3(1 

Cudworth,  Capt.  his  success  against  the  Indians  at 

Swanzey,  ii 502 

Cudworth,  James,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Cullick,  John,  mag.  of  Conn.,  162;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Curtis,  Winlock,  his  troubles  with  spirits,  or  unseen 

agencies  at  sea,  ii.  465  ;  death, 465 

Gushing,  Caleb,  min.  of  Salisbury,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. .  32 
Cushine,  Jeremiah,  min.  of  Scituate,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    32 

Cutler,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Cutler,  Peter,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Cutt,  Mrs.  Ursula,  barbarously  murdered  by  Indians 
at  Piscatequa  river,  ii 627 

D. 

Daggel,  Capt.  Thomas,  his  facts  of  witchcraft,  ii. . .  426 

Dalton,  Timothy,  minister  of  Hampton, 235 

Danforth,  J.  his  pindaric  on  Mather,  21 ;  minister 

of  Dorchester, . .     S7 

Danforth,  Jonathan,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Danforth,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 ;  min.  of  Dorchester,  521 
Danforth,  Samuel,  min.  of  Taunton,  87;  gr.  h.  c. 

ii.  30;  family,  59;  colleague  with  Mr.  Eliot,  60; 

marriage,  62 ;  epitaph, 64 

Danforth,  Samuel,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Dare,  Ananias,  his  daughter  the  first  white  child 

born  in  Virginia, 44 

Darset,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Davenport,  Addington,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Davenport,  John,  min.  of  Stamford,  88;  birth  and 

parentage,  321 ;  goes  to  Holland,  324;  to  N.  Eng. 

and  min.  of  N.  Haven,  325  ;  removes  to  Boston, 

328 ;  death,  329 ;  published  works,  330 ;  epitaph, 

331 ;  gr.  H.  o.  ii 32 

Davenport,  Captain  Nathaniel,  in  Philip's  War,  ii. 

567 ;  killed  in  the  Narraganset  fight, 568 

Davie,  Edmund,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Davy,  Humphrey,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 131 

Davies,  William,  his  adventures  at  sea  with  unseen 

agencies,  ii 465 

Davis,  John,  gr.  11.  c.  ii 30 

Davis,  Major,  his  captivity,  ii 604 

Dawes,  Lieut,  in  the  Indian  war  of  1689,  ii 593 

Day,  Ezekiel,  his  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii 022 

Dean,  Francis,  min.  of  Andover, 237 

Delft-Haven,  embarkation  at, 49 

Delllus,  Godfrey,  Dutch  min.  at  Albany,  ii 431 

Denbam,  Mr.  min.  of  Martha's  Vineyard, 87 


xiv 


INDEX. 


Denison,  Daniel,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 ; 

major-general  of  Mass.,  142 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Denison,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  32;  with  his  company 

make  great  slaughter  of  Indians, 572 

Denifoii,  John,  err.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Denison,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Denton,  Richurd,  niiii.  of  Stamlurd,  Ct.  235;  previ- 
ously of  VVeuther.-ifleld,  3'J8 ;  his  system  of  divin- 
ity, and  epitaph, 399 

Dermer,  Mr.  restores  Squanto  the  Indian  to  his 

country, •')5 

Desborough,  Jolm,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Desborough,  Nicholas,   his  connection    with   evd 

spirits,  ii 452 

Devil,  peopled  America  by  sending  Indians 

into  it, 42 

Devil-worship,  13 ;  ii 522 

Devilism,  among  Quakers,  ii 528 

Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  a  benefaclor  of  H.  c.  ii 11 

Diodorus,  Siculus,  his  first  account  of  America,. . .     42 

Discovei-y  of  America,  speculations  on  the, 43 

Divorce,  ecclesiastical  rules  for,  ii 253 

Doddridge,  John,  a  benefactor  of  h.  c.  ii 11 

DoUiver,  Richard,  sees  stranfje  sights  at  Ghjcester,  ii.  622 

Done,  John,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Doney,  Robin,  sag.  signs  agreement  for  peace,  ii.. .  626 

Dorchester,  church  gathered  at, ., . . .     79 

Downing,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Downing's  daughter,  wonderful  escape  from  death 

at  Kittery,  ii 528 

Drake,  Sir  Francis, 43 

Driver,  Robert,  his  crime  and  execution,  ii 408 

Dudley,  Joseph,  his  government  in  New  England, 

139;  ass't  mag.  141 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Dudley,  Paul,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Dudley,  Thomas,  Esq.,  deputy  gov'r,  73;  his  birth 
and  parentage,  132 ;  commissioned  captain  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  132;  marriage,  133;  steward- 
ship with  the  earl  of  Lincoln,  ih.\  his  letter  to 
the  countess,  134;  death,  ib.;  his  daughter,  Mad. 
Ann  Bradstreet,  135;  epitaph,  ib.;  gr.  h.  c.  ii...     30 

Dudley,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Dummer,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 

Dummer,  Shubael,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30;  his  ministry  at 

York,  612;  death  by  Indians,  ti.;  epitaph, 613 

Dunen,  Jonathan,  a  Quaker,  his  conduct  at  Marsh- 
field,  ii 530 

Dunster,  Henry,  min.  at  Cambridge,  235;  president 
of  H.  c.  ii.  10 ;  i.  406 ;  revises  the  metrical  psalms, 

ib. ;  epitaph, 408 

Dustan,  Hannah,  captivity  and  heroic  exploit  of,  ii.  634 

Dutch,  their  profaneness  at  Leyden, 47 

Dutlen,  Wm.,  sufferings  at  sea,  and  deliverance,  ii.  347 
Dwight,  Josiah,  min.  of  Woodstock,  87;  gr.  n.  c.  ii.    32 
Dymmock,  Captain,  of  Barnstable,  slain  by  Indians 
at  Casco  Bay,  ii 638 

E. 

East,  David,  his  escape  from  Spaniards,  ii 351 

Eastabrook,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii... 32 

Eastabrook,  Joseph,  minister  of  Concord, 87 

Eaton,  Nathaniel,  his  connection  with  h.  o.  ii 10 

Eaton,  Samuel,  min.  of  N.  Haven,  235  ;   parentage 

in  Cheshire,  Enf?.,  585 ;  burial,  580 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii . .  30 
Eaton,  Theophilus,  plants  New  Haven,  83;  its  gov. 

ib. ;  ass't  mag.  N.  England,  141 ;  comes  with  Mr. 

Hopkins  to  New  England,  144 ;  favoured  by  the 

king  of  Denmark, 151 

Ebenezer,  [see  Boston,] 90 


Ecclesiastical  Map  of  Churches  in  N.  England,  80; 

changes  in  England, 239 

Edgeremett,  with  other  sagamores,  sign  a  treaty  of 
peace,  ii.  610;  his  fight  at  Wells,  614;  signs  an 
agreement  of  peace,  626 ;  treacherously  killed  by 

Chub, 632 

Edwards,  Timothy,  minister  of  Andover  Farms,  88 ; 

gr.  II.  c.  ii 32 

Eliot,  .'\bigail,  singular  preservation  of,  ii 356 

Eliot,  John,  minister  of  Roxbury,  235  ;  his  sons  in 
America,  241;  birth,  age,  and  family,  .529;  con- 
version and  removal  to  New  England,  530;  emi- 
nence for  piety,  531 ;  care  and  zeal  for  the  Lord's 
day,  535;  temperate  life,  538;  charity,  540;  spe- 
cial attainments,  542;  ministerial  accomplish- 
ments, 545;  family  government,  547;  attention  to 
children,  549;  church  discipline,  552;  evangelism, 
556;  success  with  the  Indians,  562;  his  Indian 
translation  of  the  Bible,  564;  latter  life  an<l  death, 
575;  Baxter's  letter  on  his  characler,  583;  gr.  u. 
c.  ii.  30 ;  his  preaching  refused  by  the  Wampan- 

oag  Indians,  to  their  destruction, 390 

Eliot,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Eliot,  Joseph,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Eliot,  Joseph,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Eliot,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

EUary,  Benjamin,  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii. . .  622 
Emerson,  John,  minister  of  Glocester  and  Manches- 
ter, 87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Emerson,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Emerson,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Emerson,  John,  death  by  Indians,  ii 590 

Encounter,  the  first  with  Indians, 53 

Endicot,  John,  original  grantee  of  Massachusetts, 
67;  governor,  137;  ass't  mag.  141;  maj.  gen.  of 
N.  England,  142;  birth-place  and  parentage,  1,50; 
suffering  by  sickness,  152;  death  and  epitaph,..   155 

Endicott,  Capt.  sent  against  the  sjivages, 000 

Epes,  Daniel,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Epes,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Epigram  on  the  Mathers, 17 

Esterbrook,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Esterbrook,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Esterbrook,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Eveleth,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Execution  of  W.  C.  ii.  408 ;  of  James  Morgan, 409 


Fairbanks,  Mary,  taken  captive  by  Indians,  ii 643 

Farnhani,  Capt.  slain  by  Indians  at  Pemaquid,  ii.. .  501 

Feavour,  Nicholas,  his  crime  and  execution, 408 

Fen,  Benjamin,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Festus,  a  divine  at  Leyden, 47 

Filer,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Finch,  Mons.  his  disaster  with  the  natives, 66 

Firmin,  Giles,  his  remarks  concerning  nonconform- 
ity, 427 ;  his  "  Real  Christian," 588 

Fisher,  Daniel,  a  magistrate, 141 

Fish,  John,  minister  of  Chelmsford,  235;  birth  and 
brothers,  477 ;  embarks  for  New  England  in  dis- 
guise, 478;  preaches  at  Salem,  ib.;  his  infirmi- 
ties, 479;  death  and  epitaph, 480 

Fiske,  Moses,  min.  of  Braintree,  87;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii. . .     31 

Fitch,  Jabez,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 32 

Fitch,  James,  min.  of  Norwich,  Ct.,  88,  237 ;  mag. .  163 

Flag,  Lieut,  slain  by  Indians,  ii 607 

Flint,  Henry,  min.  of  Braintree,  234;  names  of  his 

twin,  443;  epitaph, 443 

Flint,  Thomas,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 


INDEX. 


XV 


FAQB 

Fly nt,  Henry,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Flynt,  Josiah,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Floyd,  Capt.  his  fight  with  Indians  at  Wheelwright'8 

pond,  ii.  607 ;  at  Wells, 613 

Fordham,  Jonah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Fordham,  Robert,  min.  of  Southampton,  L.  1 235 

Fortune-tellers,  at  Port  Royal,  Jamaica, 99 

Foster,  Isaac,  gi'.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Foster,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 ;  his  doings  favourably 

mentioned, 489 

Fox,  Jabez,  min.  of  Woburn,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Fox,  John,  Martyrologist, 26 

Fox,  John,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Foxcroft,  George,  67 ;    ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Freeman,  Edmund,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Freeman,  John,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Frobisher,  Martin,  an  early  navigator  to  America,.  44 

Frost,  Major,  Charles,  shot  by  Inds.  at  Berwick,  ii.  637 
Fuller,  Capt.  his  severe  contest  with  the  Indians  at 

Pocasset,  ii 562 

Fuller,  Nicholas,  his  name  for  America, 41 

Fuller,  Dr.  Thomas,  often  mistaken, 31 

G. 

Gale,  Theophilus,  a  benefactor  to  h.  c.  ii 11 

Gallop, ,  killed  at  Narragansett  fight,  ii 568 

Gardner,  Andrew,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Gardner,  John,  his  letter  from  Nantucket  on  the  In- 
dians, ii 432 

Gardner,  Joseph,  Captain  in  Philip's  war,  ii.  567 ; 

killed  in  Narragansett  fight, 568 

Garner,  Capt.  his  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  ii 593 

Oendal,  Capt.  surprised  by  the  Indians,  ii 586 

Gerish,  Capt.  John,  his  garrison  troubled  with  the 

Indians,  ii 592 

Gerrish,  Joseph,  min.  of  Wenham,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 
Gerrish,  Sarah,  her  captivity  at  Quocheco,  ii.  592; 

retui'n  to  her  friends, 586 

Gibbons,  Edward,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 ; 
major-gen.  142;  remarkable  sea  deliverance, ii..  345 

Gibbs,  Henry,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Gidney,  Bartholomew,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  Eng 141 

Gilbert,  Bartholomew,  an  early  navigator  to  Am'ca,    44 

Gilbert,  Matthew,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Gilbert,  Thomas,  min.  of  Topsfleld,  237 ;  epitaph  at 

Charlestown, 597 

Giles,  Thomas,  treacherously  killed  by  Inds.  ii 590 

Gilson,  William,  mag.  of  N.  Plymouth, 117 

Glover,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E.  141 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii . .     30 

Glover,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Goff,  Thomas,  67 ;  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 

Gog  and  Magog,  speculations  on, 46 

Gold,  Nathan,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Goodwin,  John,  of  Boston  ;  his  trouble  with  invis- 
ible spirits,  and  his  four  children,  ii 456 

Goodridge, and  wife,  murdered  at  Rowley,  ii.  61 1 

Goodwin,  Mehitabel,  her  captivity  among  Inds.,  ii.  598 

Goodyear,  Stephen,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Gookin,  Daniel,  min.  of  Sherborn,  87 ;  ass't  mag.  of 
N.  Eng.  141 ;  major-general,  142 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 ; 

succeeds  Mr.  Eliot  as  minister  in  Natick, 439 

Gosnold,  Capt.  Bartholomew,  early  voyage  to  Am'a,  44 
Gorton,  Samuel,  his  religious  belief  and  practice,  ii.  503 
Gouge,  James,  commands  a  sloop  at  Wells  fight,  ii.  614 

Government,  remarks  on, 107 

Governors  of  New  England,  Lives  of, 105 

Grafton,  John,  remarkably  preserved  at  sea,  ii 347 

Graves,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Greek  Authors,  allusions  to, 28 


Green, ,  minister  of  Reading, 235 

Green,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Green,  Percival,  gr.  h.  c.  ii i 31 

Greenleaf,  Capt.  his  proceedings  at  Wells,  ii 613 

Greenough,  William,  ii 485 

Greensmith, ,  executed  for  witchcraft,  ii 449 

Greenwood,  Isaac,  gr.  h.  c.  ii , 32 

Greenwood,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Grigson,  Thomas,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Grosvenor,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Guiana,  contemplated  as  a  place  of  emigration  from 

Leydeu, 49 

Guilford,  Connecticut,  planted, 83 

Gunston, ,  a  benefactor  to  11.  c.  ii 1 1 

H. 

Hadden,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Haines,  John,  chosen  gov'r,  135;  ass't  mag 141 

Hale,  John,  minister  of  Beverly,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 ; 

strange  things  at  Glocester, 621 

Hale,  Robert,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Haley, ,  sergeant  in  the  Indian  wars,  ii 633 

Hall,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  engagement  with  Inds.  ii. . .  593 
Hambden,  Mr.  deterred  from  emigrating  to  N.  E. .     79 

Hamlin,  Giles,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Hammond,  John,  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii 622 

Hammond,  Major,  William,  taken  captive  by  Inda. 

at  Kittery,  ii.  631 ;  redeemed, 632 

Hampshire,  East,  churches  at,; 86 

Hancock,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Hancock,  Mr.  minister  of  York  and  Wells, 88 

Hanley,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Harriman,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Harris,  Thomas,  his  Quakerism,  ii 529 

Harvard  College,  president  of,  his  caution  relative 
to  cases  of  witchcraft,  211 ;  institution  founded, 
237 ;  history  of,  ii.  7 ;  advance  of  funds  by  Gen- 
eral Court,  9 ;  bequest  of  John  Harvard,  10 ;  laws 

of, 23 

Harvard,  John,  minister  of  Charlestown,  235 ;  his 

agency  in  founding  Harvard  college, 237 

Harvard,  John,  his  bequest  to  Harvard  col.  ii.  10 ; 

Wilson's  poem  on, 33 

Harlakenden,  Roger,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, . .  141 
Hartford,  settlement  of^commenced  from  Cam- 
bridge, Mass 81 

Harwood,  George,  a  grantee, 67 

Haselrig,  Sir  Arthur,  deterred  from  emigrating  to 

New  England, 79 

Hastings,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Hatherly,  Timothy,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Hawthorn,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Hawthorn,  Capt.  William,  ass't  raag.  of  N.  E.  141 ; 

sent  to  subdue  the  Indians  at  Casco,  ii 578 

Haynes,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Hay nes,  John,  gr.  ».  c.  ii 32 

Haynes,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Heard,  Elizabeth,  surprising  adventures,  and  escape 

from  Indians,  ii 591 

Hegon,  Indian,  his  singular  death,  ii G29 

Henchman,  Capt.  Daniel,  his  march  against  Inds.  ii.  561 
Henfield,  Edmund,  rescues  Bennet  and  others  at 

sea,  ii 349 

Heylin,  Dr.  Peter,  often  mistaken, 31 

Hibbons,  William,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Higginson,  Francis,  min.  of  Salem,  235;  the  Noah 
or  Janus  of  New  England,  355;  education,  356; 
circumstances  of  his  nonconformity,  357;  con- 
demns the  drinking  of  healths,  359 ;  called  to  N. 


XVI 


INDEX. 


Eng.  361 ;  his  farewell  to  Engl'd,  3G2;  associates 
with  Satn'l  Skclloii,  3G3  ;  death,  364 ;  suns,  365 ; 

epitaph, 366 

Higginsoii,  John,  his  Attestation  to  the  Magnalia, 

13 — 18;  recorded  in  ecclesiastical  map, 87 

Higgiiisoii,  Nathaniel  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Ilildersh^m,  Arthur,  his  connection  with  Antino- 

mianism,  ii •'>08 

Hill,  Capt.  John,  his  works  for  defence  of  Saco,  ii . .  C-4 

Hill,  Joseph,  a  benefactor  of  h.  c.  ii 11 

Hinkley,  Thoina?,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Hoar,  Leonard,  made  presid't  of  h.  c.  ii.  14 ;  death 

and  epitaph,  15 ;  gr.  n.  c.  ii 30 

Hobart,  Gershiim,  min.  of  Groton,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. 

31 ;  remarkable  preservation  at  Groton, 627 

Hobart,  Japliel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Hobart,  Jeremiah,  minister  of  Haddam,  Conu't,  88 ; 

gr.  u.  c.  ii 30 

Hobart,  Joshua,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Hobart,  Nehemiah,  minister  of  Newtown,  87 ;  gr. 

H.  c.  ii 31 

Hobarl,  Peter,  minister  of  Hingham,  236 ;  birth  and 
parentage,  497  ;  comes  to  New  England,  498 ;  his 
hatred  of  vice  and  intemperance,  499;  afflictions 

and  sickness,  500 ;  death  and  epitaph, 501 

Hobart,  sons  by  the  name  in  New  England, 241 

Hobbamok,  befriends  the  English, 57 

Hodson,  Nathaniel,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Holioke,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Holland,  Jeremiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Hollanders,  their  intrigues  with  the  master  of  the 

May-Flower, 50 

Hommius,  a  divine  at  Leyden, 47 

Hook,  William,  minister  of  N.  Haven,  236;  returns 

to  England,  586 ;  place  of  burial, 587 

Hooker,  Sam'l,  min.  of  Farmington,  88 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 
Hooker,  Thomas,  emigrates  to  Hanford,  81 ;  peace- 
able state  of  his  church,  248 ;  birth  and  parentage, 
333 ;  his  persecutions,  338 ;  goes  to  Holland,  339 ; 
escape  from  England,  340 ;  rebuked  by  a  lad,  345 ; 
charities  at  Hartford,  346;  his  theology,  347;  his 

closing  sermon  and  death,  350 ;  epitaph, 351 

Hope-Hood,  an  Indian,  horribly  murders  a  boy,  ii. 

598 ;  is  slain  by  his  friend  by  mistake, 605 

Hopkins,  Edward,  gov.  of  Connecticut,  143;  birth, 
ib.;  devotion  to  religitm,  and  happy  death,  147; 

epitaph,  148;  a  benefactor  of  H.  c.  ii 11 

Hopkins,  Stephen,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Hopkins,  William,  mag.  of  Connecticut, •  162 

Hornius,  his  discourses  on  the  tirst  peopling  of 

America, 44 

Hornybrook,  John,  signs  a  treaty  of  peace,  ii 626 

Hortado,  Antonio,  and  wife,  their  troubles  with  in- 
visibles, ii 453 

Hough,  Atterton,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, Ill 

Hough,  Samuel,  minister  of  Reading, 237 

Howe,  Ephraim,  his  disastrous  voyage  from  New 

Haven  to  Boston,  ii 343 

Howe,  James,  befitted  saying  of, 35 

Howe,  John,  his  testimony  on  the  life  of  Phipps,. .   161 

Howell,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Howkins,  Anthony,  mug.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Howland,  John,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 1 17 

Hubbard,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Hubbard,  Nathaniel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Hubbard,  Richard,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Hubbard,  William,  min.  of  Ipswich,  87 ;  grr.  h.  c.  ii.    30 
Huckins,  Lieut,  destruction  of  his  garrison  by  In- 
dians, ii 593 


Hudson's  River,  destination  of  the  Pilgrims, 50 

Huet,  Ephraim,  minister  of  Windsor, 236 

Hngolinus,  Bulgarus,  first  bestowment  of  Doctor's 

title,  to,  ii 27 

Hull,  George,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Hull,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  Eng.  141 ;  master  of  the 
mint,  314;  a  benefactor  to  HarvardcoUege,  ii.. . .     11 

Hull, ,  min.  of  Isle  of  Shoals, 236 

Hulton,  Nath;iniel,  a  benefactor  to  H.  c.  ii 11 

Humphrey,  John,  grantee,  67;  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E.. .  141 

Hunford,  Thomas,  minister  of  Norwalk, 237 

Hungare,  Philip,  wonderfully  saved  at  sea  with  his 

company,  ii 346 

Hunting,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Hutching,  Jonathan,   remarkably   preserved  from 

famine,  ii 643 

Hutching,  Samuel,  a  captive  with  the  Indians,  ii.. .  643 
Hutchings,  Thomas,  grantee,  67 ;  ass't  mag.  of  New 

England,... 141 

Hutchinson,  Ann,  her  reputation,  ii 517 

Hutchinson,  Capt.  Edward,  slain  by  the  Nipmuck 

Indians,  ii 563 

Hutchinson,  Maj.  Elisha,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  Eng.  141 ; 
treats  with  the  Indians  at  Wells,  ii.  610;  his  pro- 
ceedings there  as  commander-in-chief, 613 

I. 

Idleness,  in  Boston  reproved, 102 

Idlers,  good  advice  to, 102 

Ince,  Jonathan,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Indian  corn  discovered,  on  landing  at  Plymouth,  32,  53 
Indians:  first  encounter  with  the  settlers  at  Ply- 
mouth, 53 ;  seduced  into  America  by  the  Devil, 
42 ;  treatment  of  some  French  mariners  cast  away 
among,  51 ;  numerous,  on  Hudson's  river,  ib  ; 
their  corn  found  at  Plymouth,  32,  53 ;  Narragan- 
setts,  fears  of  the  English,  56 ;  treaty  with,  215 ; 
murder  of  one,  314  ;  kill  a  young  man  who  had 
abused  his  father,  315 ;  Jesuits'  catechism  for,  572; 
at  Harvard  col.  ii.  31 ;  destruction  of  the  Wam- 
panoag,  390 ;  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  443 ;  their 
religion,  the  most  explicit  sort  of  Devil-worship 
of,  532 ;  their  grounds  of  quarrel  with  the  whites, 
584;  Andros' expedition  against,  ii.;  treaty  with,  626 
Indian  war,  dreadful, 88 

J. 

Jackson,  Benj'n,  signs  treaty  of  peace  with  Inds.  ii.  626 

James,  I.  King,  favours  the  Puritans, 49 

James,  John,  minister  of  Derby,  Conn 88 

James,  Thomas,  min.  of  Charlestown,  236 ;  of  East- 

hampton, 237 

Japhet,  Indian,  pastor  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  ii. . . .  442 

Jenney,  John,  mag.  of  N.  Plymouth, 117 

Jesuits'  Catechism,  for  Indians, 572 

Johnson,  Isaac,  grantee,  67;  his  death,  77;  ass't  mag. 
of  New  Plymouth,  141 ;  captain  in  Philip's  war — 

killed  in  Narragansett  fight,  ii 567 

Johnson,  Lady  Arabella,  sufferings  and  death  of,..     77 
Johnson,  Mary,  her  alleged  connection  with  a  dev- 
il, confession,  and  execution,  ii 436 

Johnson,  Robert,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Johnson,  Thomas,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 32 

Johnson,  William,  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

J(mes,  John,  min.  of  Fairfield,  236 ;   gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Jones,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Jones,  John,  troubles  with  spirits  or  unseen  agents 

at  sea,  ii 466 

Jones,  William,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 


INDEX. 


XVll 


K. 

Keith,  James,  minister  of  Bridgcwater,  87, 237 

Key,  Jainee,  son  of  John,  his  cruel  treatment  by 

Hope-Hood,  ii 598 

Kiildcr,  Bishop  Richard,  an  honour  to  the  church,  250 
Kings  of  Fiance,  a  magical  exhibition  of  them,  past 

and  future, 139 

Kingsbury,  Eleazer,  religious  imposture,  ii 542 

Kirk,  Admiral,  his  successful  expedition  against 

Quebect,  ii 602 

Kittcramogis,  sagamore,  signs  agreem't  for  peace,  ii.  C26 
Knap,  Elizabeth,  her  alleged  connection  with  d:e- 

nions  or  spirits,  ii 449 

Knight,  William,  min.  of  Topsfield, 236 

Knowles,  John,  min.  of  Watertown,  590;  Voyage 

to  Virginia,  ib. ;  returns  to  England,  591 ;  death 

and  epitaph, 59I 


Labrocree,  Jlons.  commander-in-chief  of  French 

and  Indians  at  Wells  fight,  ii C14 

Luiton,  William,  remarkable  deliverance  at  sea,  ii.  349 
Liike,  Capt.  Thos.  his  murder  at  Arowsick  island,  ii.  577 
Lathrop,  Capt.  Thomas,  sent  to  subdue  the  Indians, 

ii.  3C4 ;  his  bloody  contest  at  Deerflekl, 565 

Lathrop,  John,  min.  of  Barnstable, 236 

Law,  Jonathan,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 3'-i 

Lawson,  Dcodate,  min.  of  Scituate, 87 

Lay,  William,  a  (iodly  Indian,  healed,  ii 442 

Leaf,  John,  a  martyr  to  the  reformation, 108 

Lee,  Samuel,  min.  of  Bristol,  237;  returns  to  Eng. .  603 

Ltet,  Andrew,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Leet,  Mr,  gov.  of  Connecticut,  149;  circumstances 

of  his  life, ]56 

Leet,  William,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Leirns,  an  early  Protestant, 39 

Lenthal,  Mr.  min.  of  Weymouth,  his  secession  and 

retraction, 244 

Leverett,  John,  gov.  137 ;  ass't  mag.  of  Mass.  141 ; 

major-general,  142;  tutor  and  temporary  gov'r  of 

of  H.  c.  ii.  19;  gr.  h.  c 31 

Leverick,  William,  min.  of  Sandwich, 230 

Lewis,  Ezekiel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Leyden,  emigrants  to 47 

Liliy,  Samuel,  honourable  mention  of,  ii 489 

Lindal,  Timothy,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Lion,  Sterry,  adventures  at  sea,  ii.  466 ;  death, 466 

Little,  Ephraim,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Little,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Long,  Josua,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Lord,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Ludlow,  Roger,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 ; 

of  Connecticut, 162 

Ludlow,  WiUiam,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Lusher,  Eleazer,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 

Lyn,  church  gathered  at, 79 

Lynde,  Benjamin,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Lynde,  Nicholas,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

M. 

Maccarly,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Madockawando,  sagamore,  at  Wells  flght,  li.  614  • 

signs  treaty  of  peace,  626 ;  death, , 641 

Maine,  churches  in, g4 

Malbon,  Richard,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 1C2 

Wan,  Samuel,  min.  of  Wreutham,  87 ;  gr^  h.  o.  ii . .     31 
Manning,  Nichol.is,  signs  treaty  of  peace  with  In- 
dians, ii _  gog 

Vol.  I.— b 


Mansfield,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Map,  Ecclesiastical,  of  New  England, 86 

March,  Serg't  Hugh,  killed  by  Indians,  ii 632 

March,  Major  John,  his  service  against  Inds.  ii.  632,  637 
Marriage?,wherein  lawful,  according  to  Scripture,  ii.  267 
Marshal,  Captain  Samuel,  in  Philip's  war,  killed  in 

the  Narraganset  fight,  ii 569 

Marston,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Martin,  Mary,  her  uiichastity  and  vow,  ii 404 

Martyn,  Richard,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Mary,  Queen,  her  character, 30 

Mason,  Captain  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut,  162;  in 

the  battle  with  the  Narragansetts,  ii 567 

M:ison,  Daniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Mason,  Samuel,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Massachusetts  Bay,  emigrants  from,  to  Conn,  river,  81 
Massasoit,  his  first  interview  with  settlers,  56;  with 

his  son,  plot  to  rebel  against  the  English,  ii 558 

RIather,  Cotton,  wrote  his  history  in  the  midst  of 
many  difficulties,  15 ;  one  of  ten  ministers  of  the 
name  in  N.  Eng.,  ib. ;  needed  the  eyes  of  Argus 
and  the  hands  of  Briareus  to  perform  his  labors, 
32;  ii.682;  anticipates  revilers, 35;  gr.  h.  c.  ii..  31 
Mather,  Eleazer,  pastor  of  Northampton,  17 ;  his 

Journal,  457 ;  death,  ib. ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Mather  Family,  God's  blessings  on,  17;  sons  of  the 

Mathers  in  New  England, 241 

Mather,  Increase,  aids  Gov'r.  Phips,  193;  waits  on 
King  James  in  aid  of  New  England,  198;  presi- 
dent of  Harvard  col.  ii.  18  ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Mather,  Nathaniel,  pastor  in  London  and  Dublin, 
17 ;  his  testimony  on  the  historian  of  Phips,  164 ; 
gr.  11.  0.  ii.  30  ;  the  learning  and  virtue  of  his 
youth,  154,  484 ;  his  industry,  157 ;  piety,  159 ; 

death,  175 ;  epitaph, I'g 

Mather,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Mather,  Richard,  son  of  Richard,  min.  of  Dorches- 
ter, 236 ;  birth  and  parentage,  414;  education,  445; 
schoolmaster  and  preacher,  446  ;  min.  of  Prescott, 
Eng.  447 ;  suspended  for  nonconformity,  restored, 
448 ;  motives  for  removing  to  New  England,  449 ; 
his  account  of  a  hurricane  on  the  coast  of  New 
England,  iZi.;  his  rules  for  ministers,  4.51 ;  pub- 
lications, 453;  moderator  of  a  council  of  minis- 
ters, 454 ;  sickness  and  death, 455, 

Mather,  Samuel,  son  of  Increase,  17;  min  of  Wind- 
sor, Ct.  80 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Mather,  Samuel,  son  of  Timothy,  17;  gr.  h.  c.  ii...     32 
Mather,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 ;  born  in  Lancashire, 
Eng.  39;  returns  to  Engl'd,  43;  to  Scotland,  44-; 
writes  a  defence  of  the  Protestant  against  the 

Catholic  faith,  54 ;  his  death, 57 

Mather,  Warham,  son  of  Eleazer,  17;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. .     31 

Matthews,  Mordecai,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Maud,  Daniel,  rain,  of  Dover, 236 

Maverick,  John,  rain,  of  Dorchester, 23G 

May,  Sarauel,  religious  disturbances,  ii.  544;  char- 
acter in  author's  letter, 545 

May-Flower,  the  ship  hired  for  the  Pilgrims, 49 

Mayhew,  John,  his  calling  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  ii.  431 
Mayhew,  Thomas,  his  Interview  with  an  Indian 
prince,  ii.  424  ;  provides  for  his  son  at  Martha's 

Vineyard, 427 

Maynard,  Sir  John,  a  benefactor  of  h.  c.  ii 11 

Mayo,  John,  min.  of  Boston, 230 

Mead,  Matthew,  his  testimony  on  the  life  of  Phips,  164 

Jlechanics,  their  devoticms, 242 

Mede,  Joseph,  his  conjectures  about  America, 46 

Melaucthon,  Norton  compared  with, 276 


xvin 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Melvill,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Merrimack  Uiver,  attempts  to  settle  at, 80 

Mesandowit,  Simon,  his  treachery  to  Major  Wal- 

dern,  ii 590 

Mi^hil,  Thomas,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Mildmay,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Milel,  a  Jesuit,  his  course  with  the  Indians,  ii 439 

Milford,  Connoclicul,  planted, 83 

Millar,  John,  min.  of  Yarmouth, 'i36 

Mills,  Edward,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Ministers  of  New  England,  their  location,  87;  their 

united  advice  against  impostures,  ii 539 

Minot,  Jacob,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Mitark,  sachem,  his  profession  of  Christianity  and 

death,  ii.  430 ;  his  three  daughters, 437 

Mitchell,  Jonathan,  gr  h.  c.  ii 32 

Mitchell,  Matthew,  mag.  of  Connecticut. 162 

Mitchelson,  Edward,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Mix,  Stephen,  min.  of  Wethcrsfield,  i^8 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  32 
Moody,  Joshua,  min.  of  Portsmouth,  88 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. 

30;  character  and  death, 125 

Moody,  Samuel,  min.  of  Newcastle,  88 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    32 

Moodey,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Morgan,  James,  his  crime,  confession,  and  execu- 
tion, ii 409 

Morgan,  Joseph,  min.  of  Greenwich, 88 

Mons,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Mors,  Joseph,  min.  of  Pescamsik,  Ct.  88 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  32 
Morse,  William,  his  connection  with  spirits,  and 

their  movings  of  material  things,  ii 450 

Morton,  Charles,  min.  of  Charlestown,  87, 237 

Morton,  Nicholas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Moseley,  Capt.  Samuel,  at  the  fight  with  the  Narra- 

gansetts,  ii 567 

Moxon,  George,  min.  of  Springfield, 236 

'  Moxus,  Indian  sagamore,  at  Wells  fight,  ii 613 

Mulford,  Mr. ,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Myles,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

N. 

Nahumkeick,  name  of  Salem, 68 

Nanton,  Robert,  secretary  to  King  James, 49 

Narragansett  Indians,  their  fear  of  the  English,  56 ; 

refusal  of  the  Christian  religion  punished,  ii 390 

Nash,  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Neat  cattle,  the  first  in  N.  England, 60 

Neff,  Mary,  captivity  and  escape  from  Indians,  ii.. .  634 

Nelson,  Philip,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 30 

Newbury,  Benjamin,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

New  England,  never  without  the  chastisem't  of  God, 
14  ;  church  history  of,  15 ;  American  desert,  27, 
245;  ministers  of,  their  devotion,  87;  [ships  of 
transportation  to,  69 ;]  towns  of,  their  originals  in 
Engl'd,  89  ;  famine,  sickness  and  conflagrations  in, 
92 ;  mags,  of,  141 ;  has  had  frowns  and  favours  of 
Heaven,  245 ;  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  ii.  582 
New  Haven  planted,  83 ;  misfortunes  and  discon- 
tents at,  85 ;  annexed  to  Connecticut, 85 

Newmati,  Francis,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Newman,  Henry,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Newman,  Sam'l,  min.  of  Rehoboth,  236;  birth  and 
parentage.  429 ;  incident  at  Dorchester,  430 ;  hos- 
pitality and  general  character,  432;  epitaph, 433 

Newmarch,  John,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 32 

New  Plymouth,  first  setllement  of,  56;  becomes 
prosperous,  62 ;  a  whale  and  calf  caught,  lA.;  Qua- 
kers and  Seekers  in,  63 ;  reasons  for  planting,  69 ; 

magistrates  of, 117 

Newton,  Roger,  minister  of  Milton, 237 


Nicholef,  Charles,  min.  of  Salem, 237 

Nitamemet,  sagamore,  signs  treaty  of  peace,  ii 626 

Norris,  Edward,  min.  of  Salem, 236 

Norton,  Capt.  [Walter?]  killed  by  Indians,  ii 5^ 

Norton,  John,  min.  of  Boston,  230;  his  superiority 
and  excellence,  247;  birth,  life,  and  character, 
286;  disasters  of  his  voyage  to  N.  England,  289; 
minister  at  Ipswich,  290  ;  his  agency  in  petition 
to  the  king,  296;  death,  297;  published  sermons, 
209 ;  theological  character,  300  ;  epitaph,  302 ; 

gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Nowel,  Alexander,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Nowel,  Increase,  67;  major-general  of  N.  England,  142 

Nowel,  Sam'l,  scc'y  of  colony,  141 ;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 30 

Noyes,  Jacob,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Noyes,  James,  pastor  of  Stonington,  ii 438 

Noyes,  Moses,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

Noyes,  Nicholas,  his  prefatory  poem  on  the  Magna- 

lia,  19 ;  minister  of  Salem,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Noyes,  Oliver,  gr.  h.  r.  il 32 

Noyes, ,  his  prophecies,  ii 653 

Noyes,  James,  min.  of  Stonington,  88;  Newberry, 
236 ;  birth  and  parentage,  484 ;  life,  by  himself 
and  Mr.  Parker,  ib. ;  preacher  at  Mystic,  ib. ;  fam- 
ily connections, 485 

Noyse,  Moses,  min.  of  Lyme,  Ct 88 

o. 

Oakes,  Erard,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Oakes,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Oakes,  Urian,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30;  presid't  pro  tempore 

of  H.  c.  ii.  16;  birth,  childhood,  and  emigration, 

114;  return  loEngPd,  115;  death,  116;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    31 

Ogden,  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Ogilby,  John,  his  history  of  America, 86 

Oliver,  Jacob,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Oliver,  Captain  James,  in  the  bloody  battle  with  the 

Narragansetts,  ii 567 

Oliver,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Oliver,  Peter,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Osborn,  Recompense,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Ounsakes,  Phill.  squaw,  interpreter,  ii 626 

Owen,  Doctor  John,  his  character,  26;  intended  to 

come  to  N.  Eng'd,  245,  249 ;  born  in  Oxfordshire, 

525;  short  account  of  his  life,  iJ. ;  epitaph, 525 

Oxenbridge,  John,  minister  of  Boston,  237 ;  birth  in 

Daveijtry,  Eng.,  597 ;  comes  to  New  Engl'd,  598 ; 

authorship,  ;*. ;  epitaph, 599 

P. 

Paine,  Robert,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 30 

Pamatuk,  his  crime,  confession,  and  execution,  ii . .  444 

Paris,  Samuel,  min.  of  Andover  village, 87 

Parish,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Parker,  Thomas,  min.  of  Newbury,  236;  severity  of 
his  brother's  teachings,  480;  studies  at  Newbury, 
England,  481;  comes  to  N.  England,  482;  death 

and  epitaph,  ib. ;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Parliament,  the  Long, 238 

Parsons,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Partrigg,  William,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 32 

Partridge,  Ralph,  min.  of  Duxbury,  236;  character, 

404 ;  death  and  epitaph, 405 

Patrick,  Capt.  Daniel,  his  success  against  Inds.  ii. .  550 
Pawaws,  or   Indian  sorcerers,   their    conjurations 

against  the  Pilgrims, 55 

Payn,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Payson,  Edward,  min.  of  Rowley,  87 ;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii . .  31 

1    Peck,  Jeremiah,  min.  of  Waterbury, 88 


INDEX. 


XIX 


Peck,  Robert,  min.  cf  Hinghain,  236;  comes  to  N. 

England  and  returns, *. 587 

Pellmin,  Edward,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

Pelham,  Herbert,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Pelliam,  Nathaniel,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 30 

Pemborton,  Ebcnezer,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Pennallow,  Samuel,  his  account  of  a  poisoned  well 

by  a  soldier,  ii 595 

Penniiyer,  William,  a  benefactor  to  h.  c.  ii 11 

Perkins,  John,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Perry,  Richard,  grantee,  67 ;  assistant  magistrate  of 

New  England, 141 

Peter,  a  friendly  Indian,  aids  in  the  destruction  of 

the  Narragansetls,  ii 567 

Peters,  Hugh,  min.  of  Salem,  236;  some  reference 

to  his  life,  587 ;  last  words, 587 

Peters,  Thomas,  minister  of  Saybrook,  236;  comes 

to  New  England 587 

Peyot  Indian  kilted,  314 ;  they  kill  a  young  man,. .  315 

Phelps,  William,  mag.  of  Connecticiit, 162 

Phillips,  George,  min.  of  Watertown,  236;  birth 
and  education,  376;  accompanies  Mr.  Winthrop 
to  New  England,  ib. ;  death  of  his  wife  at  Salem, 
ib. ;   commences  a  church   at  Watertown,  377 ; 

death  and  epitaph,  379 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Phdlips,  Col.  John,  of  Charleslown,  his  aid  to  Gov. 
Phips,  216 ;  wounded  at  Casco  Bay,  ii.  638;  com- 
missioned to  treat  with  the  Indians, 642 

Phillips,  John,  min.  of  Dedham, 236 

Phdlips,  Samuel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Phips,  Sir  William,  commissioned  governor  of  New 
England,  140;  life,  164;  chemical  speculations 
on  raising  to  life  the  ashes  of  animals,  165;  com- 
parison of  great  men  of  obscure  origin,  166  ;  birth 
and  parentage,  1C7;  learns  the  trade  of  ship-car- 
penter, ib. ;  commander  of  a  frigate,  169 ;  quells 
a  mutiny,  170;  gathers  treasures  from  a  Spanish 
wreck,  172 ;  obtains  advantages  for  his  colony  of 
King  James,  175;  his  proceedings  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  16?8,  178;  declaration  of  his  devotion  to 
God  and  his  people,  182;  taking  of  Port  Royal, 
183 ;  attack  on  Quebeck,  IS6 ;  relief  of  the  colony 
by  the  issue  of  paper  money,  190  ;  exertions  with 
the  king  for  a  new  charter,  199;  made  captain- 
general  and  governor  of  N.  England,  201 ;  stops 
the  prosecutions  for  witchcraft,  212;  defends  the 
colony  against  the  Indians,  213;  who  sign  an 
agreem't  for  peace,  215 ;  df^scription  of  his  person, 
217Ch'9  contempt  of  death,  220;  the  incidents 
of  his  life  prewritten  in  London  by  an  astrologer, 
222;  his  indifference  thereat,  considering  it  the 
work  of  the  devil,  223  ;  an  attempt  to  injure  his 
charactei-,  224 ;  called  to  England  for  trial,  225 ; 
death  and  burial  in  London,  227 ;  summary  of  his 
pfe  and  services,  229 ;  poetical  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory, 230;  his  expedition  against  Port  Royal,  ii...  600 

Phipps,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Phipps,  Thomas,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

PticBuicians,  their  early  discovery  of  America, 42 

Pierce,  Capt.  Michael,  his  bloody  contest  with  the 

Indians,  and  death,  ii 570 

Pierce,  Robert,  his  escape  from  Spaniards,  ii 351 

Plerpont,  Benjamin,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Pierpont,  Jiicob,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Pierpont,  James,  his  letter  on  the  phantom  of  a  lost 

ship,  in  the  air,  84;  min.  of  New  Haven, 88 

Pierpont,  .Jonathan,  min.  of  Reading, 87 

Pieraon,  .\braham,  minister  of  KiWingworth,  88 ;  of 
Southampton,  236;  came  to  New  England  from 


Yorkshire,  397 ;  gathers  a  church  at  Southamp- 
ton, L.  I.,  398  ;  epitaph,  498;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Pike,  John,  min.  of  Dover,  88;  ii.  541 ;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii. 

31 ;  his  account  of  Indian  tragedies, S'J 

Pike,  Joseph,  sheriff,  killed  by  Indians,  ii 628 

Pike,  Robert,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Pinchon,  Capt.  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England,  141 ; 

aids  in  destroying  the  Indians  at  Springfield,  ii..  565 
.Pinchon,  William,  original  grantee,  67;  ass't  mag. 

of  New  England, ]41 

Pistorius,  Simon,  his  epitaph  suited  for  Bradstreet,  HO 

Plaisted,  Lieut,  his  services  against  the  Inds.  ii 609 

Plaisted,  Mary,  wife  of  James:  captivity  and  cruel 

treatment  by  Indians,  ii ' 599 

Platform  of  Church  Discipline  in  N.  England,  ii...  211 
Plymouth,  (or,Patuxet,)  first  landing  at,  53;   first 
house  built,  ib. ;  suffering,  sickness  and  death  at,    54 

Plymouth,  magistrates  of, 117 

Pocock,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 

Poirel,  Pierre,  or  Gog  and  Magog, 40 

Polyander,  a  divine  at  Leyden, 47 

Popery,  lemnants  of,  in  the  Protestant  Church  of 

England, 76 

Port  Royal,  expedition  to, 183 

Potter, ,  his  enormities  against  the  laws,  ii 405 

Prayers  for  rain  and  relief  from  famine,  heard  and 

answered, 78 

Prentice,  Capt.  Thomas,  sent  against  Inds.  ii 561 

Price,  Walter,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Prince,  Isaac,  ace.  of  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii.  622 

Prince,  Thomas,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Prophecies  concerning  the  American  Church, 70 

Providences,  remarkable,  in  New  England,  ii 341 

Prudden,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Prudden,  Peter,  minister  of  Mllford,  236 ;  his  fami- 
ly and  epitaph, 395 

Psalms,  Metrical,  translation  of, 407 

Pulcifer,  Benedict,  his  contest  with  an  Indian,  ii...  .587 
Puritans,  favoured  by  King  James,  49 ;  their  afflic- 
tions and  fidelity,  50;  sail  from  Southampton,  i6.; 
discover  Cape  Cod,  ib. ;  their  sufferings  by  sick- 
ness and  death,  54;  compared  with  Peter  Martyr, 
57;  precautions  against  surprise  by  Indians,  ib. ; 

their  farewell  to  the  mother-church, 74 

Pynchon,  Joseph,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Q. 

Quadrigarius,  an  early  Protestant, 3'J 

"  Quakers,  Encountered,"  ii 644 

Quakers  and  Seekers,  account  of, 63 

Quakerism,  Foxian,  ii.  523;  Pennian,  its  difference, 

ib. ;  Tom  Chasian,  its  devilism, 528 

Quanonchet,  the  great  sachem  of  the  Narragansetls, 

taken,  ii 572 

R. 

Ramus,  Peter  the  Great, 27 

Rawson,  Edw'd,  sec'y  of  colony,  142;  gr.  h.  c.  ii..     30 

Rawson,  Grindal,  pastor  of  Mendon,  22 ;  gr.  n.  c.  ii. 
31 ;  pastor  of  "  Mendham," 

Rayner, ,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Rayner,  John,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Read,  John,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 

Remington,  Jonathan,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Resemlilance,  of  different  persons, 

Reyner,  John,  minister  of  Plymouth, 

Richards,  James,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Richards,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  Eng.  141 ;  a  bene- 
factor to  u.  c.  ii 


439 
162 
32 
32 
32 
443 
236 
163 


XX 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Ricliaidaoii,  John,  pr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Richeriiis,  an  eurly  Piotesliint, 39 

UubinsDii,  John,  his  chuich  at  Leyilen,  47;  his  re- 

fonnatuiy  address, 64 

Ruhiiisun,  Juhii,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Rogers,  Uaiilul,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Rogers,  Ezi'kiel,  niin.  of  Rowley,  236;  his  l)irth, 
408;  parent.igc  and  early  preauliiiig,  40!) ;  inflnn- 
itics  and  death,  410;  sore  uniiolioiis  in  hist'uniily, 
412;  letter  to  liis  brother,  413;  epitaph,  il>.;  gr. 


31 


Rogers,  Joliii,  his  inemurials  for  a  godly  life,  423; 
form  for  a  niinisle;,  424  ;  presitl't  of  h.  c.  ii.  16 ; 

death  and  epita])!),  17 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Rogers,  John,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Roger.",  Nallniniel,  [fattier  of  President  Joliii]  ii.  IG  ; 
minister  of  Ipswiuli,  i.236;  his  birth  and  eiiily 
education,  ii.  415;  his  marriage,  418;  iniperlcct 
health,  420;   he  destroys  his  diary,  421 ;  epitaph, 

422;  gr.  H.  c.  ii r'2 

Rogers,  Robeit,  murdered  by  Indians,  ii 506 

Rdlfe,  Benjamin,  niin.  of  Haveril,  87;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii..     31 

Roman  authors,  allusions  to, 29 

Ross,  Mary,  her  religious  assumptions,  ii 5:i0 

Rossiter,  Edward,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Rouse,  Thomasin,  e8ca[)e  from  IndiaiiP,  ii 643 

Row,  John,  account  of  strange  sights  at  Glocester,  ii.  622 

Rowderi,  Captain,  captured  by  Indians,  ii 586 

Rowland,  Peter,  escape  from  ."^jianiards,  ii 351 

Rowlandson,  Joseph,  his  calamities  by  fire,  deaths, 

and  captivity  of  his  remaining  family,  ii 569 

Roxbm-y,  church  gathered  at, 79 

Ruck,  Peter,  gr.  h.  c.  ii :i2 

Ruggles,  Benjamin,  min.  of  Smithlield, 87 

Rugglpp,  Thomas,  min.  of  Middletown, 88 

Russell,  Daniel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Russtl,  James,  aas't  mag.  of  N.  Eng 141 

Russell,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii ■ 30 

Russel,  Jonathan,  minister  of  Barnstable,  ^7;  gr. 

n.  c.  ii 31 

Russell,  Noadiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Russel,  Samuel,  minister  of  Brainford,  Coimeclicnt, 
88 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

S. 

Satller,  John,  his  prophecies,  ii 653 

Saltonstal,  Gurdon,  minister  of  New  London,  88; 

gr.  II  c.  ii 31 

Saltonstal,  Henry,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 30 

Saltonstal,  Nathaniel,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  EngPd,  141 ; 

gr.  n.  c.  ii 

Saltonstal,  Sir  Richard,  original  grantee,  67  ;  mag. 
of  New  England,  141 ;  aJbenefaclor  to  ii.  c.  ii.  1 1 ; 

gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Salvages,  their  murder  and  sn])pression,  ii 552 

Samothcs,  a  Druid,  ii 16 

Sanchez,  early  discoverer  of  America, 43 

Sargeant,  Uapt.  his  seizure  of  Indians,  at  Saco,  ii..  586 

Sargeaiit,  Thoma.s,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Sarson,  Capt.  Richard,  his  witness  to  facts  of  witch- 
craft, ii.  426;  negotiates  with  Indians  at  JIartha's 

Vineyard, 434 

Sausamim,  a  friendly  Indian,  murdered,  ii 559 

Savage,  Abija,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Savage,  Ephraim,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Savage,  Hiibijah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Savage,  John,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 32 

Savage,  Major  Thomas,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  Eng.  141; 
commander  in  riiilip's  war,  ii 569 


32 


32 


Saxton,  Peter,  minister  of  Scituate,  236 ;  a  native  of 

Yorkshire,  -Eng.  587  ;  at  Boston,  N.  E 587 

Say  and  Brook,  Lords,  tlieir  claims  and  interests  ia 

Coimecticut, 82 

Scarlet,  Cupt.  Samuel,  preserves  Laiton  and  others 

at  sea,  ii 350 

Schools,  their  importance  truly  characterized,  ii. . .  65.> 

Scotlow,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Sea-deliverances,  wonderful  cases  of,  in  New  Eng- 
land, ii 343 

Sedgwick,  Robert,  major-general  of  N.  E 142 

Seljins,  Henry,  his  poems,  commendatory  of  the 

Magnalia,  22 23 

Selleck,  John,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Sequasson,  an  Indian  prince,  plots  against  the  Eng- 
lish, ii 553 

Sewall,  Samuel,  uss't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 ; 

gr.  H.  o.  ii.  31 ;  favourably  mentioned, 489 

Shephard,  Jeremiah,  min.  of  Lyn,  87;  gr.  n.  c.  ii. .     31 

Shepard,  Samuel,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

She])ard,  Samuel,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Shepard,  Thomas,  min.  of  Cambridge,  236;  birth 
and  family,  380;  experience  in  theology,  381; 
accompanies  Mr.  Cotton  and  others  to  N.  EngI'd, 
383;  arrives  at  Boston,  385;  his  sons,  386;  death, 
lb.;  his  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath,  387;  theology, 
and  that  of  the  churches,  388;  bis  published 
works,  389 ;  numerous  meditations  from  his  jour- 
nal, 391 ;  epitaph,  by  Peter  Bulkly,  394  ;  gr.  h.  e. 
ii.  30;  died  by  small-pox,  ii.  119;  account  of  a 

Christian  Indian, J20 

Shepard,  Thomas,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii.  31 ;  born  at  Charles- 
town,  N.  E.  1 43 ;  death  and  epitaph, 153 

Sherborn,  Captain  Samuel,  skirmishes  witli  Hope- 
Hood  the  Indian  traitor,  ii 604 

Sherman,  Bezaleel,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 31 

Sherman,  James,  min.  of  Sudbury, 87 

Sherman,  John,  min.  of  Walertown,  237;  birth  in 
Dedham.  Essex,  511;  education,  and  removal  to 
N.  Engl'd,  512;  min.  of  N.  Haven,  513;  his  skill 
in  mathematics,  514;  numerous  family  of  child'n, 

516;  sickness  and  death,  517  ;  epitaph, 518 

Sherman,  Samuel,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 

Ships,  number  of,  employed  in  the  settlement  of 

New  England, 67 

Shipwreck  and  loss  of  the  first  ship  fitted  out  from 

New  Haven, 84 

Shove,  Seth,  min.  of  Danbury,  88;  gr.  h.  <;.  ii 32 

Siely,  Capt.  Robert,  in  Philip's  war;  in  the  Narra- 

gansett  swamp  fight,  ii.  51)7;  killed, 568 

Skelton,  Mr.,  min.  of  Salem,  68, 236 

Skynner,  Ca|)t.  killed  by  Indians  at  Pemaquid,  ii..  591 

Smith,  Henry,  min.  of  Weathersfield, ._ 236 

Smith,  John,  the  discoverer, 4.> 

Smith,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England, 141 

Smith,  Joseph,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Smith,  Philip,  his  troubles  with  invisible  spirits, 

and  death,  ii 454 

Smith,  Ralph,  pastor  at  Leyden,  60;  at  Plymouth.  236 

Smith,  Sarah,  crimes  and  execution  of,  ii 419 

Southack,  Capt.  Cyprian,  of  province  Galley,  ii 642 

Southampton,  Kng ,  emigrant  ships  at, 49 

Southcott,  Thoma.",  original  gr.antee  of  xMass 67 

Southmayd,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

South  worth,  Thomas,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, ]  17 

Sparhawk,  John,  min.  of  Bristol,  87 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii . . .     32 

Spectre,  a  veritable, 206 

Speedwell,  the  ship  hired  to  transport  the  Pilgrims,    49 
Springfield,  Mass.,  settled  from  Uoxbury, 81 


INDEX. 


XXI 


Sqiianto,  a  stolen  Indian,  restored, 55 

Stamfiiid,  Cdiinecticut,  planted, 83 

ytaiiilish,  Miles,  plotted  against  by  the  natives,  56; 

mate,  of  New  Plymoutli, 117 

btar,  Comfort,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 30 

Stai  ky,  his  treason  to  escape  the  Indians,  ii 590 

Stet'l,  John,mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Stevens,  Timothy,  min.  of  Glastenbury,  Conn.,  88 ; 

gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

Stilson,  Margaret,  befriends   Hannah  Swarton,  a 

captive  in  Canada,  ii 

Stirk,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Stoddard,  Antony,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Stoddard,  Solomon,  minister  of  Northampton,  87; 


gr.  H.  c.  n. 


Stone,  Hugh,  crime  and  execution  of,  ii 

Stone,  John,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 

Stone,  Capt.  John,  killed  by  Indians,  ii 

Stone,  Nathaniel,  min.  of  Falmoutli,  Harwich,  &.c , 
87;  gr.  n.  c.  ii 

Stone,  Samuel,  min.  of  Hartford,  236 ;  his  education 
and  companions  to  New  England,  434 ;  unhappy 
difiference  with  his  ruling  elder,  4:!6  ;  his  body  of 
divinity,  438;  death, 

Stone,  Simon,  his  remarkable  wounds,  and  escape 
from  death,  ii 

Storer,  Samuel,  commands  a  sloop  at  Wells  fi;;ht,  ii. 

Stoughton,  Israel,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E.  141 ;  cajHain 
in  the  Pequot  war,  ii 

Stoughton,  William,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England,  141 ; 
a  benefactor  of  H.  c.  ii.  II ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 ;  favour- 
able mention  of,  489 ;  treats  with  the  Indians  at 
Falmouth, 

Stow,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Street,  Nicholas,  rain,  of  New  Haven, 

Street,  Samuel,  minister  of  Wallingford,  Ct.,  88 ; 


360 
30 
32 

31 

414 
30 
552 


gr.  H.  c.  11. 


Sutton,  Thomas,  founder  of.  Charter  House, 

Swan,  Henry,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Swan,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Swarton,  Hannah,  account  of  her  deliverance  from 

Indian  captivity,  ii 

Swayn,  Dick,  his  religious  imposture,  ii 

Swayn,  Miijor,  marches  to  subdue  Indians,  ii.  593; 

relieves  the  garrison  at  Blue  Point, 

Swayn,  William,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Sweetman,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Swift,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Syll,  Capt.  Joseph,  captures  a  number  of  Indians 

at  Quocheco,  ii 

Symmes,  Thomas,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Symmes,  Zachariah,  minister  of  Bradford,  87 ;  of 

Charlestown,  236 ;  his  ancestry,  459 ;  family,  death 

and  epitaph,  460  ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Symonds,  John,  his  singular  cure  from  injury, 

Symonds,  Samuel,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England,  141 ; 

gr.  H.  c.  ii 


T. 

Talcot,  Samuel,  mag.  of  Conn.,  163;  gr.  h.  c.  ii....     31 
Tanpan,  Christopher,  minister  of  Newbury,  87;  gr. 

H.  c.  ii 32 

31 
31 
15 
32 


606 
614 


584 

30 

236 

31 
31 
32 

32 

357 
541 

594 
162 
31 
32 

578 
32 


30 
356 


Taylor,  Edw'd,  min.  of  Westfield,87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.. . 

Taylor,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Temple,  Sir  Thomas,  donation  to  H.  c.  ii 

Thacher,  Oxenbridge,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Thacher,  Peter,  min.  of  Milton,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  31 ; 

Indian  teacher  at  Punkapaug, 439 

Thacher,  Peter,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 


Thacher,  Thomas,  minister  of  Boston,  237 ;  birth  in 
Salisbury,  Eng.,  488 ;  arrival  at  Boston,  48!) ;  mar- 
riage, ib. ;  second  marriage,  491 ;  death,  494 ;  sons, 

ib.;  epitaph, .' 406 

Thaxter,  Capt.  aids  against  the  Indians  at  Well.-',  ii.  613 

Thomas,  William,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

Thompson,  B.,  his  complimentary  poem   on   the 

Magnalia,  20  ;  gr.  11.  c.  ii 31 

Thomson,  Edward,  minister  of  Marshfield,  87;  gr. 


31 


Thompson,  William,  minister  of  Braintree,  236 ;  his 
eccli!siastical  character,  439 ;  poetical  eulogy  and 

di'ath, 440 

Thornton,  Thomas,  min.  of  Charlestown,  2:17;  of 

Yarmo\ith,  ii 4«3 

Thunder,  reflections  and  meditations  on,  ii 363 

Tilton,  Peter,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Tituba,  Indian  woman,  her  witcheries,  ii 417 

Tobias,  Indian,  tried  and  executed  for  murder,  ii..  560 

Tompson,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 

Tenant,  Mons.  le,  lord  intendant  at  Quebeck,  il.. . .  3.)9 

Topping,  Thomas,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Torrey,  Josiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Torrey,  Samuel,  min.  of  Weymouth,  87  ;  ii 28 

Treat,  Samuel,  min.  of  Preston,  Ct 88 

Treat,  Mr.,  governor  of  Connecticut, 14'J 

Treat,  Richard,  ass't  mag.  of  Connt^cticut, 162 

Treat,  Maj.  Robert,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut.  102; 
aids  in  the  slaughter  of  Indians  at  Springfield,  ii. 
565;  distinguished  in  the  great  battle  with  the 

Narragansetts, 567 

Treat,  Salmon,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 'M 

Treat,  Samuel,  minister  of  Eastham,  87 ;  gr.  h.  e.  ii. 

31 ;  pastor, 437 

Trowbridge,  William,  his  remarkable  preservation 

at  sea,  ii 3,';4 

Tupper,  Thomas,  min.  to  the  Indians,  ii 439 

Turner,  Capt  Nathaniel,  sent  against  the  savages,  ii.  552 

Tyng,  Col.,  an  English  prisoner  in  Canada,  ii 3'jO 

Tyng,  Edward,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Tyng,  John,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 32 

Tyng,  William,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

u. 

Underbill,  Capt.  John,  goes  out  against  salvages  at 

Block  Island,  ii 552 

University,  origin  of  the  name,  ii jl 

Usher,  Hezekiah,  a  benefactor  of  h.  c.  ii U 

V. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  made  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
136;  his  character,  ib. ;  trial  and  execution,  137  ; 

ass't  mag.  of  N.  E 141 

Vassal,  Samuel,  ass't  mag.  N.  E.  141 ;  gr.  ii.  c.  ii. .     32 

Vassal,  Thomas,  original  grantee  of  Mass.  Bay, 67 

Vassal,  William,  original  grantee  of  Mass.  Bay, 67 

Vaughan,  George,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Veazie,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Ven,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  E.  ii 141 

Victory,  [the  name   of  Magelhien's  ship — not  of 

Drake's,] 43 

Villagagnon,  Admiral,  of  France, 39 

Virginia,  North,  the  first  name  given  to  New  Eng- 
land, 45 ;  its  location  considered  by  the  fathers 

at  Leyden, 48 

Virginia,  South,  massacre  at, 57 

w. 

Wade,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Wadsworth,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 3- 

Wadsworth,  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 163 


xxu 


INDEX. 


VVailswoitli,  Capt.  Samuel,  his  figlil  with  the  Inds. 

ami  death,  il 571 

\Vamwiit;ht,  ('luiicis,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 32 

WakeliiKl,  Saimiel,  pastor  of  FaiillelU,  ii 38 

Wakcinaii,  Jabiz,  irr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

V\aKleni,  .Maj.  KieliM  :  liidiuiis  siiipiise  his  house 

ill  Uuocheco,  ii.  578;  killed  by  them, 590 

Walker-,  Sergeant,  killed  by  Indians,  ii/ 607 

Waliii-,  Ziiclieriah,  niin.  of  Woodbury,  Ct 88 

WidliN,  Tluinias,  inin.  of  liariistable,  M'Si  ;  charac- 
ter and  lUe,  SiJ'J;  dealli,  ii. ;  epitaph, 601 

Walloon-,  contrasted  with  Knglish  at  Leyden, -18 

Waller,  Nelieniiah,  niiii.  of  Uoxbury,  H7 ;  gr.  H.  c.  ii.    31 

VVuliliiini,'  William,  iniii.  of  Marblehead, 236 

WaluiM,  (JeoiKe,  his  singular  troubles  with  invisi- 
bles at  I'ortsmoiith,  li 453 

Waiver,  Abraham,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 30 

Ward,  Andrew,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Ward,  Jacob,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 30 

Ward,  John,  niiii.  of  Haverhill,  230;  burn  at  Hav- 
erhill, Kiig.,  522  ;  modesty  and  temperance,  (i.; 
Bellies  in  Haverhill,  New  England,  ib.;  wife,  her 
character,  523 ;  debarred  of  her  Ibrtune  by  non- 
conformity, ii). ;  death  and  ej)itaph,  524 ;  gr.  ii. 
c.ii 32 


Ward,  Nathaniel,  miii.of  Ipswich, 

Warham,  John,  mill,  of  Windsor,  236;  remarks  on 
preaching  with  note?,  441  ;  melancholy  state  of 

mind,  442;  death  and  epitaph, 

Waruinbo,  Indian  sagamore,  at  Wells  fight,  ii 

Wassamboinet,  sagamore,  signs  treaty  of  peace,  ii. 

Watertowii,  church  gathered  at, 

Watson,  Caleb,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Watts,  Capt.  Thomas,  in  the  great  battle  with  the 

Narragansetts,  ii 

Web,  Henry,  u  benefactor  to  H.  c.  ii 

Webb,  Joseph,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Web,  Josiuh,  min.  of  Fairfield, 

Webenits,  sagamore,  .signs  treaty  of  peace,  li 

Webster,  Mr.,  governor  of  Connecticut, 

Weems,  Capt.  yields  the  fort  to  the  Indians  at  Pem- 

aquid,  ii 

Weld,  Daniel,  gr.  n.  c.  ii 

Weld,  Edmund,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Weld,  Thomas,  min.  of  Roxbury,  23G;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. 

Wells,  John,  ass't  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Wells,  Mr.,  governor  of  Connecticut, 

Wells,  Thomas,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Welsh,  Nathaniel,  gr.  H.  o.  ii 

Wenobson,  sagamore,  signs  treaty  of  peace,  ii 

Wcnsley,  Richard,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 

Weqiiash,  a  friendly  Indian  guide,  ii 

Weston,  Mr.  Thomas,  "a  ini'ichant  of  good  note," 
aids  the  settlemi'iit  in  New  England,  58;  conduct 
thereto 

Westwood,  William,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Wethersfield,  Ct.,  settled  from  Watertown, 

Weyminith  planted,.')?;  evil  conduct  at, 

Wheeler,  (.'apt.  Thomas,  aids  Captain  Hutchinson 
against  the  Nipmuck  Indians,  ii 

Wheelwright,  John,  min.  of  Salisbury, 

Wheelwright's  Pond,  bloody  fight  near,  ii 

Whelcomb,  Simon,  original  grantee  of  Mass.  Bay, 
67  ;  a,ss't  mag.  of  New  England, 

White,  Ebenezer,  gr.  ir.  c.  ii 

White,  Mr. ,  miii.  of  Dorchester, 

While,  John,  gr.  ii.  c   ii 

While,  Niithiiniel,  gr.  ii.  r.  ii 

VVhiteiiig,  John,  min.  of  Lancaster, 


236 


442 

614 

626 

79 

31 

5G7 
II 
31 

88 
626 
148 

591 
31 
30 
31 
162 
148 
162 
32 
626 
31 
555 


59 

162 
81 
59 

563 
236 

6U7 

141 
32 

66 
32 

30 

87 


Whiteing,  Samuel,  min.  of  Bilerica, 87 

Whitfield,  Henry,  rain,  of  Guilford,  230;  birth  and 

family,  592;  returns  to  England,  593;  epitaph,..  594 
Whiting,  Capt.  his  escape  from  Inds.  at  Casco,  ii. .  033 
Whiting,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii.  30 ;  pastor  of  Lancaster, 

killed, 639 

Whiting,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Whiting,  Joseph,  gr.  u.  c.  ii 31 

Whiting,  Josei)h,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 32 

Whiting,  Samuel,  minister  of  Windham,  83;  of 
Lyn,  236;  birth  at  Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  502; 
ministry  at  Skirbick,  near  Boston,  503;  second 
marriage  and  family,  ii.;  persecuted  lor  noiicou- 
forraity,  and  comes  to  N.  England,  504;  infirmi- 
ties and  death,  506 ;  poetical  eulogy  on  his  char- 
acter, by  B.  Thompson,  510  ;  epitaph, 511 

Whiting,  Samuel,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 30 

Whiting,  William,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 102 

Whitingham,  Richard,  gr.  H.  c.  ii 31 

Whitingham,  William,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Whitman,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Whitman,  Zachariah,  min.  of  Hull,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii.    31 

AViggins,  Thomas,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England, 141 

Wigglesworth,  Michael,  minister  of  Maiden,  87 ;  gr. 

II.  c.  ii 30 

Wightman, ,  an  antinoraian  or  familist,  ii 508 

Wilkinson,  Sarah,  her  remarkable  malady,  ii 356 

Willard,  John,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 32 

Willard,  Josiah,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Willard,  Major,  relieves  Quaboag,  ii 564 

Willard,  Samuel,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 31 

Willard,  Simon,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 ; 

gr.  n.  c.  ii 32 

Willet,  Thomas,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

William.s,  Daniel,  examples  of  his  remarkable  piety 

in  youth,  ii 485 

Williams,  John,  min.  of  Deerfield,  87;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. .     32 

Williams,  Nathaniel,  gr.  h.'c.  ii 32 

Williams,  Roger,  minister  of  Salem,  ii.  495 ;  of  Ply- 
mouth, 496:   his  persecutions,  495;   some  time 

gov.  of  Rhode  Island, 499 

Williams,  William,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 31 

Willis,  Mr.,  govei'nor  of  Connecticut, 148 

Willis,  George,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

Willis,  Samuel,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii 30 

Willoughby,  Franci^,  ass't  mag.  of  New  England,  141 
Willoughby,  Hugh,  an  early  navigator  to  America,    44 
Wilson,  John,  min.  of  Charlestown,  79;  of  Boston, 
236;  his  excellence,  247;  life  and  character,  302; 
birth  and  education,  303 ;  advice  of  his  father, 
305;  Hees  to  New  England,  308;  shares  in  the 
Pequol  war,  310;  prophecies  fulfilled,  315;  epi- 
taph, 321 ;  gr.  h.  o.  ii.  30;  his  poem  on  Harvard,    33 
Wilson,  Lieut.,  his  fight  with  Indians  at  Quocheco 

woods,  ii 613 

Wincal,  Capt.,  pursues  the  Indians  at  Winnopiseag 

P.mds,  ii 590 

Windsor,  Ct.,  first  settled  from  Dorchester, 81 

Wing,  Captain,  assists  in  constructing  works  of  de- 
fence at  Pemnquid,  ii 619 

Winslow,  Edward,  visits  a  sick  sachem,  58 ;  his  ac- 
count of  the  church,  ()2;  made  governor,  114;  his 

character  and  government, 115 

Winslow,  Josiah,  mag.  of  New  Plymouth, 117 

AViiislow,  Mnjoi-Oeiieral,  his  bravery  with  Alexan- 
der the  Indian  sachem,  ii.  559;  marches  against 

the  Narragansetts, 567 

Winlhrop,  Adam,  gr.  ii.  c.  ii.  31 ;  favourable  men- 
tion of, 489 


INDEX. 


XXlll 


PAGE 

Winthiop,  Adam,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 32 

Winthiop,  John,  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
73 ;  aids  in  founding  the  colony,  82 ;  his  ances- 
try, 118;  kindness  to  Higtcinson,  121;  trials  as 
governor,  123;  spirit  of  forgiveness  and  acknowl- 
edgment of  error,  124,  127;  buries  three  wives, 

129 ;  death  and  epitaph, 131 

(Vinthrop,  John,  Jr.,  ass't  mag.  of  N.  England,  141 ; 
his  travels  in  Europe,  158;  governor  and  planter 
of  a  colony  on  Connecticut  river,  ii. ;  member  of 
the  Royal  Society,  160;  his  character  and  death, 

ib. ;  epitaph, 162 

Wise,  John,  minister  of  Andover  village,  87 ;  gr.  ii. 

c.  ii 31 

Wiswall,  Capt.  Noah,  his  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  ii. 

594 ;  fight  at  Wheelwright's  Pond, 607 

Wiswall,  Edward,  min.  of  Duxbury, 87 

Witchcraft  in  N.  England,  207;  Mather's  declara- 
tions respecting,  211 ;  Gov.  Phips  stops  prosecu- 
tions for, 212 

Witcheries,  accounts  of,  ii 473 

WItherell,  William,  min.  of  Scituate, 236 

Wulcolt,  Henry,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 162 

WoodbrMge,  Benjamin,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 30 


Woodbridgo,  Dudley,  mmister  of  SImsbury, 


Woodbridge,  Dudley,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Woodbridge,  John,  mag.  of  N.  Eng.  141 ;  min.  of 
Newbury,  237;  born  at  Stanton  Wilts,  595;  sick- 
ness, death,  and  epi  taph,  597 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Woodbridge,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Woodbridge,  Timothy,  minister  of  Hartford  colony, 
88;  his  poem  on  the  Magnalia,  21 ;  gr.  h.  c.  ii. . 

Woodman,  Benjamin,  his  excellent  character,  ii. . . 

Woodward,  Doctor  John,  ou  the  first  peopling  of 
America, 

Woodward,  John,  gr.  h.  c.  ii 

Worcester,  William,  minister  of  Salisbury, 

Wright,  Nathaniel,  original  grantee,  67;  ass't  mag. 
of  N.  England, 

Wyllis,  Samuel,  mug.  of  Connecticut, 


Pacq 
gr. 

...      32 
...     32 


York,  John,  killed  in  captivity,  ii 

Young,  John,  mag.  of  Connecticut, 

Young, ,  minister  of  Southold, 

z. 

Zachory,  Indian,  his  execution,  ii 419 


31 
32 

31 

27 

44 

32 

236 

141 
163 

357 
162 
236 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 


Prefaces,         .......... 

An  Attestation  to  this  Cliurcli-History  of  New-England,  by  Rev.  John  Higginson, 

A  Piel'atory  Poem,  by  Rev.  Nicholas  Noyes,  .... 

Anagrams  and  Latin  Poems,  with  original  Tianslations,    . 

Poem,  Epigram,  and  Pindaric,  with  original  Translations, 

Anagram  and  Latin  Poem,  with  original  Translations, 

A  General  Introduction,  giving  an  account  of  the  whole  ensuing  work, 


THE    FIRST    BOOK,    entituled,  A  N  T  IQUI  T  I  E  S. 

It  reports  the  design  wkere-ofi,  the  manner  jrAcrc-iK,  and  the  people  where-wi,  the  several  Colonies  of  New- 
England  were  planted.    And  so  it  prepares  a  field  for  considerable  things  to  be  acted  thereupon, 

INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER     I. 
I'enisti  Tandem?  or,  Discoveries  of  America,  tending  to,  and  ending  in,  Discoveries  of  New-England, 

CHAPTER     II. 
Primordia;  or,  the  Voyage  to  New-England,  which  produced  the  first  settlement  of  New-Plymouth ;  with 
an  account  of  many  remarkable  and  memorable  Piovidences,  relating  to  that  Voyage,    . 

CHAPTER     III. 
Conamur  Tenues  Orandia;  or,  a  brief  Account  of  the  Difficulties,  the  Deliverances,  and  other  Occurrences, 
through  which  the  Plantation  of  New-Plymouth  arrived  unto  the  consistency  of  a  Colony, 

CHAPTER     IV. 
Paulo  Majorat  or,  the  Essays  and  Causes,  which  produced  the  second,  but  largest  Colony  of  New-England; 
and  the  manner  wherein  the  first  church  of  this  New  Colony  was  gathered,  .... 

CHAPTER     V. 
Peregrini  Deo  Cures;  or,  the  Progress  of  the  New  Colony  ;  with  some  account  of  the  Persons,  the  Methods, 
and  the  Troubles,  by  which  it  came  to  something,       .  .  ...... 

CHAPTER     VI. 
Qid  trans  mare  Currunt ;  or,  the  Addition  of  several  other  Colonies  to  the  former;  with  some  Considorablo? 
in  the  condition  of  these  later  Colonies,  ......... 

CHAPTER     VII 
llecatompolis ;    or,  a  Field  which  the  Lord  hath  Blessed.     An  Ecclesiastical  Map  of  New-England.    With 
Remarks  upon  it,  .......•.■.•  • 

APPENDIX. 
The  Bostonian  Ebeneier ;  or,  some  Historical  Remarks  on  the  state  of  Boston,  the  chief  town  of  New-Eng- 
land, and  of  the  English  America,  .......... 


THE    SECOND   BOOK,  bntituled,  ECCLESIARUM  CLYI'EI. 

It  contains  the  Lives  of  the  Governours,  and  the  Names  of  the  Magistrates,  that  have  been  Shields  unto  the 
Churches  of  New-England,         ........... 


Xxvi  CONTf:NTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

TAGS 
CHAPTER       1  . 

Oaleacius  Secundus.    The  l^ife  of  William  Bradford,  Esq.,  Govoruour  of  Plymouth  Colony,  .  .        108 

CHAPTER  II. 
Piiocessors,        ..............        m 

CHAPTERIII. 
ftitrcs  Conscripti ;  or,  Assistents,      .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  ,  .  .117 

C  H  A«>  T  E  R     IV. 
J^'chcmias  Jlviericanus.    The  Life  of  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  Goveruour  of  the  Massachusct  Ckjlony,  .        lid 

CHAPTER      V. 

Successors.     Among  whom,  larger  accounts  are  given  of  Governoui-  Dudley  and  Governour  Bradstreet,     .        131 

CHAPTER  VI. 
yDJ  1/>'D  \.  e.  Viri  .Inimati ;  or,  Assistents.     With  Remarks,  ......         141 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Publicola  Christianus ;  or,  the  Life  of  Edward  Hopkins,  Esq.,  the  first  Governour  of  Connecticut  Colony,  1-13 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Successors,        ..............        Hi 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Humilitas  Honorata.    The  Life  of  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq.,  Governour  of  New-Haven  Colony,         .  .        149 

CHAPTER  X. 
Successors,         ..............        155 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Hermes  Christianus.    The  Life  of  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  first  Governour  of  Connecticut  and  N.  Haven,  united,    l.>7 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Assistents,  ........••>...        1C2 

APPENDIX. 

Pietas  in  Patriani ;  or,  the  Life  of  His  Excellency,  Sir  William  Phips,  late  Goveruour  of  New-England.    An 
History  filled  with  great  variety  of  memorable  matters,  .......        164 

THE    THIRD    BOOK,    entituled,  rOLTBIIIS. 

It  contains  the  Lives  of  many  Divines,  by  whose  evangelical  ministry  the  Churches  of  New-England  have 

been  illuminated,  ............        231 

INTRODUCTION. 
A  Ccncral  History,  Dc  Vires  llliistribus,  dividing  into  three  classes  the  Ministers  who  came  out  of  Old  Eng- 
land, for  the  service  of  New,        ...........        SJ35 

THE  FIRST  PART,  entitled,  Johannes  in  Ercmo, 245 

CHAPTER  I. 
Cattunns  Redivivns ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Cotton,        ........        252 

CHAPTER  II. 
J^oriiinus  Hunoratus  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Norton,    ........        285 

CHAPTER  III. 
Jtlemoria  TVilsoniana ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Wilson,  .......        302 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Pwr i'(a ji  ji'mus  JVow-.'Jn^/icanus;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Davenport,    ......        321 

APPENDIX. 
The  Light  of  the  Tf^cstern  C/iurcAes;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,       .....        332 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    1.  XXvii 

TAGS 

THE  SECOND  PART,  entituled,  Scpher  Jerrim,  i.  e.  Liber  Deum  Timentium ;  or,  Dead  Abels  yot  speaking, 
and  spoken  of,       ............  •        353 

INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER     I. 

Janus  J^iiv-Aiiglicanus ;  or,  tlic  Lil'e  of  Mr.  Francis  Higfjinson,  ......        S.'jl 

CHAPTER      II. 
Oijgnea  Cantio ;  or,  the  Death  of  Mr.  John  Avery,  ........        3GG 

CHAPTER     III. 
A'ntits  ad  Exemplar  ;  or  the  Life  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Burr,    ........        3G8 

CHAPTER     IV. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  George  Philips,        ...........        375 

CHAPTER     V. 
Pastor  Evangelicus  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard,  .......        380 

CHAPTER     VI. 
Prxidentius  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Peter  Prudden,      .........        395 

CHAPTER     VII. 
Melancthon  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Adam  Blackman,  ........        306 

CHAPTER      VIII. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Abraham  Pierson,     ...........        3U7 


CHAPTER     IX. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Richard  Denton, 3!)8 

CHAPTER      X. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Peter  Bulkly, 3!)y 


CHAPTER     XI. 
TJie  Life  of  Mr.  Ralph  Partridge      ...... 

CHAPTER     XII. 
Psaltes  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Henry  Dunster,  .... 

CHAPTER     Xltl. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Ezekiel  Rogei-s,       ...... 

CHAPTER     XIV. 

F.ulugius ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Rogers, 

APPENDIX. 
An  Extract  from  the  Diai-y  of  the  famous  old  Mr.  John  Rogers  of  Dedhara, 

CHAPTER      XV. 
Bibliandcr  J^ov-^nglicaiuis  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Samuel  Newman, 

CHAPTER     XVI. 
Doctor  Irrefragabilis  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Samuel  Stone, 

CHAPTER     XVII. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  William  Thompson,  ..... 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  John  Warhara,        ..... 

CHAPTER     XIX. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Henry  Flint,  ..... 

CHAPTER     XX. 
Fulgenlius  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Richard  Mather, 


^,^^jj^  CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 

r  HATTER     XXI.  rA08 

Tlic  Mfe  of  Mr.  Zachariah  ."ymmcs,  ..,..,....        4."i9 

CHAPTER     XXII. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  John  AUin, 400 

CHAPTER      XXIII. 
•Cadmus  Jlmericanus ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Charles  Chancey,  .  .  ....        4i>3 

CHAPTER      XX  TV. 
J.ucas  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Kisk,         ..........        -ITi) 

CHAPTER     XXV. 
Sckolasticus  ;  or,  the  Life  of  .Mr.  Thomas  Parker — With  an  Appendix  containing  Jlemuirs  of  Mr.  Janus  Noyes,  4SU 

CHAPTER     XXVI. 
Tlie  Life  of  Mr.  Thoma.?  Tliacher,    ...........        488 

CHAPTERXXVII. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Peter  Ilobart,   ............        4^7 

CHAPTER      XXVIII. 

A  Man  of  God,  and  an  Honourable  Man;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wliitinjf,  ....        501 

CHAPTER     XXIX. 
S.  JSstcrius ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Sherman,     .........        511 

CHAPTER     XXX. 
Kuseitus  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Cobbet,      .........        51rf 

CHAPTER     XXXI. 
Jl/(7rf«tus  ;  or,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Ward,  .........        5-21 

Mantissa. — The  E[>itaph  of  Dr.  John  Owen,  .•.,.....        521 

THE  THIRD  PART,  entituk'd,  'Ovrj.j'iSoj'a    Siriyri^O'.ra,  s\vc,  Utilf.i  .Yarrationes,         .  .  .        5013 

It  contains  the  Life  of  the  renowned  John  Eliot;  with  an  account,  concerning  the  succi!83  of  the  gospel  among 
the  Indians — A  very  entertaining  piece  of  Church-History. 

THE  FOURTH  PART,  entituled,  Rcmnim:, U-A 

INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER      I . 
liemains  of  the  First  Classis  ;  or,  Shorter  Accoinits  of  some  Useful  Divines,   .....        5(^3 

CHAPTER     II. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Allen,  ..'........        5s':< 

CHAPTER      III. 
The  Life  of  Mr.  John  Knowles,        ......  .....        5fe!i 

CHAPTER     IV. 
r.lisha^s  Bones ;  or,  the  Life  of  5Ir.  Henry  Whitfield,       .  .  .  .  .  .   "        .  .        59-J 

CHAPTER      V . 
liemams  of  the  Second  C'.ansis.     And  more  largely,  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Woodbridgo,  .  .  ,        591 

CHAPTER     VI. 
Remains  of  the  Third  Clos.iis.     With  more  pimctual  accounts  of  Mr.  John  Oxenbridge,  Mr.  Thomas  Walley, 
and  Mr.  Samuel  Lee,       ............        .W7 

CHAPTER     VII. 
A  Good  Man  making  a  Good  End  ;  or,  the  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  John  Daily,  ,  .  .  .002 


MEMOIR  OF  COTTOI  MATHER,  D.D.,  F.R.S, 

BY  SAMUEL  G.  DRAKE,  M.A. 


The  succession  of  eminent  men  by  the  name  of  Mather,  through  a 
period  of  above  one  hundred  years,  was  enough  to  make  that  name  con- 
spicuous for  several  ages  or  generations,  after  those  who  gave  the  impres- 
sion had  passed  away.  The  subject  of  this  notice,  (though  by  no  means  the 
last  of  the  Mathers,)  was  the  last  of  the  three  great  men  of  the  name,  who 
so  indelibly  impressed  his  fame  upon  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  that  no 
length  of  time  is  likely  to  obliterate  it;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
three  Mathers  should  have  followed  each  other  in  importance  in  unbroken 
succession.  Not  that  the  successors  were  better  men  than  their  predecessor, 
but  there  seems  to  have  been  an  accumulation  of  fame  attached  to  each, 
something  in  proportion  to  the  amount  and  number  of  their  literary  pro- 
ductions; for,  while  the  iirst  of  the  seiies,  the  Kev.  Eichard  Mati-ier, 
published  but  very  few  works,  perhaps  not  above  eight  or  nine,  yet  there 
have  not,  probably,  lived  in  New  England  to  this  day,  any  three  men,  of 
one  name  and  family,  who  have  been  authors  of  an  equal  number  of  pub- 
lications.    Those  of  our  author  alone  number  tliree  hundred  and  eiijldy-two.^ 

It  is  not  proposed  to  enter  at  all  into  an  examination  or  exhibition  of 
the  religious  views  and  theories  of  Dr.  Cotton  Mather:  those  can  be  best 
understood  by  a  perusal  of  his  writings;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  the 
duty  of  his  biographer  to  rebuke  those  who,  it  is  conceived,  have  calum- 
niated him. 

It  may  be  justly  said  of  Cotton  Mather,  that  he  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived;  not  only  remarkable  on 
one,  but  on  many  accounts;  and  for  none,  perhaps,  more  than  for  his 
wonderful  precociousness,  or  the  early  intuitiveness  of  his  mind.  His 
memory  was  likewise  very  extraordinary.     The  acquirement  of  knowledge 

*  Life  by  his  son,  Rev.  Samuel  Mather,  D.  D.,  who,  in  another  place,  says  their  number  is 
tliree  hundred  and  eighty-three.  Even  this  is  not  quite  all,  as  will  be  seen.  Dr.  Samuel  Matiier 
was  an  able  and  learned  Divine,  and  his  own  publislied  works  are  quite  numerous.  On  the 
rebuilding  of  Faneuil  Hall  in  Boston,  a  Charilij  Sermon  was  preached  in  it,  March  6th,  1763, 
"for  the  relief  of  the  poor,"  and  D'.  Mather  was  appointed  to  deliver  it. — News  Letter, 
March  lQ(h,  1763. 


XXX  MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATHER. 

seems  to  have  been  with  him  accomplished  almost  without  effort;  and  his 
writings  show  that  they  were  generally  drawn  from  the  store-house  of  his 
mind,  where,  from  reading  and  observation,  they  had  been  from  time  to 
time  deposited.  Authors  who  write  from  this  source  alone,  are  generally 
diffuse,  and  wanting  in  those  very  essential  and  minute  particulars,  which 
in  these  days  constitute  so  important  a  part  of  every  man's  writings.  His 
st3'le  is  very  peculiar;  and  no  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  writings 
of  the  "famous  Thomas  Fuller,"  can  hardly  doubt  that  Cotton  Mather 
attempted  to  make  that  writer's  composition  a  modelfor  his  own.  Still,  he 
falls  considerably  short  of  Fuller  in  his  attempts  at  witty  conceits;  in  them 
the  latter  is  always  happy,  while  the  former  is  seldom  so.  Yet  it  is  believed 
that  a  volume  might  be  made  up  from  his  writings,  which  would  be  well 
entitled  "Curiosities  and  Singularities  of  Cotton  Mather,"  equal,  if  not 
superior,  in  interest  to  any  thing  of  the  kind  that  has  ever  appeared. 

Ilis  ability  for  acquiring  languages  has  probably  been  surpassed  by  but 
very  few,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  master  of  more  languages  than  any 
other  person  in  New  England  in  his  time.  Of  the  Latin,  especially,  it 
must  be  confessed,  he  made  a  most  pedantic  use,  bringing  in  passages  from 
it  at  all  times,  as  though  every  body  understood  it  as  well  as  himself 

So  far  as  it  is  now  remembered.  Dr.  Douglass  seems  to  have  been  the 
author  of  the  fashion  or  practice,  so  much  in  vogue  of  late  years,  of  revil- 
ing Cotton  Mather.  It  has  been  carried  to  such  an  extreme  in  some  quar- 
ters, that  whoever  presumes  to  mention  his  name,  does  it  at  the  peril  of 
coming  in  for  a  share  of  obloquy  and  abuse  himself*  Some  not  only 
charge  him  with  committing  all  sorts  of  errors  and  blunders,  but  they 
bring  against  him  the  more  serious  charge  of  misrepresenting  matters  of 
fact.  Now,  it  would  be  well  for  those  who  bring  those  charges,  to  look 
carefull}^  to  their  own  works.  It  may  be,  if  they  cannot  see  any  thing 
pedantic,  puerile  or  false  in  them  themselves,  others  may  come  in  contact 
with  errors  even  worse  than  those  of  stupidity. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  mind  of  Dr.  Mather  was  strangely  and 
wonderfully  constituted;  and  whoever  shall  undertake  an  analysis  of  it, 
will  find  a  more  difficult  task,  perhaps,  than  those  have  found,  who  content 
themselves  with  nothing  further  than  vituperative  denunciations  upon  the 
fruits  of  it.  Literature  owes  a  vast  deal  to  Cotton  Mather;  especially  for 
liis  historical  and  biographical  works.  Were  these  alone  to  be  struck  out 
of  existence,  it  would  make  a  void  in  these  departments  of  our  literature, 
that  would  probably  confound  many  who  affect  to  look  upon  them  with 
contempt.  Even  Dr.  Douglass,  although  he  has  written  it  down  for  truth, 
that,  to  point  out  all  the  errors  in  the  Magnalia,  would  be  to  copy  the 
whole  book,  is  nevertheless,  very  much  indebted  to  it  for  facts  in  many 

*  The  author  (of  the  Magnalia)  said,  when  writing  his  great  work,  that  "he  had  no  ques- 
tion but  there  would  be  some  with  hearts  full  of  serpent  and  venom,"  who  would  "scourge 
iiini  with  scorpions"  for  the  pains  he  had  taken. 


MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATHER.  XXx'l 

parts  of  the  very  work  in  which  he  has  made  that  statement;  hence  it 
would  be  very  bad  logic  that  would  not  charge  Dr.  Douglass  with  copying 
errors  into  his  work,  knowing  them  to  be  errors.  It  would  be  very  easy 
to  point  to  some  writers  of  our  own  time,  equally  obnoxious  to  the  same 
plain  kind  of  logic;  and  a  late  writer,  of  very  good  standing,  has  with 
great  apparent  deliberation  said,  that  "it  is  impossible  to  deny,  that  the 
reputation  of  Cotton  Mather  has  declined  of  late  years."  This  may  have 
been  his  belief;  but  it  is  very  singular  that  that  same  author  should,  at 
the  same  time,  make  the  largest  book  on  the  life  of  a  man,  in  such  a  state 
of  decline,  that  had  hitherto  appeared !  But  there  need  be  no  concern  for 
the  reputation  of  Cotton  Mather,  even  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies;  and 
it  is  not  intended  to  set  up  a  special  defence  of  him  or  his  writings.  All 
his  biographer  need  to  do,  is  to  caution  those  a  little  who  want  caution, 
and  save  them,  if  he  may,  from  having  the  windows  in  their  own  houses 
broken,  by  the  very  missiles  they  themselves  have  thrown. 

The  genealogy  subjoined  to  this  notice  will  give  the  necessary  statistical 
facts  of  births,  marriages,  &c.,  in  the  Mather  family;  it  is  not  necessary 
therefore  to  repeat  them  here,  but  to  proceed  at  once  to  notice  some  of  the 
prominent  events  in  the  life  proposed. 

Cotton  Mather  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1678,  being  then  but 
sixteen  years  of  age.  At  this  early  period  he  drew  up  systems  of  the 
sciefices,  and  wrote  remarks  upon  the  books  which  he  read.  He  made  an 
almanack  for  1683,  which  was  printed  anonymously.*  This  was  unknown 
to  his  son  (who  wrote  his  life),  or  he  omitted  to  include  it  among  his  works 
from  some  other  cause.  As  a  proof  that  it  was  unknown  to  his  son,  other 
works,  of  which  he  is  known  to  be  the  author,  are  omitted  also.  To  men- 
tion but  one,  ^^  Manududio  ad  Ministerium — Directions  for  a  Candidate  of 
the  Ministry,"  &c.,  12mo.  150  pages.  In  1681:,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
he  was  ordained  minister  of  the  North  Church  in  Boston,  as  colleague  with 
his  father.  Two  years  after,  he  began  his  career  as  an  author.  His  first 
publication  (according  to  his  son's  list  of  his  works)  was  "A  Sermon  to 
the  Artillery  Company  in  Middlesex."  From  this  time  to  his  death, 
namely,  from  1686  to  1727,  no  year  passed  in  which  he  did  not  publish 
something;  thus,  in  a  period  of  forty-one  years  were  produced  above  283 
books  and  tracts;  giving  to  each  year,  on  an  average,  about  seven  works. 
He  understood  one  or  more  of  the  Indian  languages,  and  published  some 
books  in  one  of  them,  if  no  more.  In  1706  he  published  one,  not  found  in 
the  catalogue  above  mentioned.  He  also  published  some  in  Spanish  and 
some  in  Latin. f 

In  1692,  Dr.  Mather  published  his  "^Yonders  of  the  Invisible  World." 
This  was  his  account  of  the  witchcraft  cases  of  that  time.  In  this  he  laid 
himself  especially  open  to  the  charge  of  credulity,  which,  it  cannot  b'3 

*  See  N.  Eng.  H.  G.  Reg,  vii.  345.    The  authority  there  indicated  is  Hon.  Judge  S.  Sewall. 
t  See  p.  32,  vol.  i.,  of  the  Magnolia,  for  some  account,  by  the  author,  how  he  composed  it. 


xxxii  MEMOIK    OF    COTTON    MATHER. 

denied,  is  pretty  well  sustained.  But  something  more  than  bare  credulity 
seems  to  have  possessed  his  mind  in  those  times;  and  he  was  probably  as 
much  under  the  influence  of  witchcraft  as  any  to  whom  that  "sect,"  as  Dr. 
Douglass  calls  it,  was  imputed.* 

Many  have  reproached  Dr.  Mather,  as  though  he  was  the  author  of  that 
dismal  and  awful  delusion.  This  is  singularly  unjust.  He  was  himself  one 
of  the  deluded;  and  this  is  the  only  charge  that  can  lie  against  him  relative 
to  it.  All  the  world  then  believed  in  witchcraft,  and  people  entered  into 
it  according  to  their  temperament  and  circumstances.  The  delusion  was 
not  a  native  of  New  England,  but  an  exotic  from  the  father-land;  and  it 
had  been  well  if  this  had  been  the  only  one  imported  thence.  Even  when 
prosecutions  had  ceased,  there  was  not  a  cessation  of  a  belief  in  the  reality 
of  witchcraft;  its  progress  was  stayed  from  a  very  different  cause,  as  is 
now  too  well  known  to  be  entered  into  or  explained.  Even  to  the  present 
\day  there  are  thousands  who  believe  in  its  reality;  and  that  belief  can  only 
be  extirpated  by  the  progress  of  genuine  knowledge.  AVithin  the  remem- 
brance of  the  writer,  one  might  ride  from  Boston,  in  a  single  day,  with  a 
very  moderate  horse,  into  a  New  England  town  where  the  belief  in  witch- 
craft was  very  general,  and  where  many  an  old  horse-shoe  could  have 
been  seen  nailed  to  half  the  bedsteads  in  the  town  to  keep  away  those  vile 
miscreants  who  came  riding  through  the  air  upon  broomsticks,  or  across 
the  lots  upon  the  back  of  some  poor  old  woman,  who  perhaps,  from  some 
malady,  had  not  left  her  house  for  years.  How  much  short  of  a  day's  ride 
by  steam  or  otherwise  it  would  now  be  necessary  to  take  to  reach  a  place 
where  the  belief  exists,  is  left  for  the  conjecture  of  others. 

Cotton  Mather  was  undoubtedly  the  most  prominent  author  who  wrote 
on  witchcraft,  and'in  the  full  belief  of  it,  in  his  time,  in  this  country;  this 
circumstance  accounts  for  his  being  singled  out  by  "one  Robert  Calef^'' 
who  attacked  him  with  complete  success — complete,  because  he  had  reason 
and  truth  on  his  side — in  his  book,  which  he  called  "More  Wonders  of 
THE  Invisible  World,"  &c.  This  he  published  in  London,  in  a  quarto 
volume,  in  the  year  1700.  In  this  book,  Calef  styles  himself  "Merchant, 
of  Boston  in  New  EnglandJ^  Now,  in  the  absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary, 
it  may  not  be  unfair  to  presume  that  Calef  issued  his  work  quite  as  soon 
as  he  dared  to,  and  quite  as  soon  as  public  opinion  would  tolerate  a  work 
which  had  for  its  aim  a  deadly  blow  against  a  belief  in  the  imaginary  crime 
of  witchcraft.  For  it  is  known  that  as  soon  as  Calef 's  book  did  appear,  some 
of  Dr.  Mather's  friends  came  out  with  another  work  against  that  author, 
from  the  title  of  which  alone  its  contents  can  pretty  well  be  judged  of. 
It  is  "Some  few  Kemarks  upon  a  Scandalous  Book  written  by  one 
Robert  Calef."  But  this  book  and  its  authors  are  alike  unknown,  while 
Calef  occupies  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  benefactors  of  mankind. 

*  In  reckoning  up  the  various  religious  sects  in  New  England,  that  author  puts  down 
wiiclirraft  as  one  of  them !     Summarij,  &c. 


MEMOIE    OF    COTTON    MATHEE. 


XXXUI 


The  foreign  correspondence  of  Dr.  Mather  was  very  extensive;  "so 
that,"  says  his  sod,  "I  have  known  him  at  one  time  to  have  above  fifty 
beyond  sea."  Among  his  correspondents  were  many  of  the  most  learned 
and  famous  men  in  Europe;  as  Sir  Richard  Blackmore,  Mr.  Whiston, 
Dr.  Desaguliers,  Mr.  Pillionere,  Dr.  Franckius,  Wm.  Waller,  Dr. 
Chamberlain,  Dr.  Woodward,  Dr.  Jurin,  Dr.  Watts,  &c.  In  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  in  1743,  Dr.  Watts  says  "he  had  enjoyed  a  happy  corres- 
pondence with  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  for  near  twenty  years  before  his  death, 
as  well  as  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Mather,  his  son,  ever  since." 

In  1710,  came  out  a  book  from  the  pen  of  our  author,  which  he  entitled 
''^Bonifacius:  An  Essay  upon  the  Good  to  be  devised  by  those  who  would 
answer  the  great  End  of  Life."  In  this  work  are  many  excellent  maxims 
and  reflections,  but  its  popularity  has  probably  been  very  much  enhanced 
by  what  Dr.  Franklin  has  said  of  it.  Dr.  Mather  was  well  acquainted  with 
Franklin  when  the  latter  was  a  young  man ;  and  when  Franklin  was  an 
old  man,  in  the  year  1784,  in  writing  to  Samuel  Mather,  son  of  Cotton, 
he  thus  alludes  to  it  in  his  happy  style: — "When  I  was  a  boy,  I  met  with 
a  book  entitled  ^Essays  to  do  Good^  which  I  think  was  written  by  your 
father.  It  had  been  so  little  regarded  by  a  former  possessor,  that  several 
leaves  of  it  were  torn  out;  but  the  remainder  gave  me  such  a  turn  of 
thinking,  as  to  have  an  influence  on  my  conduct  through  life ;  for  I  have 
always  set  a  greater  value  on  the  character  of  a  doer  of  good  than  on  any 
other  kind  of  reputation."  In  the  same  letter  is  to  be  found  that  often-told 
anecdote  of  an  interview  he  once  had  with  Doctor  Mather.  This,  too,  that  it 
may  lose  nothing  at  the  writer's  hands,  is  given  in  its  author's  own  words : 
"You  mention  being  in  your  seventy-eighth  year;  I  am  in  my  seventy- 
ninth  ;  we  are  grown  old  together.  It  is  now  more  than  sixty  years  since 
I  left  Boston,  but  I  remember  well  both  your  father  and  grandfather;  hav- 
ing heard  them  both  in  the  pulpit,  and  seen  them  in  their  houses.  The 
last  time  I  saw  your  father  was  in  the  beginning  of  1724,  when  I  visited 
him  after  my  |frst  trip  to  Pennsylvania.  He  receivq.d  me  in  his  library, 
and  on  my  taking  leave  showed  me  a  shorter  way  out  of  the  house  through 
a  narrow  passage,  which  was  crossed  by  a  beam  over  head.  We  were  still 
talking  as  I  withdrew,  he  accompanying  me  behind,  and  I  turning  partly 
towards  him,  when  he  said,  hastily,  '  /S'tooj),  stoop  !'  I  did  not  understand  him 
till  I  felt  my  head  hit  against  the  beam.  He  was  a  man  that  never  missed 
any  occasion  of  giving  instruction,  and  upon  this  he  said  to  me,  '  You  are 
young ^  and  have  the  world  before  you;  STOOP  as  you  go  through  it,  and  you 
toill  miss  many  hard  thumps.''  This  advice,  thus  beat  into  my  head,  has 
frequently  been  of  use  to  me ;  and  I  often  think  of  it,  when  I  see  pride 
mortified,  and  misfortunes  brought  upon  people  by  their  carrying  their 
heads  too  high."  This  moral,  so  essentially  good  in  itself,  does  not  need 
the  high  recommendation  of  a  Franklin,  though  but  for  him  it  would  not, 
Vol.  I.— c 


xxxiv 


MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATHER. 


probably,  Lave  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  every  youth  who  has 
learned  or  may  yet  learn  to  read. 

It  may  be  too  much  a  custom  to  dwell  on  the  errors  and  misfortunes  of 
people  while  living;  and  to  err,  on  the  other  hand,  by  making  their  char- 
acters appear  too  well  after  they  have  passed  away ;  especially  if  they  have 
been  sufficiently  conspicuous  in  life  to  require  a  written  memorial  after 
their  decease.  Though  Dr.  Cotton  Mather  had  enemies  while  living,  his 
memory  has  been  pursued  with  more  malignity,  since  his  death,  than  has 
happened  to  that  of  most  men ;  and,  as  is  conceived,  without  sufficient  rea- 
son, and  which  could  only  be  warranted  by  the  most  undoubted  proofs 
that  he  has  purposely  led  his  readers  into  errors,  and  that  he  acted  falsely 
on  the  most  important  occasions ;  and  that,  finally,  he  was  too  bad  a  man 
to  make  any  acknowledgment  of  all  this,  though  conscious  of  it,  when  he 
took  his  final  departure  with  the  messenger  of  his  last  summons. 

The  following  account  of  Dr.  Mather's  death  and  funeral,  is  taken  ver- 
hatim  from  the  New  England  Weekly  Journal^  of  the  19th  and  26th  of 
February,  1728: 

"Last  Tuesday  in  the  Forenoon,  between  8  and  9  o'clock,  died  here  the  very  Reverend 
COTTON  MATHER,  Doctor  in  Divinity  of  Glasco,  and  Felloiv  of  the  Royal  Society  in  Lon- 
d(m,  Semor  Pastor  of  the  Old  North  Church  in  Boston,  and  an  Overseer  of  Harvard^ College; 
by  whose  Death  Persons  of  all  Ranks  are  in  Concern  and  Sorrow.  He  was  perhaps  the  prin- 
cipal Ornament  of  this  Country,  the  greatest  Scholar  that  ever  was  bred  in  it.  But  besides  his 
universal  Learning;  his  exalted  Piety  and  extensive  Charity,  his  entertaining  Wit,  and  singular 
goodness  of  Temper  recommended  him  to  all,  that  were  Judges  of  real  and  distinguished  merit. 

"  After  having  spent  above  Forty  seven  years  in  the  faithful  and  unwearied  Discharge  of  a 
lively,  zealous  and  awakening  Ministry,  and  in  incessant  Endeavors  to  do  good  and  spread 
abroad  the  Glory  of  CHRIST,  he  finished  his  Course  with  a  divine  Composure  and  Joy,  the  day 
after  his  Birth  Day  which  compleated  his  Sixty  Fifth  year;  being  born  on  Feb.  12,  1662-3." 

"  On  Monday  last  the  Remains  of  the  Late  very  Reverend  and  Learned  Dr.  Cotton  Mather, 
who  deceas'd  on  Tuesday  the  13th  Instant,  to  the  great  Loss  and  Sorrow  of  this  Town  and 
Country,  were  very  honourably  interred.  His  Reverend  Colleague  in  deep  Mourning,  with  the 
Brethren  of  the  Church,  walking  in  a  Body  before  the  Corpse.  The  six  first  Ministers  of  the 
Boston  Lecture  supported  the  Pall.  Several  Gentlemen  of  the  bereaved  Flock  took  their  turns 
to  bear  the  Cofiin.  After  which  followed,  first  the  bereaved  Relatives  in  Mourning;  then 
his  Honour  the  Lieutenant  Governour,  the  Honourable  His  Majesty's  Council,  and  House  of 
Representatives ;  and  then  a  large  Train  of  Ministers,  Justices,  Merchants,  Scholars  and  other 
principal  Inhabitants,  both  Men  and  Women.  The  Streets  were  crouded  with  People,  and 
the  Windows  fiU'd  with  sorrowful  Spectators,  all  the  way  to  the  Burying  Place :  where  the 
Corpse  was  deposited  in  a  Tomb  belonging  to  the  worthy  Family."  [On  Copp's  Hill,  at 
the  north  end  of  the  town.] 

On  the  Mather  Tomb  are  the  following  inscriptions : 

THE    REVEREND   DOCTORS 
JJVCRE^SE,     COTTOJ^,    ^  JV  D     SAMUEL    MATHER 

WERE     INTERRED     IN     THIS     VAULT. 

'TIS    THE    TOMB    OF    OUR    FATHERS. 

I.    DIED  AUG't  27th,  1723,  M.  84. 
C.    DIED  FEB.  13th,  \l\n^  M.  65. 
S.    DIED  JUNE  27th.  1785.  JE.  79. 


MEMOIR     OF    COTTON     MA  THEE.  XXXV 

Nobody  will  charge  the  Rev.  Thomas  Pkince  with  insincerity  in  what 
he  has  said  of  his  co-labourers,  and  HE  says,  "Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  though 
born  and  constantly  residing  in  this  remote  corner  of  America,*  has  yet 
for  near  these  forty  years  made  so  rising  and  great  a  figure  in  the  learned 
world,  as  has  attracted  to  him,  while  alive,  the  eyes  of  many  at  the  farthest 
distance;  and  now  deceased,  can't  but  raise  a  very  general  wish. to  see  the 
series,  and  more  especially  the  domestic  part  of  so  distinguished  a  life 
exhibited.  His  printed  writings,  so  full  of  piety  and  various  erudition,  his 
vast  correspondence,  and  the  continual  reports  of  travellers  who  had  con- 
versed with  him,  had  spread  his  reputation  into  other  countries.  And 
when,  about  fourteen  years  ago,  I  travelled  abroad,  I  could  not  but  admire 
to  what  extent  his  fame  had  reached,  and  how  inquisitive  were  gentlemen 
of  letters  to  hear  and  know  of  the  most  particular  and  lively  manner,  both 
of  his  private  conversation  and  public  performances  among  us." 

Dr.  Colman  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  Dr.  Mather,  in  his  Funeral 
Sermon.  "His  printed  works,"  he  says,  "will  not  convey  to  posterity, 
nor  give  to  strangers  a  just  idea  of  the  real  worth  and  great  learning  of 
the  man."  To  this,  and  a  great  deal  more  equally  commendatory,  Mr. 
Prince  subscribes  in  these  words:  "Every  one  who  intimately  knew  the 
Doctor  will  readily  assent  to  this  description." 

It  would  be  difficult,  perhaps,  to  produce  an  example  of  industry  equal 
to  that  of  Dr.  Cotton  Mather.  In  one  year,  it  is  said,,  he  kept  sixty  fasts 
and  twenty  vigils,  and  published  fourteen  books — all  this  besides  perform- 
ing his  ministerial  duties ;  which  duties  in  those  daj^s  were  something  more 
than  nominal.     He  kept  a  diary,  which  has  been  extensively  used  by  some 

*  This  and  similar  expressions  are  very  common  in  the  New  England  writers  of  that  day. 
They  seem  peculiarly  odd  in  our  times,  but  by  another  hundred  and  fifty  years  they  may  be 
viewed  as  something  more  than  odd.  Having  a  few  others  at  hand,  I  will  throw  them  in 
here  as  curiosities  of  those  days : 

In  these  goings  down  of  the  sun;  Dr.  I.  Mather,  Brief  Hist., -p.  1.     Prince,  Pref.  to 
Torreys  Election  Sermon. 
Remote  American  parts  of  the  Earth;  id.  (I.  Mather)  Praise  out  of  the  mouth  of  Babes. 
This  remote  Corner  of  the  Earth;  id.  Elect.  Sermon. 

These  dark  Territories  ;  id.  Cases  of  Conscience  concerning  Witchcraft,  45. 
These  Ends  of  the  Earth;  id.  Pref.  to  Loving's  Ser.  at  Lexington,  (1718.) 
These  Dark  Corners  of  the  Earth ;  id.  Prevalency  of  Prayer,  p.  5. 
In  these  Ends  of  the  Earth;  Prince,  Pref.  N.  Eng.  Psalm  Book. 
A  desart  Wilderness,  thousands  of  leagues  by  sea;  Johnson  Wond.  Work  Prov. 
In  this  Howling  Desart;  id. 

Beyond  a  dreadful  and  terrible  Ocean  900  leagues  in  length;  id. 
This  far  remote  and  vast  Wilderness;  id. 
This  Western  End  of  the  World;  id. 

Here  I  will  close  the  extracts — not,  however,  for  want  of  others.  I  am  also  aware  that 
modern  writers  sometimes  use  similar  expressions,  when  speaking  of  this  country.  Several 
instances  occur  in  Trumbull's  McFingal.  '? 


Xxxvi  MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATHER. 

of  his  bograpliei's,  but  it  was  not  sought  after  on  this  occasion,  as  it  is  said  to 
be  scattered  in  different  places !  How  this  happened  the  writer  has  not  been 
informed.  Notwithstanding  he  published  so  many  works,  he  left  nearly 
as  much  unpublished  in  manuscript;  the  principal  part  of  which  is  enti- 
tled, "Biblia  Americana,"  or  "The  Sacred  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  Illustrated."  For  the  publication  of  this  work  proposals  were 
issued  soon  after  its  author  died,  but  nothing  further  seems  to  have  been 
done  about  it.  Of  the  "Biblia  Americana,"  the  Doctor's  son  remarks, 
'■'■That  is  a  work,  the  writing  of  which  is  enough  constantly  to  employ  a 
man,  unless  he  be  a  miracle  of  diligence,  the  half  of  the  three-score  years 
and  ten,  the  sum  of  years  allowed  to  us." 

It  remains  now  to  mention  the  book  by  which  Dr.  Mather  is  best  known, 
the  work  for  which  this  memoir  is  prepared,  and  which  will  make  his 
name  prominent  through  all  coming  time — the  reader's  mind  is  already  in 
advanceof  thepen— thei/^(?iV"^i:/J.  GHRISTI  AMERICANA.  This 
was  printed  in  London,  in  1702,  in  a  moderate  sized  folio  volume,  in  double 
column,  the  aggregate  of  its  pages  being  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four. 
It  is  chiefly  a  collection  of  what  the  author  had  before  printed  on  histor- 
ical and  biographical  subjects.  The  value  of  its  contents  has  been  varioush' 
estimated.  Some  decrying  it  below  any  value,  while  others  pronounce  it 
"the  only  classic  ever  written  in  America."  At  the  hazard  of  incurring 
the  charge  of  stupidity,  it  is  the  decided  opinion  of  the  writer,  that  it  has  a 
value  between  those  extremes.  But  the  writer  has  sufficiently  expressed  his 
mind  on  the  value  of  the  author's  works  before.  There  have  been  two 
editions  of  the  "Magnalia"  before  the  present;  the  last  was  printed  at 
Hartford,  in  two  volumes,  octavo,  1820.  Unfortunately,  this  edition  was 
printed  from  a  copy  of  that  in  folio,  which  had  not  the  errata,  and  conse- 
quently abounds  with  all  the  errors  contained  in  the  original  edition.  To 
those  who  do  not  understand  the  matter,  this  printing  an  edition  of  the 
'■^ Maijnalia''^  without  correcting  its  errata,  may  seem  to  incur  for  the  pub- 
lisher severe  reprehension.  But  the  truth  appears  to  be,  that  the  copy 
used  in  printing  the  new  edition  had  not  the  complete  errata  attached  to 
it;  and  that,  in  fact,  but  very  few  copies  of  the  original  edition  can  be 
found  to  which  it  is  attached.  Now,  its  rarity  is  accounted  for  in  this  way: 
Dr.  Mather,  living  in  Boston  while  his  work  was  printing  in  London,  could 
make  no  corrections  while  it  was  passing  through  the  press;  but  when  he 
received  his  copies  afterwards,  he  found  so  many  errors,  that  he  was  induced 
to  print  an  extra  sheet  of  corrections.  This  extra  sheet  may  not  have  been 
struck  off  until  most  of  the  copies  of  the  Magnalia  which  had  been  sent 
to  New  England  were  distributed;  and  thus  the  rare  occurrence  of  copies 
of  the  Magnalia,  containing  the  errata  is  accounted  for;  and  hence  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  last  edition  should  not  be  too  severely  censured.  That  this 
solution  is  correct,  it  might  be  mentioned,  that  out  of  a  great  man}''  copies 
of  the  folio  cditio'i  imported  by  the  writer  and  others  from  Englan^!,  not  OTie 


MEMOIK    OF    COTTON    MATIIEK.  XXXvii 

of  tliem  contained  the  errata  in  question.  The  edition  now  given  to  the  imb- 
lic^  has  the  advantage  of  being  corrected  by  Dr.  Mather^s  own  errata. 

On  the  last  page  of  the  folio  edition  of  the  Magnalia^  the  following  are  the 
three  concluding  lines: — "  Errata.  Eeader,  Carthagenia  was  of  the  mind, 
that  unto  those  three  things  which  the  ancients  held  impossible,  there  should 
be  added  this  fourth^  to  find  a  book  printed  without  erratas.  It  seems  the 
hands  of  Briareus,  and  the  eyes  of  Argus  will  not  prevent  them."  And  the 
additional  errata,  of  which  mention  has  just  been  made,  the  author  thus  pre- 
faces: "The  Holy  Bible  itself,  in  some  of  its  editions,  hath  been  affronted 
with  scandalous  errors  of  the  press-work ;  and  in  one  of  them,  they  so 
printed  those  words,  Psalms  119,  161,  ^Printers  have  persecuted  me^''''  &c. 

In  the  book  which,  before  all  others,  should  be  found  full  and  ample 
materials  for  a  genealogy  of  Dr.  Mather's  own  family,  a  very  meagre  and 
unsatisfactory  account  only  is  to  be  seen;  yet,  as  deficient  and  meagre  as 
it  is,  it  is  of  great  importance,  as  containing  nothing  upon  the  subject  but 
what  the  author  himself  knew.  That  work  is  entitled,  "The  Life  of  the 
VERY  Reverend  and  Learned  Cotton  Mather,  D.  D.,  and  F.  R.  S.,"  &c., 
by  his  son  Samuel  Mather,  M.  A.,  published  the  next  year  after  the  death 
of  the  author's  father.  The  sum  of  what  this  book  contains  on  our  imme- 
diate subject,  is  here  condensed  into  a  paragraph,  as  follows: 

After  informing  the  reader  that  his  father  was  born  on  "Thursday,  Feb. 
12,  1662-3,  at  Boston,  in  New  England,"  he  continues,  "I  have  no  great 
disposition  to  enquire  into  the  remote  antiquities  of  his  family;  nor,  indeed, 
is  it  matter  of  much  consequence  that  in  our  Coat  of  Arms,  we  bear 
Ermine,  Or,  A  Fess,  wavy.  Azure,  three  Lions  rampant;  or;  for  a  Crest, 
on  a  wreath  of  our  Colours  a  Lion  Sedan t,  or  on  a  Trunk  of  a  Tree  ?;er^."* 
"His  mother  was  Maria,  the  daughter  of  the  renowned  Mr.  John  Cotton, 
who  was  a  man  of  very  exalted  piety  and  uncommon  learning :  Out  of 
respect  to  this  excellent  man,  he  was  called  Cotton.  His  education  was 
at  the  free  school  in  Boston,  under  the  care,  first,  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Thomp- 
son, a  man  of  great  learning,  last,  under  the  famous  Mr.  Ezekiel  Cheever." 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  graduated,  and  when  eighteen  years  and  one-half, 
received  the  degree  of  M.  A.,  from  the  hands  of  his  own  father.  Dr.  In- 
crease Mather,  who  was  then  President  of  Harvard  College.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-four  he  was  married,  and  in  1702  his  wife  died.  In  somewhat 
less  than  a  year  he  married  again,  "one  of  good  sense,  and  blessed, with  a 
complete  discretion,  with  a  very  handsome,  engaging  countenance;  and 

*  This  is  exactly  as  we  find  it,  and  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  reduce  it  to  more  intelli- 
gible heraldic  language.  We  would  remark,  in  this  connection,  that  the  above  description  of 
the  Arms  of  Mather  has  scarcely  any  thing  in  common  with  a  coat  of  arms  given  in  a 
"  Mather  Genealogy,"  published  by  Mr.  John  Mather,  of  the  Connecticut  branch  of  the  family, 
in  1848.  The  author  of  that  work  has  not  committed  himself  by  giving  a  description  of 
the  Arms  he  has  published.  To  it  we  have  been  indebted,  to  some  extent,  especially  in 
the  later  generations  of  the  Connecticut  Mathers. 


XXXviii  MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATIIEK. 

one  honorably  descended  and  related,  'twas  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Huebaed, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Clabk,  who  had  been  a  widow  four 
years.  He  rejoiced  in  her  as  having  great  spoiV  By  his  third  wife  he  had 
no  issue.  "By  the  two  former  wives  he  had  fifteen  children,  only  two  of 
which  are  living;  one  a  daughter  by  the  first  wife;  the  other,  a  son  by 
the  second;  he  is  the  writer.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  nine  children,  of 
which  but  four  arrived  to  man's  or  woman's  estate.  By  his  second,  two 
children  only  lived  to  grow  up  out  of  six." 

Such  is  the  account  of  the  children  of  Cotton  Mather  by  one  of  those 
children;  and  although  there  were  f/tee7i,  from  his  account  the  names  of 
Jive  only  are  learned;  nor  have  we  been  able,  from  all  other  sources,  to 
make  out  the  names  of  but  thirteen. 

It  is  said  in  the  "Mather  Genealogy,"  mentioned  in  the  note,  that  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  named  Jerunha^  married  a  Smith  of  Suffield, 
Ct.,  and  that  she  was  the  grandmother  of  John  Cotton  Smith,  late  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State;  on  the  authority  of  Governor  Smith  himself  This 
must  be  an  error,  if  our  account  of  the  children  be  correct,  because  it  is 
shown  that  the  daughter  named  Jerusha,  died  at  the  age  of  two  and  a  half 
years,  in  the  year  1713.  Mr.  Smith  says  his  grand-mother  died  in  Sharon, 
Ct.,  in  1784,  in  her  ninetieth  year;  hence  she  was  born  in  1693^.  Now, 
Cotton  Mather's  daughter  Abigail,  was  born  in  1694;  therefore  it  is  plain, 
we  think,  that  Jerusha  Mather,  who  "married  a  Smith  of  Suflfield,"  was 
not  a  daughter  of  Cotton.,  but  perhaps  a  daughter  of  Atherton  Mather, 
who  lived  in  Suffield,  and  had  a  daughter  Jerusha.  Cotton  and  Atherton 
were  own  cousins,  and  a  daughter  of  the  latter  would  be  very  likely  to 
name  a  son  after  so  distinguished  a  kinsman  as  Dr.  Mather;  for  Governor 
Smith's  father  was  named  Cotton  Mather  Smith. 

Few  ministers  preached  a  greater  number  of  Funeral  Sermons  than  Dr. 
Mather;  and  when  he  died,  his  cotemporaries  seemed  to  have  vied  with 
each  other  in  performing  the  same  office  for  him.  Several  of  their 
sermons  were  printed.  Some  of  these  with  their  quaint  titles  are  now 
before  us.  Foremost  among  them  appears  that  of  the  excellent  Mr. 
Prince;  he  entitled  his  "The  Departure  of  Elijah  lamented. — A  Ser- 
mon occasioned  by  the  Great  and  Publick  loss  in  the  Decease  of  the  very 
Reverend  and  Learned  COTTON  MATHER,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  and  Senior 
Pastor  of  the  North  Church  in  Boston.  Who  left  this  Life  on  Feb.  13th, 
1727,  8.  The  morning  after  he  finished  the  LXV,  year  of  his  Age," — 
From  2  Kings  ii.  12,  13.  The  imprint  of  this  Sermon  is,  "Boston  in  New 
England:  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  near  the  Brick  Meeting-House  in 
Cornhill.     MDCCXXVIII." 

The  running  title  of  Dr.  Colman's  Sermon  on  the  same  occasion  is,  "  The 
Holy  Walk  and  Glorious  Translation  of  Blessed  ENOCH.''  His  text  was 
Gen.  V.  24.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  thing  of  the  kind,  either 
before  or  since,  which,  in  our  judgment,  is  superior  to  this  discourse  of 


MEMOIE    OF    COTTON    MATHER.  XXxix 

Dr.  Colman;  but,  valuable  as  it  is,  we  cannot  introduce  extracts  from  it 
here.  His  allusion,  however,  to  the  then  past  and  present  state  of  things 
connected  with  his  subject,  is  so  happy  that  we  cannot  overlook  it. 

"Dr.  Mather's  brethren  in  the  Ministry  here,"  he  says,  "are  bereaved 
and  weak  with  him.  God  has  taken  their  father,  as  well  as  his,  from  their 
heads  this  day.  He  was  a  Pastor  in  the  town  when  the  eldest  of  the 
present  Pastors  were  but  children,  and  long  before  most  of  them  were 
born.  They  are  weak  indeed  when  he  that  is  now  speaking  to  them  is 
the  Jirst  in  years  among  them,  in  all  respects  else  the  least,"  &c. 

The  Rev.  Joshua  Gee,*  colleague  with  Dr.  Mather,  also  preached  a 
Funeral  Sermon  on  his  departed  friend,  entitled,  "Israel's  Mourning  for 
Aaron's  Death.''''  In  this  discourse  there  is  the  following  important  note: 
"  Within  a  few  months  past,  we  have  been  called  to  lament  the  deaths  of 
two  such  aged  servants  of  the  Lord.  The  Rev.  Mr.  SamvA  Danforth  of 
Taunton,  who  died  Nov.  14.  And  my  honored  father-in-law,  the  Mr.  Peter 
Thatcher  of  Milton,  who  died  Dec.  17,  1727:  while  the  days  of  mourning 
were  scarce  over  in  this  town  for  my  dearly  beloved  friend  and  brother, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  William  Waldron,  who  died  Sept.  11,  1727." 

Dr.  Mather's  son,  "Samuel  Mather,  M.  A.,  and  Chaplain  at  Castle 
William,"  also  preached  a  Funeral  Sermon  on  his  father's  death.  "The 
Departure  and  Character  of  ELIJAH  considered  and  improved,"  was  its 
running  title.  Only  about  five  years  before,  the  deceased  preached  a  ser- 
mon on  the  death  of  his  father;  in  the  title-page  of  which,  instead  of  the 
author's  name,  we  read,  "By  one  who,  as  a  son  with  a. father,  served  with 
him  in  the  Gospel."f 

There  were  other  discourses  on  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Mather's  death,  but 
they  are  not  within  our  reach;  and  if  they  were,  we  have  not  room  even 
for  their  titles. 

Dr.  Mather  died  intestate,  and  the  order  of  the  Judge  of  Probate  for 
the  distribution  of  his  estate  is  as  follows: — "One  third  to  his  widow, 
Lydia  Mather;  two  single  shares  or  fourth  parts  to  Samuel  Mather,  Clerk, 
only  surviving  son,  and  one  share  each  to  the  rest  of  his  children,  viz: 
Abigail  Willard,  deceased,  wife  of  Daniel  Willard,  also  deceased,  their 
children  and  legal  representatives,  and  Hannah  Mather,  Spinster."  Dated, 
25th  May,  1730. 

The  following  items,  illustrative  of  the  history  of  the  Mather  family,  are 
thought  to  be  of  sufficient  interest  to  claim  an  insertion  here:  "Peter  Hix 

*  Who  was  Joshua  Gee,  who  in  1731  published  a  third  edition  of  "The  Trade  and  Nav- 
igation of  Great  Britain  Considered,"  Slc.1  In  this  work  there  is  much  relative  to  the 
"  American  Plantations." 

f  Whoever  desires  to  be  further  informed  respecting  the  life  and  character  of  Dr.  Cotton 
Mather,  cannot  do  better,  in  our  opinion,  than  to  read  Dr.  Eliot's  notice  of  him  in  his  New 
Eng.  Biographical  Dictionary.  For  neatness,  truthfulness,  and  elegance,  it  is  nothing  sliort 
of  the  superlative  degree.  The  article  in  Dr.  Allen's  Amer.  Biog.  Diet,  is  also  a  good  and 
candid  one.    Of  the  more  recent  and  laboured  lives  of  our  subject,  we  have  not  room  to  speak. 


^  MEMOIR    OF    COTTON    MATHER. 

of  Dorchester  and  Sarah  his  wife,  appointed  guardians  to  Katherine  Mather, 
aged  about  five  years,  daughter  of  Joseph  Mather,  yeoman,  late  of  Dor- 
chester, deceased.     Dated  9  May,  1695.— Suffolk  Wills,  vol  XIII.  299." 

"Petition  of  Samuel  Mather  of  Boston,  Clerk,  praying  the  consideration 
of  the  court  for  the  eminent  and  signal  services  of  his  venerable  and  hon- 
ored grand-father,  with  another  petition  of  sundry  others  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  petitioner's  grand-father." — Jour.  H.  R.  20  Dec,  1738.  On 
the  29th  Dec.  following,  "The  committee  reported  that,  considering  the 
Kev.  Dr.  Increase  Mather  not  only  served  his  particular  church  faithfully, 
and  the  college  as  their  President  with  honor,  but  the  province  as  an  agent 
in  procuring  the  present  charter,  to  the  good  acceptance  of  his  country; 
and  that  his  son,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  and  grand-son,  the  petitioner, 
his  successor  in  the  same  church  and  ministry,  have  not  behaved  them- 
selves unworthy  of  such  an  ancestor,  and  have  never  had  one  foot  of  land 
granted  to  either  of  them,  as  we  can  learn,  are  therefore  of  opinion,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  gratification  of  £200  given  him,  as  is  alleged,  it  may 
be  proper  for  this  court  to  grant  a  farm  of  500  acres,  to  the  heirs  of  the 
said  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  and  report  accordingly." — ib. 

The  following  year  there  is  this  entry  upon  the  Journal: — "Petition  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Mather,  praying  as  entered  the  12th  and  20th  of  Dec. 
last,  and  a  petition  of  Maria  Fifield,  Elizabeth  Byles,  and  others,  heirs  of 
Dr.  Increase  Mather,  praying  the  consideration  of  the  court  ou  account  of 
their  father's  public  services." — ih.  22  June,  1739. 

In  1730,  a  petition  of  Richard  Mather  and  sundry  other  inhabitants 
of  Suffield  and  Enfield  was  presented  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts, praying  for  a  tract  of  land  on  "  Houssatunnic  river,"  for  a  township. 
—4h,  1730. 

"  Atherton  Mather  of  Windsor,  Ct.,  appointed  administrator  on  the  estate 
of  his  sister  Katherine,  late  of  Windsor,  deceased,  intestate,  spinster,  14 
July,  1694.  Inventory  presented  by  Atherton  Mather,  19  July,  1694.  Real 
estate  in  Dorchester  to  be  divided  between  the  two  surviving  brothers  and 
the  children  of  her  deceased  brethren,  by  her  brother  Atherton  Mather; 
his  eldest  brother,  Samuel,  having  refused  the  trust." — Suff.  Wills,  vol. 
XIII.  288. 

"We  hear  from  Halifax,  that  Dr.  Thomas  Mather  lately  died  there  of 
a  fever.  He  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Mather  of  this  town,  and  sur- 
geon of  the  Provincial  Regiment  in  Nova  Scotia." — Bost.  Ev.  Post,  20th 
Dec,  1762. 

The  Portrait  of  which  ours  accompanying  this  volume  was  engraved  is  a 
beautiful  mezzotinto,  half  size,  with  the  following  inscription  underneath  it: 

"  Cottonus  Miitlierus  S.  Theolorria?  Doctor  Regiaj  Soc-iet:itis  Londinensis  Sociiis,  et  Ecelesiie 
apud  Bostonum  Nov-Anglorum  inipcr  Pra>positns. 

.Etatis  Siuu  LXV.  MDCCXXVII. 

P.  Pelham  ad  vivum  pinxit  ab  Origin  Fecit." 


MEMOIE    OF   COTTON    MATHER.  2i:li 

Althougli  the  name  of  Mather  has  never  been  so  conspicuous  in  Old  as 
in  New  England,  yet  there  have  probably  always  existed  persons  of  the 
name  in  that  country  of  good  standing  and  respectability.*  About  the 
commencement  of  the  present  century,  there  were  the  Eev.  William 
Mather,  of  Dover,  and  the  Rev.  John  Mather  of  Beverley  in  Yorkshire. 
Portraits  of  these  gentlemen  have  been  published — of  the  former  in  1817, 
and  of  the  latter  in  1823.  How  these  persons  stood  related,  or  to  Vk'hat 
branch  of  the  Mather  family  they  belonged,  we  are  entirely  uninformed, 
nor  have  we  attempted  any  investigations  for  the  family  in  England,  other 
than  we  have  indicated  in  this  article. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  remark  here,  upon  the  Mather  portraits,  that 
that  of  Dr.  Increase  Mather  in  "Palmer's  Calamy's  Nonconformist's 
Memorial,"  is  probably  a  fancy  sketch;  as  it  has  no  resemblance  whatever 
to  the  original  painting  existing  in  Boston.  There  is  a  painting  of  the 
Rev.  Richard  Mather,  (father  of  Increase)  at  Worcester,  of  undoubted 
authenticity. 

The  name  Mather  is  derived  from  the  Saxon  niath^  to  mow;  mather,  a 
mower;  as  m^7/,  miller,  &c.  The  family,  at  the  time  of  emigration  to  this 
country,  was  not  entitled  to  bear  coat-armour,  being  yeomen,  though  of 
good  estate.  A  branch  of  the  family  in  England  has  lately  had  a  coat  of 
arms  and  crest  granted  them,f  as  follows: 

Arms:' — Quarterly  Argent  and  Gules,  four  scythes  counterchanged.:|: 
Crest. — A  demi  husbandman  habited  quarterly.  Argent  and  Gules,  cap- 
ped the  same,  face  and  hands  ppr.,  holding  in  the  dexter  hand  a  horn  Or, 
in  the  sinister  a  scythe  ppr — Motto  (in  old  English) — illouic  lHai'tlte. 

*  There  was  an  Alexander  Mather,  Member  of  Parliamant  from  the  city  of  Norwich,  (J 
Edward  VI.  (1547.) — George  Mather,  Esq.,  resided  near  New  Orleans  in  1784.  He  resided 
there  iwenty-tioo  years. 

f  The  grant,  according  to  Burke,  (Heraldic  Register,  32)  bears  date  Feb.  18,  1847,  and  was 
"  To  Thomas  Mather  of  Glyn  Abbot,  Co.  of  Flint,  and  formerly  of  Liverpool,  Esq.,  a 
'magistrate  for  the  Co.  of  Flint,  son  and  heir  of  Thomas  M.  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Liverpool; 
and  grand-son  of  Daniel  Mather  of  Toxteth  Park,  to  be  borne  by  the  descendants  of  his  late 
fi'.ther,  and  his  aunt,  Sarah  Mather  of  Toxteth  Park,  spinster,  only  surviving  sister  of  his 
late  father."  Ellis  Mather  was  (says  the  foresaid  author)  the  first  settler  in  Toxteth,  de- 
scended from  a  family  long  seated  in  the  parish  of  Radcliffe  and  its  neighbourhood.  They 
held  Toxteth  Park  from  the  time  of  Elizabeth  till  recently. 

I  Researches  of  H.  G.  Somerby,  Esq.,  in  England,  communicated  to  the  author. 

BOSTON,  January,  lb54. 


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® 


AN  ATTESTATION 


CI-IUECH-HISTOEY  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 


It  hath  been  deservedly  esteemed  one  ot  the  great  and  wonderful  works  of  God  in  this 
last  age,  that  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirits  of  so  many  thousands  of  his  servants,  to  leave 
the  pleasant  land  of  England,  the  land  of  their  nativity,  and  to  transport  themselves,  and 
families,  over  the  ocean  sea,  into  a  desert  land  in  America,  at  the  distance  of  a  thousand 
leagues  from  their  own  country;  and  this,  meerly  on  the  account  of  pure  and  undefiled 
Religion,  not  knowing  how  they  should  have  their  daily  bread,  but  trusting  in  God  for  that, 
in  the  way  of  seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  righteousness  thereof:  And  that  the 
Lord  was  pleased  to  grant  such  a  gracious  preserice  of  his  with  them,  and  such  a  blessing 
upon  their  undertakings,  that  within  a  few  years  a  wilderness  was  subdued  before  them,  and 
HO  many  Colonies  planted,  Towns  erected,  and  Churches  settled,  wherein  the  true  and  living 
God  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  worshipped  and  served,  in  a  place  where,  time  out  of  mind,  had  been 
nothing  before  but  Heathenism,  Idolatry,  and  Devil-worship ;  and  that  the  Lord  has  added 
so  many  of  the  blessings  of  Heaven  and  earth  for  the  comfortable  subsistence  of  his  people 
in  these  ends  of  the  earth.  Surely  of  this  work,  and  of  this  time,  it  shall  be  said,  ivhat  hath 
God  wrought  ?  And,  this  is  the  Lord's  doings,  it  is  marvellous  in  our  ejjes .'  Even  so  (O  Lord) 
didst  thou  lead  thy  people,  to  make  thyself  a  glorious  name !  Now,  one  generation  passeth  away, 
and  another  comelh.  Tha  first  generation  of  our  fathers,  that  began  this  plantation  of  New- 
England,  most  of  them  in  their  middle  age,  and  many  of  them  in  their  declining  years,  who, 
after  they  had  served  the  will  of  God,  in  laying  the  foundation  (as  we  hope)  of  many  genera- 
tions, and  given  an  examyle  of  true  rcfonned  Religion  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel, 
accortling  to  their  best  light  from  the  uwrds  of  God,  tiiey  are  now  gathered  unto  their  fathers. 
There  hath  been  another  generation  succeeding  the  first,  either  of  such  as  come  over  with 
their  parents  very  young,  or  were  born  in  the  country,  and  these  have  had  the  managing  of 
the  publick  affairs  for  many  years,  but  are  apparently  passing  away,  as  their  fathers  before 
them.  There  is  also  a  third  generation,  who  are  grown  up,  and  begin  to  stand  thick  upon 
the  skige  of  action,  at  this  day,  and  these  were  all  born  in  the  country,  and  may  call  New- 
England  their  native  land.  Now,  in  respect  of  what  the  Lord  hath  done  for  these  genera- 
tions, succeeding  one  another,  we  have  aboundant  cause  of  Thanksgiving  to  the  Lord  our 
God,  who  hath  so  increased  and  blessed  this  people,  that  from  a  day  of  small  things,  he  has 
brought  us  to  be,  what  we  now  are.  We  may  .set  up  an  Ebenezer,  and  say,  "  Hitherto  the 
Lord  hath  helped  us."  Yet  in  respect  of  our  present  state,  we  have  need  earnestly  to  pray, 
as  we  are  directed,  "Let  thy  work  farther  appear  unto  thy  servants,  and  let  thy  beauty  be 
upon  us,  and  thy  glory  upon  our  children;  establish  thou  the  works  of  these  our  hands; 
yea,  the  works  of  our  hand.s,  establish  thou  them." 


14  AN  ATTESTATION  TO  THIS  CHURCH-HISTOKY,  ETC. 

For,  if  we  look  on  the  dark  side,  the  humane  side  of  this  work,  there  is  much  of  humane 
weakness,  and  imperfection  hath  appeared  in  all  that  hath  been  done  by  man,  as  was  acknowl- 
edged by  our  fathers  before  us.  Neither  was  New-England  ever  without  some  fatherly 
chastisements  from  God;  shewing  tliat  He  is  not  fond  of  the  formalities  of  any  people  upon 
earth,  but  expects  the  realities  of  practical  Godliness,  according  to  our  profession  and 
engagement  unto  him.  IMuch  more  may  we,  the  children  of  such  fathers,  lament  our  grad- 
ual degeneracy  from  that  life  and  fower  of  Godliness,  that  was  in  them,  and  the  many 
provoking  evils  that  are  amongst  us;  which  have  moved  our  God  severely  to  witness  against 
us,  more  than  in  our  first  times,  by  his  lesser  judgments  going  before,  and  his  greater  Judg- 
ments following  after;  he  shot  off  his  warning-pieces  first,  but  his  murthering-pieces  have 
come  after  them,  in  so  much  as  in  these  calamitous  times,  the  changes  of  wars  of  Europe 
have  had  such  a  malignant  influence  upon  us  in  America,  that  we  are  at  this  day  greatly 
diminished  and  brought  loio,  through  oppression,  affliction,  and  sorrow. 

And  yet  if  we  look  on  the  light  side,  the  divine  side  of  this  work,  we  may  yet  see,  that 
the  glory  of  God  which  was  witii  onr  fathers,  is  not  wholly  departed  from  us  their  children; 
there  are  as  yet  many  signs  of  his  gracious  presence  with  us,  both  in  the  way  of  his  provi- 
dences, and  in  the  use  of  his  ordinances,  as  also  in  and  with  the  hearts  and  souls  of  a 
considerable  number  of  his  people  in  New-England,  that  we  may  yet  say,  as  they  did, 
"Thy  name  is  upon  us,  and  thou  art  in  the  midst  of  us;  therefore,  Lord,  leave  us  not!"  As 
Solomon  prayed,  so  may  we,  "The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with  our  fathers; 
let  him  not  leave  nor  forsake  us ;  but  incline  our  hearts  to  keep  his  commandments."  And 
then  "that  he  would  maintain  his  own,  and  his  people's  cause,  at  all  times,  as  the  matter 
may  require." 

For  the  Lord  our  God  hath  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  grace,  and  holiness,  contrived  and 
established  His  covenant,  so  as  he  will  be  the  God  of  his  people  and  of  their  seed  with  them, 
and  after  them,  in  their  generations ;  and  in  the  ministerial  dispensation  of  the  covenant  of 
grace,  in,  with,  and  to  his  visible  Church.  He  hath  promised  covenant-mercies  on  the 
condition  oi  covenant-duties :  "If  my  people,  who  are  called  by  my  name,  shall  humble  them- 
selves, and  pray,  and  seek  my  face,  and  turn  from  their  wicked  ways,  then  will  I  hear  their 
prayers,  forgive  their  sins,  and  heal  their  land;  and  mine  eyes,  and  mine  heart,  shall  be  upon 
them  perpetually  for  good !"  that  so  the  faithfulness  of  God  may  appear  in  all  generations 
for  ever,  that  if  there  be  any  breach  between  tiie  Lord  and  his  people,  it  shall  appear  plainly 
to  lye  on  his  people's  part.  And  therefore  he  has  taken  care,  that  his  own  dealings  with  his 
people  in  the  course  of  his  providence,  and  their  dealings  with  him  in  the  ways  of  obedience 
or  disobedience,  should  be  recorded,  and  so  transmitted  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  after- 
times,  from  generation  to  generation;  as,  (Exodus  xvii.  14,)  "The  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  bookf  and,  (Dcut.  xxxi.  19,)  "Write  ye  this  song  for  you,  that 
it  may  be  a  witness  for  me  against  the  children  of  Israel;"  and  (Psa.  cii.  18,)  "This  and  that 
shall  be  written  for  the  generation  to  come,  and  the  people  that  shall  be  created  shall  praise 
the  Lord."  Upon  this  ground  it  was  said,  (in  Psal.  xliv.  1,)  "We  have  heard  with  our  ears, 
O  God,  and  our  fathers  have  told  us,  what  work  thou  didst  in  their  days  in  times  of  old,  how 
thou  castest  out  the  Heathen,  and  plantedst  them ;"  (so  likewise  in  Psal.  Ixxviii.  v.  3  to  the 
8th).  Upon  the  same  account  it  may  be  said,  (Psal.  xlv.  last,)  "I  will  make  thy  name  to  be 
remembered  to  all  generations:"  and  this  is  one  reason  why  the  Lord  commanded  so  great 
a  part  of  tlie  Holy  Scriptures  to  be  written  in  an  historical  way,  that  the  wonderful  works 
of  God  towards  his  church  and  people,  and  their  acting  towards  him  again,  might  be  known 
unto  all  generations:  and  after  the  scripture-time,  so  far  as  the  Lord  in  his  holy  icisdom  hath 
seen  meet,  he  hath  stirred  up  some  or  other  to  write  the  acts  anil  Jitonuments  of  the  church  of 
God  in  all  ages;  especially  since  the  reformation  of  religion  from  antichristian  darkness,  was 
vigorously,  and  in  a  great  measure  successfully,  endeavoured  in  the  foregoing  century,  by 
such  learned  and  pious  persons  as  the  Lord  inclined  and  inabled  thereunto. 

And  therefore  surely  it  hath  been  a  duty  incumbent  upon  the  people  of  God,  in  this  our 


AN  ATTESTATION  TO  THIS  CHUECE-HISTOKY,  ETC.  15 

New-England,  that  there  should  be  extant,  a  true  history  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God  in 
the  late  plantation  of  this  part  of  America:  which  was  indeed  planted,  not  on  the  account 
of  any  worldly  interest,  but  on  a  design  of  enjoying  and  advancing  the  true  reformed  religion, 
in  a.  practical  icay;  and  also  of  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  it  from  the  beginning  unto  this 
day,  in  granting  such  a  measure  of  good  success,  so  far  as  we  have  attained:  such  a  work  as 
this  hath  been  much  desired,  and  long  expected,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  too  long 
delayed  by  us,  and  sometimes  it  hath  seemed  a  hopeless  thing  ever  to  be  attained,  till  God 
raised  up  the  spirit  of  this  learned  and  pious  person,  one  of  the  sons  of  the  colledge,  and 
one  of  the  ministers  of  the  third  generation,  to  undertake  this  work.  His  learning  and 
Godliness,  and  ministerial  abilities,  were  so  conspicuous,  that  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years, 
he  was  called  to  be  a  publick  preacher  in  Boston,  the  metropolis  of  the  whole  English 
America;  and  within  a  while  after  that,  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  same  church,  whereof 
his  own  father  was  the  teacher,  and  this  at  the  unanimous  desire  of  the  people,  and  with  tlie 
approbation  of  the  magistrates,  ministers,  and  churches,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston.  And 
after  he  had,  for  divers  years,  approved  himself  in  an  exemplary  way,  and  obliged  his 
native  country,  by  publishing  many  useful  treatises,  suitable  to  the  present  state  of  Religion 
amongst  us,  he  set  himself  to  write  the  churcli^history  of  New-England,  not  at  all  omitting 
his  ministerial  employments;  and  in  the  midst  of  many  difficulties,  tears,  and  temptations, 
having  made  a  diligent  search,  collecting  of  proper  materials,  and  selecting  the  choicest 
memorials,  he  hath,  in  the  issue,  within  a  few  months,  contrived,  composed,  and  methodized 
the  same  into  this  form  and  frame  which  we  here  see:  so  that  it  deserves  the  name  of. 
The  Church-History  of  New-England. 

But  as  I  behold  this  exemplary  son  of  New-England,  while  thus  young  and  tender,  at  such 
a  rate  building  tiie  Temple  of  God,  and  in  a  few  months  dispatching  such  a  piece  of  Temple- 
loork  as  this  is;  a  work  so  notably  adjusted  and  adorned,  it  brings  to  mind  the  epigram  upon 
young  Borellus: 

"  Cum  juvcni  tantam  dedit  expcrientia  lucem, 
Tale  ut  promat  opus,  quam  dabit  ilia  scni  ?"* 

As  for  my  self,  having  been,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  now  above  sixty-eight  years  in  New- 
England,  and  served  the  Lord  and  his  people  in  my  weak  measure,  sixty  years  in  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel,  I  may  now  say,  in  my  old  age,  /  have  seen  all  that  the  Lord  hath  done  for  his 
people  in  New-England,  and  have  known  the  beginning  and  progress  of  these  churches  unto 
this  day  ;  and  having  read  over  much  of  this  history,  I  cannot  but  in  the  love  and  fear  of  God 
bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  it;  viz:  That  this  present  church-history  of  New-England,  com- 
piled by  Mr.  Cotton  Mather,  for  the  substance,  end,  and  scope  of  it,  is,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
acquainted  tiierewithall,  according  to  truth. 

The  manifold  advantage  and  usefulness  of  this  present  history,  will  appear,  if  we  consider 
the  great  and  good  ends  unto  which  it  may  be  serviceable;  as, 

First,  That  a  plain  scriptural  duty  of  recording  the  works  of  God  unto  after-times,  may 
not  any  longer  be  omitted,  but  performed  in  the  best  manner  we  can. 

Secondly,  That  by  the  manifestation  of  the  truth  of  things,  as  they  have  been  and  are 
amongst  us,  the  misrepresentations  of  New-England  may  be  removed  and  prevented;  for. 
Rectum  est  sui  el  obliqui  Index.] 

Thirdly,  That  the  true  original  and  design  of  this  plantation  may  not  be  lost,  nor  buried 
in  oblivion,  but  known  and  remembered  for  ever,  [Psal.  cxl.  4:  "He  hath  made  his  wondeiful 
works  to  be  remembered."  Psal.  cv.  5:  "Remember  ye  the  marvellous  works  which  he 
hath  done."] 

•  If  on  his  ijvrith  is  shed  such  light  I  How  will  his  genius,  now  so  bright, 

As  kindles  this  immortal  page,  |  Glow  in  the  broader  beam  of  a^re  I 

f  This  geometrical  maxim,  if  we  lay  aside  the  metaphor,  may  be  thus  rendered:  "Truth  serves  the  twofold 
purpose  of  attesting  its  own  character  and  of  exposing  falsehood." 


IQ  AN  ATTESTATION   TO  THIS  CIIUECII-HISTOEY,   ETC. 

Fourlhhj.  That  God  may  have  the  glory  of  the  ^eat  and  good  works  which  he  liath  done 
for  liis  people  in  these  ends  of  the  earth,  [As  in  Isaiah  Ixiii.  7:  "I  will  mention  the  loving 
kindness  of  the  Lord,  and  the  praises  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  the  great  goodness  and 
mercy  lie  has  bestowed  on  us."] 

Fiflhly,  That  the  names  of  such  eminent  persons  as  the  Lord  made  use  of,  as  inslrumenls 
in  his  hand,  for  the  beginning  and  carrying  on  of  this  work,  may  be  embalmed,  and  pre- 
served, for  the  knowledge  and  imitation  of  posterity;  for  the  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed. 

Sixthly,  That  the  present  generation  may  remember  the  way  wherein  the  Lord  hath  led 
his  peo{)Ie  in  this  «-)7t/tT»<?s.s,  for  so  many  years  past,  unto  this  day;  [according  to  that  in 
Deut.  viii.  2:  "Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  wherein  the  Lord  hath  led  thee  in  the  wil- 
derness  this  forty  years,  to  humble  thee,  and  to  prove  thee,  and  to  know  what  was  in  thy 
heart,  whether  liiou  wouldst  keep  his  commandments  or  no."]  All  considering  persons 
cannot  but  observe,  that  our  wilderness-condition  hath  been  full  of  humbling,  trying,  dis- 
tressing providences.  We  have  had  our  Massahs  and  Meribahs;  and  few  of  our  churches 
but  have  had  some  remarkable  hours  of  temptation  passing  over  them,  and  God's  end  in  all 
has  been  to  prove  us,  whether,  according  to  our  profession,  and  his  expectation,  we  would 
keep  his  commandments,  or  not. 

Seventhly,  That  the  generations  to  come  in  New-England,  may  know  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  may  serve  him  with  a  perfect  heart  and  willing  mind;  as  especially  the  first  geri- 
eralhm  did  before  them;  and  that  they  may  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  his  works, 
but  keep  his  cofinmandments. — (Psal.  Ixxviii.  7.) 

Eighthly,  And  whereas  it  maybe  truly  said,  (as  Jer.  xxiii.  21,)  "Thr.t  when  this  people 
began  to  follow  the  Lord  into  this  wilderness,  they  were  holiness  to  the  Lord,  and  he 
planted  them  as  a  noble  vine ;"  yet  if,  in  process  of  time,  when  they  are  greatly  increased 
and  multiplied,  they  should  so  far  degenerate,  as  to  forget  the  religious  design  of  their 
fathers,  and  forsake  the  holy  ways  of  God,  (as  it  was  said  of  them  in  Hosea  iv.  7 :  "As  they 
were  increased,  so  they  sinned  against  the  Lord;")  and  so  that  many  evils  and  troubles  will 
befall  them;  then  this  Book  may  be  for  a  ivitness  against  them;  and  yet  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  may  be  also  a  means  to  reclaim  them,  and  cause  them  to  return  again  unto  the  Lord, 
and  his  holy  ways,  that  he  may  return  again  in  mercy  unto  them;  even  unto  the  many  thou- 
sands of  New-England. 

Ninthly,  That  the  little  daughter  of  New-England  in  America,  may  bow  down  herself  to 
her  mother  England,  in  Europe,  presenting  this  memorial  unto  her;  assuring  her,  that  though 
by  some  of  her  angry  brethren  she  was  forced  to  make  a  local  secession,  yet  not  a  separation, 
but  hath  always  retained  a  dutiful  respect  to  the  Church  of  God  in  England;  and  giving 
some  account  to  her,  how  graciously  the  Lord  has  dealt  with  herself  in  a  remote  widlerness, 
and  what  she  has  been  doing  all  this  while;  giving  her  thanks  for  all  the  supplies  she  has 
received  from  her;  and  because  she  is  yet  in  her  minority,  she  craves  her  farther  blessing 
v.nd favour  as  the  case  may  require;  being  glad  if  what  is  now  presented  to  her,  may  be  of 
any  use,  to  help  forward  the  union  and  agreement  of  her  brethren,  which  would  be  some 
satisfaction  to  her  for  her  undesired  local  distance  from  her  dear  England;  and  finally 
promising  all  that  reverence  and  obedience  which  is  due  to  her  good  violher,  by  virtue  of  the 
fifth  commandment.     And, 

Lastly,  This  present  history  may  stand  as  a  monument,  in  relation  to  future  times,  of  a 
fuller  and  better  reformation  of  the  Church  of  God,  than  it  hath  yet  appeared^in  the  world. 
For  by  this  Essay  it  may  be  seen,  that  a  farther  practical  reformation  than  that  which  began 
at  the  first  coming  out  of  the  darkness  of  Popery,  w;!S  aimed  at,  and  endeavoured  by  a  great 
number  of  voluntary  exiles,  that  came  into  a  ivildcrness  for  that  very  end,  that  hence  they 
nii'4-lit  be  free  from  humane  additions  and  inventions  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  might  prac- 
tice the  positive  part  of  divine  institutions,  according  to  the  word  of  God.  How  far  we  have 
attained  this  design,  may  be  judged  by  this  lioiik.  But  we  Ix'seech  our  brethren,  of  our 
own  and  of  other  iiations,  to  believe  that  we  are  far  from  thinking  that  we  have  attained  a 


AN  ATTESTATION  TO  THIS  CHUECH-HISTOEY,  ETC.  If 

perfect  reformation.  Oh,  no !  Our  fathers  did  in  their  time  acknowledge,  there  were  niany 
dffccls  and  imperfections  in  our  way,  and  yet  we  believe  they  did  as  much  as  could  be 
expected  from  learned  and  godly  men  in  their  circumstances;  and  we,  their  successors,  are 
far  short  of  them  in  many  respects,  meeting  with  many  dijjictdiies  which  they  did  not;  and 
mourning  under  many  rebukes  from  our  God  which  they  had  not,  and  with  trembling  hearts 
observing  the  gradual  declinings  that  are  amongst  us  from  the  holy  ways  of  God;  we  are 
forced  to  cry  out,  and  say,  "Lord,  what  will  become  of  these  churches  in  time?  And  what 
wilt  thou  do  for  thy  great  name?"  And  yet,  in  the  multitude  of  our  thoughts  and  fears, 
tlie  consolations  of  God  refresh  our  souls,  that  all  those  that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity 
do  serve  the  Lord,  and  his  people  in  their  generation  (though  they  should  miss  it  in  some 
things)  tliey  shall  deliver  their  own  souls,  they  are  accepted  of  the  Lord,  and  their  reward 
is  with  him;  and  in  the  approaching  days  of  a  better  reformation,  the  sincere,  though  iceak 
endeavours  of  the  servants  of  God,  that  went  before  them,  will  be  also  accepted  of  the 
saints  in  those  times  of  greater  light  and  holiness,  that  are  to  come;  and  when  the  Lord 
shall  make  Jerusalem  (or,  the  true  Church  of  God,  and  the  true  Christian  religion)  a  praise 
in  the  earth,  and  the  joy  of  many  generations,  then  the  mistakes  of  these  tijnes  will  be  recti- 
fied ;  and  that  which  is  of  God  in  any  of  his  churches,  now  in  any  part  of  the  world,  will 
be  owned  and  improved  unto  an  higlier  degree  of  practical  godliness,  that  shall  continue  for 
many  generations  succeeding  one  another,  which  hitherto  hath  been  so  rare  a  thing  to  be 
found  in  the  world. 

I  shall  now  draw  to  a  conclusion,  with  an  observation  which  hath  visited  my  thoughts:  that 
the  Lord  hath  blessed  the  family  of  the  Mathers,  amongst  us,  with  a  singular  blessing,  in 
that  no  less  than  ten  of  them,  have  been  accepted  of  him,  to  serve  the  Lord  and  his  people 
in  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  of  whom,  as  the  Apostle  said  in  another 
case,  though  some  are  fallen  asleep,  yet  the  greatest  part  remain  unto  this  day;  I  do  not  know 
the  like  in  our  New-England,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  found  rare  to  parallel  the  same  in  our 
countries.  Truly  I  have  tliought,  it  hath  been  a  reward  of  grace,  with  respect  unto  the 
faithfulness  they  have  expressed,  in  asserting,  clearing,  maintaining,  and  putting  on  for  the 
practice  of  that  great  principle,  of  the  propagation  of  Religion  in  these  Churches,  viz:  The 
Covenant-state,  and  Church-membership  of  the  Children  barn  in  these  Churches,  together  with 
the  Scripture-duties  appertaining  thereunto,  and  that  by  vertue  of  God's  Covenant  of  Grace, 
established  by  God  with  his  people,  and  their  seed  with  them,  and  after  them  in  their  gener- 
ations. And  this  has  been  done  especially  by  Mr.  Richard  Mather  the  father,  and  by  Mr. 
Increase  Mather  his  son,  and  by  Mr.  Cotton  ^Latlier  his  son,  the  author  of  this  present  work. 

I  shall  give  the  reader  the  satisfaction  to  enumerate  this  happy  Decemvirale. 

1.  Richard  Mather,  Teacher  of  the  Church  in  Dorchester. 

2.  Samuel  Mather:  He  was  the  first  Fellow  of  Harvard-Coll  edge  in  Cambridge  in  New- 
England,  and  the  first  Preacher  at  North-Boston,  where  his  brother  and  his  nephew  are  now 
his  successors.  He  was  afterwards  one  of  the  Chaplains  in  Magdalen-Colledge  in  Oxford; 
after  that,  a  senior  Fellow  of  Trinity-CoUedge  in  Dublin,  and  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  that 
city,  where  he  died. 

3.  Nathaniel  Mather,  which  succeeded  his  brother  Samuel  as  Pastor  of  that  Church 
in  Dublin,  and  is  now  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  London. 

4.  Eleazar  jMather:  He  was  Pastor  of  tlie  Church  at  Northampton  in  New-England,  and 
much  esteemed  in  tliose  parts  of  the  country:  he  died  when  he  was  but  thirty-two  years  old. 

5.  Increase  Mather;  wlio  is  known  in  both  Englands.  These  four  were  sons  of 
Richard  Mather. 

6.  Cotton  Mather,  the  author  of  this  history. 

7.  Nathaniel  Mather.  He  died  at  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  age;  wan  a,  Master  of 
Arts;  began  to  preach  in  private.  His  piety  and  learning  was  beyond  his  years.  The  His- 
tory of  his  Life  and  Death  was  written  by  his  brother,  and  there  hiWQ.  been  three  editions  of  it 

Vol.  I.— 2 


;l^3  AN  ATTESTATION  TO  THIS  CHURCH-HISTOEY,   ETC. 

printed  at  London.     He  died  here  at  Salem,  and  over  his  Grave  there  is  written,  "Thb 

ASHES  OF  AN  HARD  STUDENT,  A  GOOD  SCHOLAR,  AND  A  GREAT  CHRISTIAN." 

8.  Samuel  Mather  ;  he  is  now  a  publiek  preacher.  These  three  last  naentioned,  are  the 
sons  of  Increase  Mather. 

9.  Samuel  Mather,  the  son  of  Timothy,  and  grandson  of  Richard  Mather?  He  is  the 
P'stor  of  a  church  in  Windsor;  a  pious  and  prudent  man;  who  has  been  an  happy  instru- 
ment of  uniting  the  churcli  and  town,  amongst  whom  there  had  been  great  divisions. 

10.  Warham  Mather,  the  son  of  Eleazar  Mather,  and  by  his  mother  grandson  to 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Warham,  late  pastor  of  the  church  in  Windsor;  he  is  now  .ilso  a  publiek 
preacher.  Behold,  an  happy  family,  the  glad  sight  whereof  may  well  inspire  even  an  old 
age  past  eighty  with  poetry  enough  to  add  this: 

EPIGRAM  Mji    MJiTHEROS. 

0  Nimium  Dilecte  Deo,  Venerande  Mathere, 
Gaudens  tot  Natos  Christi  mimerarc  Ministros! 

Bet  Deus  vt  tales  insurgaitt  usque  Matheri, 

Et  Nati  Nntorum,  et  qui  Nascentur  ab  illis. 

Has  inter  stcllas  fulgcns,  Cottone  Malhere, 

Patrurn  tu  sequeris  vestigia  semper  adorans. 
Phosphorus  ast  aliis.'* 

Now  the  Lord  our  God,  the  faithful  God,  that  keepeih  covenant  and  mercy  to  a  thousand 
generations,  with  his  people ;  let  him  incline  the  heart  of  his  people  6f  New-England,  to 
keep  covenant  and  duty  towards  their  God,  to  walk  in  his  ways,  and  keep  his  command- 
ments, that  he  may  bring  upon  them  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  the  mercy  and  truth  unto 
J;icob,  the  sure  mercies  of  David,  the  grace  and  peace  that  cometh  from  God  the  Fatlier,  and 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  that  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Clnist  may  be  in  and  with 
these  cluirches,  from  one  generation  to  another,  until  the  second  coming  of  our  Li.rd  and 
Saviuur  Jesus  Christ!     Unto  him  be  glory  and  dominion,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 


JOHN  HIGGIXSON. 


Salbm,  Ihe  25lh  of  the  first  month,  1697. 


* 


INSCRIPTION     TO     MATHER, 


"O,  venerable  Mather!  loved  of  God, 
Rejoice  to  see,  that  where  thy  feet  have  trod, 
A  blessed  train  of  Christian  sons  are  seen, 
Still  pressing  on  to  be  what  thou  hast  been. 
God  grant  that  endless  be  the  holy  line 
<1f  those  who  love  and  do  His  work  divine! 
Thou,  Cotton,  shining  from  sueh  hcavojily  heights, 
Amid  a  brotherhood  of  kindred  liijhis. 
Follow  thy  sirea,  whom  God  halh  guided  home, 

Tliyscir  a  morning-star  to  those  wlio  yet  sh;Jl  come.'' 


A   PREFATORY   POEM, 

ON  THAT  EXCELLENT  BOOK,  ENTITULED 

MAGNALIA    CHKTSTI    AMEEICANA 

WEITTEN  BY  THE  EEV,  ME.  COTTON  MATHEE, 

PASTOR    OF    A    CHURCH    AT    BOSTON,     NEW-ENQLAND. 


TO    THE    CANDID    READER: 


Struck  with  huge  love,  of  what  to  be  possest, 

I  much  despond,  good  reader,  in  the  quest ; 

Yet  help  me,  if  at  lengtli  it  may  be  said, 

Who  first  the  chambers  of  the  south  display'd? 

Inform  me,  whence  the  tawny  people  came? 

Who  was  their  father— Japhet,  Shem,  or  Cham  ? 

And  how  they  straddled  to  the  Antipodes, 

To  look  another  world  beyond  the  seas? 

And  when,  and  why,  and  where  they  last  broke  ground, 

What  risks  they  ran,  where  they  first  anchoring  found  1 

Tell  me  their  patriarchs,  prophets,  priests,  and  kings? 

Religion,  manners,  monumental  things : 

What  charters  had  they? — what  immunitiefc? 

What  altars,  temples,  cities,  colonies, 

Did  they  erect?    Who  were  their  public  spirits? 

Where  may  we  find  the  records  of  their  merits  ? 

What  instances,  what  glorious  displayes 

Of  Heaven's  high  hand  commenced  in  their  dayes  ? 

These  things  in  black  oblivion  covered  o'er, 

(As  they'd  ne'er  been)  lye  with  a  thousand  more, 

A  vexing  thought,  that  makes  me  scarce  forbear 

To  stamp,  and  wring  my  hands,  and  pluck  my  hair, 

To  think,  what  blessed  ignornnce  hath  done. 

What  fine  threads  learning''s  enemies  have  spim. 

How  well  books,  schools,  and  coUedge  may  be  spar'd, 

So  men  with  beasts  may  fitly  be  compar'd! 

Yes,  how  tradition  leaves  us  in  the  lurch. 

And  who  nor  stay  at  home,  nor  go  to  church : 

The  light-within-enthusiasts,  who  let  fly 

Against  our  pen  and  ink  divinity; 

Who  boldly  do  pretend  (but  who  '11  believe  it  1) 

If  Genesis  were  lost,  they  could  retrieve  it ; 

Yea,  all  the  sacred  writ ;  pray  let  them  try 

On  the  New  World  their  gift  of  prophecy. 

For  all  of  them,  the  new  world's  antiquities, 

Smother'd  in  everlasting  silence  lies ; 

And  its  first  saehims  mention'd  are  no  more 

Than  they  that  Agamemnon  liv'd  before. 

The  poor  Americans  are  under  blame. 

Like  them  of  old,  that  from  Tel-melah  came, 

Conjectar''d  once  to  be  of  Israel's  seed. 

But  no  record  appear'd  to  prove  the  deed : 

And  like  Habajah's  sons,  that  were  put  by 

The  priesthood^  holy  things  to  come  not  nigh. 

For  having  lost  their  genealogy. 

Who  can  past  things  to  memory  command. 

Till  one  with  Aaron's  breastplate  up  shall  stand? 

Mischiefs  remediless  such  sloth  ensue; 

God  and  their  parents  lose  their  honour  due. 

And  children's  children  suffer  on  that  score. 

Like  bastards  cast  forlorn  at  any  door ; 

And  they  and  others  put  to  seek  their  father. 

For  want  of  such  a  scribe  as  Cotton  Mather; 

Whose  piety,  whose  pains,  and  peerless  pen, 

Revives  New-England's  nigh-lost  origin. 


Heads  of  our  tribes,  whose  corps  are  under  ground, 
Their  names  and  fames  m  chronicles  renown'd, 
Begemm'd  on  golden  ouches  he  hath  set. 
Past  envy's  teeth  and  time's  corroding  fret: 
Of  Death  and  malice,  he  has  brush 'd  off  the  dust, 
And  made  a  resurrection  of  the  just : 
And  clear'd  the  land's  religion  of  the  gloss. 
And  copper-cuts  of  Alexander  Ross. 
He  hath  related  academic  things, 
And  paid  their  first  fruits  to  the  King  of  kings ; 
And  done  his  .i^hna  Mater  Hiat  just  favour. 
To  shew  sal  gentium*  hath  not  lost  its  savour. 
He  writes  like  an  historian  and  divine, 
Of  Churches,  .'synods.  Faith,  and  Discipline, 
Illustrious  Providences  are  display'd, 
Mercies  and  judgments  are  in  colours  laid; 
Salvations  wonderful  by  sea  and  land. 
Themselves  are  saved  by  his  pious  hand. 
The  Churches''  wars,  and  various  enemies. 
Wild  salvages,  and  wilder  sectaries. 
Are  notify'd  for  them  that  after  rise. 

This  well-instructed  Scribe  brings  neiv  and  o' >, 
And  from  his  mines  digs  richer  things  than  goM ; 
Yet  freely  gives,  as  fountains  do  their  streams. 
Nor  more  than  they,  himself,  by  giving,  drains. 
He's  all  design,  and  by  his  craftier  wiles 
Locks  fast  his  reader,  and  the  time  beguiles: 
Whilst  wit  and  learning  move  themselves  aright. 
Thro'  ev'ry  line,  and  colour  in  our  sight, 
Sjo  interweaving  profit  with  delight ; 
And  ciu'iously  inlaying  both  together, 
That  he  must  needs  find  both,  who  looks  for  either. 

His  preaching,  writing,  and  his  pastoral  care. 
Are  very  much,  to  fall  to  one  man's  share. 
This  added  to  the  rest,  is  admirable, 
And  proves  the  author  indefatigable. 
Play  is  his  toyl,  and  work  his  recreation. 
And  his  inventiojis  next  to  inspiration. 
His  pen  was  taken  from  some  bird  of  light, 
Addicted  to  a  swift  and  lofty  flight. 
Dearly  it  loves  art,  air,  and  eloquence. 
And  hates  confinement,  save  to  truth  and  sense. 

Allow  what's  known ;  they  who  write  histories. 
Write  many  things  they  see  with  others'  eyes  ; 
'Tis  fair,  where  nought  is  feign'd,  nor  undigested. 
Nor  ought  but  what  is  credibly  attested. 
The  risk  is  his ;  and  seeing  others  do. 
Why  may  not  I  speak  mine  opinion  too? 

The  stuff  is  true,  the  trimming  neat  and  spruce, 
The  workman's  good,  the  work  of  publick  use ; 
Most  piously  design'd,  a  publick  store, 
And  well  desei-ves  the  public  thanks,  and  mor". 
NICHOLAS  NOYI'.P, 
Teacher  of  the  Church  at  Silcm, 
*  The  salt  of  the  world. 


20 


INTRODUCTORY    POEMS,    ETC. 


[Anagrams,  ice,  in  the  Original  Edition] 

REVERENDO     DOMINO, 

D.     COTTONO     MADERO, 

LIBRl   UTIMSSIMl,  CUI  TITULUS, 

MAOJfJi  LIA    CHRIST!    A  M  E  R  ICJl  J^Ji , 

AUTnORI    DOCTISSIMO,    AC    DII.KCTISSIMO, 

Duu  Ogduatico,  et  bis  duo  Anngranimato,  dat  Idem, 
N  .    N  O  Y  E  S . 

COTTONUS     MADERUS. 

ATviAPD   SKSr  DUO  SANCTORUM. 
'^'^'^^^-  INATUS  ES  DOCTORUM. 

Nomina  Sanctonim,  quus  Scribis,  clara  duorum 
J^Totninc  Cerno  Tuo  ;   Virtiites  I.ector  easdem 
Candidus  inveniet  Tecum,  Charitate  refertas, 
Doct.rina  Kzimius  Voctos,  Pietate  piosque 
TV  beiie  describis,  describere  nescit  ut  alter. 
Doctorum  ea  Natus,  Domino  Spirante  Rcnatus ; 
De  bene  qvwsitis  gaudcto  Tertivs  Hares  ; 
J'i'omen  prcesagit,  nee  nvn  Anagrammata,  vates. 


COTTONUS  MADERUS. 

AKiPR   iUNCTAS  DEMORTUOS. 
AISAUK.  IsjiXATUS  DOCTORUM. 

Unctas  demort'os,  decoratur  Laxide  Senatus 
Doctorum  Merita  ;  fit  pnesens  praterita  tetas ; 
Hutc  ezempla  patent,  et  postcra  Progenitores 
JVun  ignorabit,  patrii/que  superbiet  Jlctis  ; 
More,  Fide,  cultu,  quuque  patrissare  studebit ; 
Oratum  opus  est  Domino,  Patrice  ncc  inutile  nostrm; 
Orbi  fructificat.     Fer  Fertilitatis  Honorem, 
Scribendo  Vitas  alienas,  propria  scripta  est. 


[Tnuwlatcd  cxpressljr  for  this  E(litir«nl 

TO    THE    REVEREND    DOCTOR 
COTTON      JIATHER, 

THE  VERY  LEARNED  AND  BELOVED  AUTHOR  OF  A 
MOST  USEFUL  WORK,  ENTITLED 

"TAe  Mighty  H'orks  of  Christ  in  .Imcrica,' 

THESE  TWO  SnoRT  rOBMS  AND  FOUR  ANAGRAMS 
ARE  DEDICATED  BY  NICHOLAS    NOYES. 


Anagrams. 


COTTON    MATHER. 

i  It  consists  of  Two  Saints. 

>  Thou  art  a  Descendant  of  the  Learned. 


Lo!  in  thy  name  two  saints'  names  I  behold — 
Saints  whose  good  deeds  arc  in  this  bonk  enroll'd- 
Whose  virtues  candid  readers  can  but  find 
Not  only  in  thy  book,  but  in  thy  mind. 
Learned  and  pious,  with  a  master's  eye, 
Thou  canst  depicture  learned  piety. 

Child  of  the  Learned!  noble  is  thy  race, 
But  nobler  art  thou  as  a  child  of  ^ace ; 
Third  of  thy  line !  thy  heritage  receive, 
And  these  prophetic  Anagrams  believe. 


COTTON    MATHER 
Anagrams 


Thou  emhalmest  t)ie  Dead. 
A  Senate  of  Learned  Men. 


Thou  hast  embalmed  the  dead!  Thy  truthful  praise 
'Round  Learnino's  Senate  wreathes  immortal  biiys. 
Thy  magic  pen  the  Past  the  Present  makes. 
And  wo  seem  honoured  for  our  fathers'  sakes. 
Nor  shall  our  pride  end  here :  each  futuie  age 
Shall  claim  the  honours,  sparkling  on  thy  page — 
Shall  still  revere  the  founders  of  the  State, 
Their  worship,  faith,  and  virtues  imitate. 
Thy  God  shall  bless  the  labour  of  thy  mind — 
Thy  coimtry's  boon,  a  treasure  to  mankind. 
Though  hero  thou  writest  others'  lives,  yet  thine 
Shall  glow  resplendent  in  each  living  line. 


[The  art  of  making  anagrams,  or  constructing  characteristic  sentences  by  transposing  the  letters  of  a  person's 
name,  was  formerly  one  of  the  most  popular  of  learned  conceits.  Puerile  as  it  now  seems  to  us,  it  was  cultivatt^d 
by  grave  scholars  with  an  enthusiasm  which  would  have  done  honour  to  a  more  dignified  employment.  Their 
success  was  generally  indifferent ;  and  even  when  fortunate,  they  certainly  plumed  themselves  too  much  tipon 
their  ingenuity — apparently  forgetting  that  endless  combinations  can  be  made  by  the  use  of  a  dozen  alphabetic 
characters,  and  that  all  the  words  of  the  English  language  are  composed  of  only  tieentij-six  letters. 

The  first  of  the  foregoing  specimens,  by  "Nicholas  Noyes,  Teacher  of  the  Church  at  Palem,"  will  compare 
favourably  with  its  class.  Out  of  a  Latinistic  version  of  our  author's  name,  (Cottonus  Maderis,)  he  makes 
"  F.st  duo  sanctorum," — that  is,  "  It  (the  name)  consists  of  two  saints,"  referring  to  John  Cotton  and  Richard 
Mather,  both  heroes  of  this  histoiy.  Little  can  be  said  in  praise  of  his  other  anagrams.  The  third  is  very 
unfortunate;  for  the  first  word  (as  here  intended  to  be  construed)  is  710*  Latin,  and  the  second  cannot,  without  a 
most  unjustifiable  exercise  of  poetic  license,  be  forced  into  a  hexameter  verse. — Translator.] 


CELEBERRIMI 
COTTONI     MATHERI, 

CBLEBRATIO  ; 

QUI   IIEROUM  VITAS,  IN    SUI-IPSIUS    ET   ILLORUM 

HEMORIAM   SEMPITERNAM,  REVOCAVIT. 

Quod  patrios  Manes  revocasti  a  Sedibus  altis, 
Sylvestres  Muso"  grates,  Mathere,  rependunt, 
JIae  nova  Progenies,  vcterum  sub  Imagine,  calo 
Jlrte  Tua  Terram  insitans,  dejnissa,  salutat. 
Grata  Deo  Pietas  ;  Orates  persolvimus  omnes  ; 
Semper  Honos,  J^omenque  Thmth,  Mathere,  manebunt. 


Is  the  bless'd  Mather  necromancer  turn'd, 
To  raise  his  country's  fathers'  ashes  urn'd  ? 
Elisha's  dust,  life  to  the  dead  imparts ; 
This  prophet,  by  his  more  familiar  arts. 
Unseals  our  heroe.-;''  tombs,  and  gives  them  air: 
They  rise,  they  walk,  they  talk,  look  wondrous  fair; 
Each  of  them  in  an  orb  of  light  doth  shine. 
In  liveries  of  glory  most  divine. 
When  ancient  names  I  in  thy  pages  met, 
Like  gems  on   ..1aron''s  costly  breast-plate  set, 
Methinks  heaven 's  open,  while  great  saints  descend. 
To  wreathe  the  brows  by  which  their  acts  were  pi'im'd. 
B.  THOMPSON. 


INTRODUCTOEY    POEMS,    ETC. 


21 


TO  THE  REVEREND  COTTON  MATHER, 


HISTORY    OF    NEW- ENGLAND. 


In  this  hard  age,  when  men  such  slackness  show, 
To  pay  Love's  debts,  and  what  to  Truth  we  owe, 
You  to  step  forth,  and  such  example  shew. 
In  paying  what's  to  God  and  countiy  due, 
Deserves  our  thanks  :  mine  I  do  freely  give  ; 
Tis  fit  that  with  the  raised  ones  you  live. 

Great  your  attempt,  no  doubt  some  sacred  spy. 
That  Leiger  in  your  sacred  cell  did  lie ; 
Nursed  your  first  thoughts,  with  gentle  beams  of  light. 
And  taught  your  hand  things  past  to  bring  to  sight: 
Thus  taught  by  secret  sweetest  influence. 
You  make  return  to  God's  good  providence: 
Recording  how  that  mighty  hand  was  nigh. 
To  trace  out  paths  not  known  to  mortal  eye. 
To  those  brave  men,  that  to  this  land  came  o'er, 
.And  piac'd  them  safe  on  the  Atlantick  shore ; 
.■Vnd  how  the  same  hand  did  them  after  save. 
And  say.  Return,  oft  on  the  brink  o'  th'  grave ; 


And  gave  them  room  to  spread,  and  bless'd  their  root, 
Whence,  hung  with  fruit,  now,  many  branches  shoot. 

Such  were  these  heroes,  and  their  labours  such. 
In  their  just  praise,  sir,  who  can  say  too  much? 
Let  the  remotest  parts  of  earth  behold, 
New-England's  crowns  excelling  Spanish  gold. 
Here  be  rare  lessons  set  for  us  to  read. 
That  offsprings  are  of  such  a  goodly  breed. 
The  dead  ones  here,  so  much  alive  are  made, 
We  think  them  speaking  from  blesa'd  Eden's  shaae  ; 
Hark!  how  they  check  the  madness  of  this  a<^e, 
The  growth  of  pride,  fierce  lust,  and  worldly  r.ige. 
They  tell,  we  shall  to  clam-banks  come  again. 
If  Heaven  still  doth  scourge  us  all  in  vain. 

But,  sir,  upon  your  merits  heap'd  will  be. 
The  blessings  of  all  those  that  here  shall  see 
Vertue  embalm'd  ;  this  hand  seems  to  p\it  on 
The  lawrel  on  your  brow,  so  justly  won. 

TIMOTHY  WOODBRIDGE,  Minister  of  Hartford. 


AD     P0L1T.E     LITERATURE     ATQUE     SACRARDM     LITERARUM     ANTISTITEM, 
ANGLIEQUE  AMERICANS  ANTIQUARIUM    CALLENTISSIMUM, 

REVERENDUM    DOMINUM,    D.    C  0  T  T  0  N  U  M    MATHERUM, 

APUD    BOSTONENSES,   V.    D.    M. 
EPIGRAMMA. 

COTTONUS    MATHER  US. 

Anaor. —  Tu   tantum    Cohors   es. 

Ipse,  vales  Tantum,  Tu,  mi  memorande  MatbekB) 
fortis  pro  Christo  Milis,  es  ipse  cohors. 


[Translation  of  the  above,  made  for  this  Edition.] 

TO    THAT     ORACLE     OF     POLITE    LEARNING     AND     SACRED     LITERATURE, 
AND  ACCOMPLISHED  HISTORIAN  OF  NEW-ENGLAND, 

THE    REVEREND    MR.    COTTON    MATHER, 

MINISTER    AT    BOSTON. 
AN    INSCRIPTION. 

COTTON     MATHER. 

Anagram. —  Thou   art   alone   a  host. 
Thou,  noble  Mather,  though  thou  wouldst  not  bo.ist. 
In  Christian  warfare  art   alonb   a  host. 


A    PINDARIC. 

Art  thou  Heaven's  Trumpet?   sure  by  the  Archangel  blown; 
Tombs  crack,  dead  start,  saints  rise,  are  seen  and  known, 

And  shine  in  constellation ; 
From  ancient  flames  here's  a  new   I'hcenii  flown. 
To  shew  the  world,  when  Christ  returns,  he  '11  not  retiu-n  alone. 

J.  DANFORTH,  V.  D.  M.,  Dorctstr. 


22 


INTRODUCTORY    POEMS,    ETC. 


TO  THE  LEARNED  AND  REVEREiXD  MR.  COTTON  MATHER, 

ON    HIS    EXCELLENT    MAGNA  LI  A. 

Sir: — My  muse  will  now  by  chymistry  draw  forth 
The  spirit  of  your  name's  immortal  worth. 

COTTONIUS     MATHERUS. 

Anaor. —  Tuos    Tecum   ornasti,* 


*  Whils  thus  the  dead  in  thy  rare  pages  rise, 
Thine,  with  thy  self,  thou  dost  immortalize. 
To  view  the  odds,  thy  learned  lives  invite, 
'Twixt  Eleuthcrian  and  Edomite. 


But  all  succeeding  ages  shall  despair, 

A  filling  monument  for  thee  to  rear. 

Thy  own  rich  pen  f peace,  silly  .Momus,  peace!) 

Hath  given  them  a  lasting  writ  of  ease. 

GRINDAL  RAWSON,  Pastor  of  Mendon, 


IN    JESU    CHRISTI 

MAGNALIA      AMERICANA, 

DIGESTA    IN    SEPTEM    LIBROS, 

PER  MAGNUM,  DOCTISSIMUMQUE  VIRUM,  D.  COTTONUM  MATIIERUM, 

J.     CHRISTI     SERVUM,     ECCLESI^QUE     AMERICANjE     BOSTONIE.NSIS     MINISTRUM 
PIUM    ET    DISERTISSIMUM. 


Sunt  jViracla  Dei,  sunt  et  Magnalia  Christi, 
Qua  patet  Orbis.     Erant  ultra  Oaramantas,  et  fndos 
.Maiurna,  quie  paucis  licuit  cognoscere.     Sed,  quie 
Ceinis  in  America,  procul  unus-quisque  videbit. 

Vivis,  ubi  fertur  nullum  vixisse.    Videsque 
Mille  homines,  res  multas,  Incunabula  mira. 
Slrabo  sile,  qui  Mairna.  refers,     Vespntius  autem 
Primis  scire  Xurum  potuil  conatibus  Orbem. 
Et  dum  jMatrna  docet  te  Orulius,  unde  repletos    [que; 
Esse   per  „1mcricam,   volucresque,  hominesque,  Deos- 
Tumque  libet,  tibi  scire  licet  Aura  viscera  rerum. 

Nullus  erat,  nisi  brutus  homo:  Sine  lege,  Deoque. 
jVuma  dat  Antiquis,  Solonque  et  Jura  Lycurgus. 
Hie  nihil,  et  nulla>  (modo  sic  sibi  vivere)  Leges. 
Jam  decrela  vide,  et  Regum  diploinata,  curque, 
Ne  sibi  vivat  homo,  nostrorum  vivere  Regi  est. 
Die,  tot  habendo  Deos,  legisque  videndo  peritos, 
Centenosque  viros,  celebres  virtute,  Statumque 
Quera  J^itcis  Orbis  hubet ;  Quantum  mutatus  ab  illo  est ! 

Res  bona.  Nee  sat  erit,  et  Rege  et  Lege  beatum, 
Po?ae  vehi  super  Astra.  Deuvi  tibi  noscere,  fas  est, 
Nil  Lex,  nil  Xnlmt,  nil  et  sine  J^uminc  J\ruma. 

Sit  JJeiis  ignotosque  Deos  fuge.     Multa  Poetoe 
De  Jove  flnxerunt,  A'cptunn  et  Marte,  Diisque 
Innumeriitiilibus.     J/rt^'?uque  Manitto  pependit 
Non  conveisa  Deo  Gens  .Imericana  ;  Manitto, 
Ciuem  velut  .Irtijiccm  colit,  et  ceu  M'umcn  adorat. 

E  lenebris  Lux  est.    In  abysso  ceniere  Ctelum  est, 
/gnotumquc  7>fum,  notum  Indis,  Biblia  Sancta 
Indica,  Tempta  I'reces  I'sahnos,  muMosqxw  Jilinistros, 
Vt  Ckristuin  discant,  Indorum  Idiomate  jVumen 
Utitur,  etsese  patefiKiit  ubique  locorum. 

Plura  canam.    Veterem  Schola  sit  dispersa  per  Orbem, 
Et  tot  Athrnd-is  scatet  Jlnglus,  Bclga,  Pclonus, 
Germantis,  Galtusi/ue.     Sat  est  Acailcmia  nostra. 


Dat  Cantabrigia  Domus  Harvardina  Cathedram 
Cuilibet,  et  cur  non  daret  Indis,  Proselytisque  ? 
Trans  Mare  non  opus  est  ad  Pallada  currere.     PaUna 
Hie  habitat,  confeitque  Oradus  ;  modo  Pallada  discia, 
Ascendasque  gradum.     Quantum  Sapientia  conferl ! 
Forte  novas,  pluresque  artes  jVovus  Orbis  haberet. 

Quritquot  in  .Imerica  licet  Jldmiranda  supersint. 
Singula  non  nano.     Nee  opus  tibi  singula  narrem. 
Multa  fldem  superant,  multorum  Exerapla  docebunt, 
Plura  quot  Orbis  habet  J\'ovus  .Sdmiranda,  quot  artes, 
Et  quot  in  America  degunt  ubicunque  Coluni. 

Deque  Veneficiis  quid  erit  tibi  noscere'?   I  usu« 
Sperne  Diabolicos.     Sunt  hie  Magnalia  Christi. 
Ne  timeas  Umbram.    Corpus  sine  corpore  spectrum  est. 

Pax  rare  in  terris.    ^tas  quasi  ferrea.     Bellum 
Sceptra  gerens.  gladiosque  ferox  ubicunque  Noverca  est. 
Destruit  omnia,  destruit  opida,  destruit  artes. 
Mars  nuUi  cedit.    Nihil  exilialius  armis. 
Testis  adest.     F.uropa  docet  hicrymabile  Belhim, 
Uispani,  Belg<t,  Germani,  et  quotquot  in  Orbe 
Sunt  Veteri,  Kigidisque  plagis  vexUntur  et  armis. 

Quas  Sectas  vetus  Orbis  habet,  quie  dogmata  Carnis? 
Primum  Homa  locum  tenet,  Enthusiasta  secundum, 
Arminius  tandem,  Menno  et  Spinosn  sequuntur. 
Quisque  incredibcles  poterit  dignoscere  Sectas  ? 
Non  tot  cern\intur  fidei  discrimina,  nee  tot 
Hiereticos  novus  Orbis  habet,  quod  et  Enthea  res  eaU 

Tu  dilecte  Deo,  cujus  Bostonia  gaudct 
Nostra  Ministerio,  seu  cui  tot  scribere  I..ibros, 
Non  opus,  aut  labor  est,  et  qui  Magnalia  Christi 
.Imericana  refers,  Ecripturu  plurima.    Nonne 
Dignus  es,  agnoscare  inter  Magnolia  Christi  ? 

Vive  I.iber,  totique  Orbi  Miracula  monstres, 
Qua;  sunt  extra  Orbem.     Cottone,  in  sa;cula  vive; 
Et  dum  Mundus  erit,  vivat  tua  Kama  per  Orbem. 


Extra  Orbem  J\i'ovus  Orbis  habet,  quod  habetur  in  Orbe. 

HENRICUS  SELIJNS,  Eeclesia  Xeo-Eboracensis  Minister  Bclgicus. 
Dabam,  Nko-Edoraci  Americana,  16  Oct.  1697. 


INTEODUCTOKY    POEMS,    ETC. 


23 


[Translation  of  the  foregoine:,  made  for  this  Edition.] 

A     POEM, 

CONCERNING 

THE  MIGHTY  WORKS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  IN  AMERICA, 

■   ARRANGED  IN  SEVEN  BOOKS, 

BY  THAT  GREAT  AND  MOST  LEAENED  MAN,  ME.  COTTON  MATHEE, 

A  SERVANT  OF  JESUS    CHRIST,  AND  THE  PIOUS  AND  MOST  ELOQUENT  MINISTER 
OF  A  CHURCH  AT  BOSTON  IN  AMERICA. 


The  wondrous  works  of  God  and  Christ  abound, 
Wherever  nature  reigns  or  man  is  found. 
Some,  known  to  few,  have  been  revealed  before, 
Beyond  the  Indies  and  the  Afric  shoi'e. 
But  what  God  here  hath  wrought,  in  this  our  age. 
All  shall  behold,  emblazoned  on  thy  page. 

Strange  is  thy  dwelling-place.    Thy  home  is  where 
Twas  thought  no  creature  breathed  the  vital  air. 
Yet  there  a  mighty  future  is  begun, 
And  men  and  things  a  race  of  empire  run. 
Strabo !  thy  many  marvels  tell  no  more. 
No  proud  discovery  known  in  ancient  lore 
Can  match  that  wondrous  waif  Vesputio  found, 
A  World — new  world — at  ocean's  farthest  bound. 

Let  Grotius  fancy  whence,  in  ancient  time, 
Came  the  first  people  of  this  Western  clime. 
Whence  their  religion  and  ancestral  line : — 
Mather!  a  deeper,  loftier  theme  is  thine. 

The  savage  race,  who  once  were  masters  here, 
Nor  law  nor  God  inspired  with  wholesome  fear: 
They  no  Lycurgus,  Numa,  Solon  knew, 
To  frame  their  code,  and  fix  its  sanctions  too. 
Self-will  alone  was  law :  but  now  we  see 
Our  royal  charters  sent  across  the  sea, 
To  teach  our  wills  their  loyal  bond  to  own 
To  England's  statutes  and  our  sovereign's  throne. 
Look  at  our  courts — our  rulers,  small  and  great — 
Our  civil  order  and  compacted  State ; 
See  these  where  once  the  lawless  savage  ranged. 
And  then,  like  old  jEneas,  say,  "  How  changed !" 

'Tis  well.    But  not  enough  are  laws  and  kings 
To  raise  our  souls  to  Heaven  and  heavenly  things. 

I  We  must  know  God,  and  in  his  ways  be  taught; 
Without  such  knowledge,  men  and  states  are  nought. 

The  Lord  is  God  !    The  ancient  poets  feign 
Their  Pantheon  of  pagan  gods  in  vain. 
In  vain  the  unconverted  Indians  raise 
Their  forest  altars  in  Manitou's  praise; 
For  light  shines  out  of  darkness:  the  Unknown 
And  dreadful  God  the  Indian  calls  his  own. 
The  Indian  has  his  Christian  psalms  and  prayer. 
His  Christian  temple,  and  his  pastor  there ; 
God  speaks  the  Indian's  language,  rude  and  wild. 
To  teach  His  mercy  to  the  forest-child. 

And  more!— though  Science  older  climes  befits. 
And  Europe  swarms  with  academic  wits, 
Yet  see  scholastic  shades  these  wilds  adorn. 
Such  as  the  Old  World  may  not  wisely  scorn. 
That  world  we  left ;  but  Science  has  made  known. 
Out  of  the  world,  a  new  world  of  our  own: 
A  hemisphere,  imperial  yet  to  rise — 
In  Arts  proficient,  and  in  Learning  wise. 
We  have  a  Cambridge ;  where  to  rich  and  poor 
Young  Harvard  opes  a  hospitable  door ; 

Dated  at  New-York,  16  October,  1097. 


Its  liberal  tests  no  ban  of  ignorance  fix 
On  Indians  or  converted  heretics. 
For  Wisdom's  halls  we  need  not  cross  the  sen"  ; 
Here  Wisdom  dwells,  and  here  confers  degruos; 
Since  Wisdom  ever  honours  toil  and  pains. 
And  high  degrees  true  merit  always  gains, 
Perchance  Philosophy  and  Science  hero 
Will  find  new  secrets  and  a  broader  sphere. 

I  will  not,  need  not  tell  our  marvels  o'er ; 
Many  exceed  belief,  and  many  more 
Might  teach  mankind  how  noble  is  the  pace 
In  human  progress  of  our  exile-race. 

I  need  not  speak  of  witchcraft:  go!  despise 
The  devil's  arts— his  agents  and  his  lies. 
Here  is  the  standard  of  the  Cross  unfuri'd. 
And  Jksus'  "  Miqhty  Works  "  astound  the  world. 
Scorn  of  the  goblin  horde  to  be  afraid — 
Shapes  without  substance,  shadows  of  a  shade. 

How  rare  is  peace !  War  thunders  its  alai-ms ; 
The  Age  is  Iron — with  the  ring  of  arms ! 
War  sacks  great  cities ;  mars,  with  sounds  of  strife. 
All  social  arts  and  every  joy  of  life. 
Europe  is  drench'd  in  blood :  War's  iron  heel 
And  fiery  scourge  her  writhing  millions  feel. 
The  blood  of  Frenchmen,  Dutch  and  Germans  sl.iin, 
Imbrues  the  soil  of  Italy  and  Spain ; 
While  banded  kings  the  sword  of  slaughter  wield, 
And  humbler  thrones  afford  a  battle-field. 

Then  in  the  Old  World  see  how  sects  uphold 
A  war  of  dogmas  in  the  Christian  fold : 
Lo !  Rome  stands  first ;  Fanaticism  next. 
And  then  Arminius  with  polemic  text; 
Then  Anabaptist  Menno,  leading  on 
Spinoza,  with  his  law-automaton. 
Who  shall  of  sects  the  titie  meridian  learn  ? — 
Their  latitude  and  longitude  discern? 
We  of  the  Western  World  cannot  succeed 
In  conjuring  up  such  difference  of  creed. 
Or  to  uncovenanted  grace  assign 
So  many  heretics  in  things  divine. 

Beloved  of  God!  whose  ministry  hath  bless'd 
Our  Boston  and  the  Churches  of  the  West; 
Who,  without  seeming  toil,  hast  nobly  wrought 
Within  thy  breast  exhaustless  mines  of  thought. 
And  here  recordest,  as  by  God's  commands, 
'■'■The  Mighty  fVorks  of  Christ  in  Western  Lanils  ;" 
Say,  dost  thou  not  thyself  deserve  a  place 
Among  those  "Mighty  Works"  of  Sovereign  Grace? 

Immortal  Mather!  'tis  thy  page  alone 
To  Old  World  minds  makes  New  World  wonders  known; 
And  while  the  solid  Earth  shall  firm  remain. 
New  World  and  Old  World  shall  thy  praise  retain. 
HENRY  SELJINS, 

Pastor  of  a  Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  JVeui-  York, 


A  GENERAL   INTRODUCTION. 


'Epu  Se  TovTo,  rrjs  twv  Ivrsu^afxsvwv  'wipeXsia^  svsxa.* 
Dicam  hoc  propter  utilitatem  eorum  qui  Lecturi  sunt  hoc  opus. — Theodorit. 

{  1.  I  WRITE  the  Wonders  of  the  Christian  Religion,  flying  from  the  depravations  of 
Europe,  to  the  American  Strand;  and,  assisted  by  the  Holy  Author  of  that  Religion,  I  do 
with  all  conscience  of  Truth,  required  therein  by  Him,  who  is  the  Truth  itself,  report  the 
wonderful  displays  of  His  infinite  Power,  Wisdom,  Goodness,  and  Faithfulness,  wherewith 
His  Divine  Providence  hath  irradiated  an  Indian  Wilderness. 

I  relate  the  Considerable  IMatters,  that  produced  and  attended  the  First  Settlement  of 
Colonies,  which  have  been  renowned  for  the  degree  of  Reformation,  professed  and  attained 
by  Evangelical  Churches,  erected  in  those  ends  of  the  earth;  and  a  Field  being  thus  pre- 
pared, I  proceed  unto  a  relation  of  the  Considerable  Matters  which  have  been  acted  thereupon. 

I  first  introduce  the  Actors,  that  have  in  a  more  exemplary  manner  served  those  Colonies; 
and  give  Remarkable  Occurrences,  in  the  exemplary  Lives  of  many  Magistrates,  and  of 
more  Ministers,  who  so  lived  as  to  leave  unto  Posterity  examples  worthy  of  everlasting 
remembrance. 

I  add  hereunto,  the  Notables  of  the  only  Protestant  University  that  ever  shone  in  that 
hemisphere  of  the  New  World;  with  particular  instances  of  Criolians,  in  our  Biography, 
provoking  the  whole  world  with  vertuous  objects  of  emulation. 

I  introduce  then,  the  Actions  of  a  more  eminent  importance,  that  have  signalized  those 
Colonies:  whether  the  Establishments,  directed  by  their  Synods;  with  a  rich  variety  of 
Synodical  and  Ecclesiastical  Determinations;  or,  the  Disturbances,  with  which  they  have 
been  from  all  sorts  of  temptations  and  enemies  tempestuated;  and  the  Methods  by  which 
they  have  still  weathered  out  each  horrible  tempest. 

And  into  the  midst  of  these  Actions,  I  interpose  an  entire  Book,  wherein  there  is,  with 
all  possible  veracity,  a  Collection  made  of  Memorable  Occurrences,  and  amazing  Judgments 
and  Mercies  befalling  many  particular  persons  among  the  people  of  New-England. 

Let  my  readers  expect  all  that  I  have  promised  them,  in  this  Bill  of  Fare;  and  it  may  be 
they  will  find  themselves  entertained  with  yet  many  other  passages,  above  and  beyond  their 
expectation,  deserving  likewise  a  room  in  History:  in  all  which,  there  will  be  nothing  but 
the  Author's  too  mean  way  of  preparing  so  great  entertainments,  to  reproach  the  Invitation. 

{  2.  The  reader  will  doubtless  desire  to  know,  what  it  was  that 

tot  Volvere  casus 

Insignes  Fietate  Viros,  tot  adire  Lahores, 
ImpulcritA 

And  our  History  shall,  on  many  fit  occasions  which  will  be  therein  offered,  endeavour,  with 
all  historical  fidelity  and  simplicity,  and  with  as  little  oflTence  as  may  be,  to  satisfy  him.     The 

*  "This  I  say  for  the  benefit  of  those,  who  may  happen  to  read  the  book." 
t  "  Drove  forth  those  pious  heroes  to  withstand 

The  sea's  rough  rage  and  rougher  toil  on  land."— Virqil's  ^neii,  1.  9.  {altered.) 


26  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

sum  of  the  matter  is,  that  from  tlie  very  beginning  of  the  Reformation  in  tli(^  English 
Nation,  there  hath  always  been  a  generation  of  Godly  Men,  desirous  to  pursue  the  Relurm- 
ation  of  Religion,  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Example  of  the  best  Reformed 
Churches;  and  answering  the  character  of  Good  Men,  given  by  Josephus,  in  his  Paraj)lir..se 
on  the  words  of  Samuel  to  Saul,  (xi^fliv  'aXX'  if^a-)(_61^(Jsgdai  xaXwj  u(p'  laurwv  vo/jliJ^ov-ts.s, 
f;  0  Tt  av  '!tot^(fu<fi  Tou  Gsou  xexsKsuxoTog.  (They  think  they  do  nothing  right  in  the  ser- 
vice of  God,  but  what  they  do  according  to  the  command  of  God.)  And  there  hath  been 
another  generation  of  men,  who  have  still  employed  the  poiccr  which  they  have  generally 
still  had  in  their  hands,  not  only  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  desired  Refoitnation,  but  als'., 
with  innumerable  vexations,  to  persecute  those  that  most  heartily  wished  well  unto  it. 
There  were  many  of  the  Reformers,  who  joyned  with  the  Reverend  John  Fox,  in  the  com- 
plaints which  he  then  entred  in  his  Martyrology,  about  the  "baits  of  Popery"  yet  left  in  the 
Church ;  and  in  his  wishes,  "  God  take  them  away,  or  ease  us  from  them,  for  God  knows 
they  be  the  cause  of  much  blindness  and  strife  amongst  men!"  They  zealously  decreed 
the  policy  of  complying  always  with  the  ignorance  and  vanity  of  the  People;  and  cried  out 
earnestly  for  purer  Administrations  in  the  house  of  God,  and  more  conformilij  to  the  Law 
of  Christ  and  primitive  Christianily:  while  others  would  not  hear  of  going  any  further  tiian 
the  first  Essay  of  Reformation.  'Tis  very  certain,  that  the  first  Reformers  never  intended 
that  what  they  did  should  be  the  absolute  boundary  of  Refijrmation,  so  that  it  should  be  a 
sin  to  proceed  any  further;  as,  by  their  own  going  beyond  Wick  lift,  and  changing  and  grow- 
ing  in  their  own  Models  also,  and  the  confessions  of  Cranmer,  with  the  Scripta  Anglicana 
of  Bucer,  and  a  thousand  other  things,  was  abundantly  demonstrated.  But  after  a  fruitless 
expectation,  wherein  the  truest  friends  of  the  Reformation  lung  waited  for  to  have  thut 
which  Heylin  himself  owns  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  first  Reformers,  followed  as  it 
should  have  been,  a  party  very  unjustly  arrogating  to  themselves  the  venerable  name  of 
The  Church  of  England,  by  numberless  oppressions,  grievously  smote  those  their  Fellow- 
Servants.  Then  'twas  that,  as  our  great  Owen  hath  expressed  it,  "Multitudes  of  pious, 
peaceable  Protestants,  were  driven,  by  their  severities,  to  leave  their  native  country,  and 
seek  a  refuge  for  their  lives  and  liberties,  with  freedom  for  the  worship  of  God,  in  a  wilder- 
ness,  in  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

\  3.  It  is  the  History  of  these  Protestants  that  is  here  attempted:  Protestants  that 
highly  honoured  and  atlected  the  Church  of  England,  and  humbly  petition  to  be  a  part  of 
it:  but  by  the  mistake  of  a  few  powerful  brethren,  driven  to  seek  a  place  for  the  exercise 
of  the  Protestant  Religion,  according  to  the  light  of  their  consciences,  in  the  desarts  of 
America.  And  in  this  attempt  I  have  proposed,  not  only  to  preserve  and  secure  the  interest 
of  Religion  in  the  Churches  of  that  little  country  New-England,  so  far  as  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  may  please  to  bless  it  for  that  end,  but  also  to  offer  unto  the  Churches  of  the 
Reformation,  abroad  in  the  world,  some  small  Memorials,  that  may  be  serviceable  unto  the 
designs  of  Reformation,  whereto,  I  believe,  they  are  quickly  to  be  awakened.  I  am  far 
from  any  such  boast,  concerning  these  Churches,  that  they  have  need  of  nothing;  I  wish  their 
works  were  more  perfect  before  God.  Indeed,  that  which  Austin  called  "the  perfection  of 
Christians,"  is  like  to  be,  until  the  term  for  the  anti-christian  apostasie  be  expired,  "the  per- 
fection of  Churches"  too;  ut  agnoscant  se  nunquam  esse perfectas*  Nevertheless,  I  perswade 
myself,  that  so  far  as  they  have  attained,  they  have  given  great  examples  of  the  metiiods  and 
measures  wherein  an  Evangelical  Reformation  is  to  be  prosecuted,  and  of  the  qualifications 
requisite  in  the  instruments  that  are  to  prosecute  it,  and  of  the  dilfieulties  which  may  be 
most  likely  to  obstruct  it,  and  the  most  likely  Directions  and  Remedies  for  those  obstruc- 
tions. It  may  be,  'tis  not  possible  for  me  to  do  a  greater  service  unto  the  Churches  on  the 
best  Island  of  the  universe,  than  to  give  a  distinct  relation  of  those  great  examples  which 
have  been  occurring  among  Churches  of  exiles,  that  were  driven  out  of  that  Island,  into  an 
horrible  wilderness,  meerly  for  their  being  well-willers  unto  the  Reformation.  When  that 
•  To  Bcltnowledgo  their  imporfectiona. 


GENERAL    INTEODUCTION.  27 

blessed  Martyr  Constantine  was  carried,  with  other  Martyrs,  in  a  dung-cart,  unto  the  place 
of  execution,  he  pleasantly  said,  "  Well,  yet  we  are  a  precious  odour  to  God  in  Christ." 
Though,  the  Reformed  Churches  in  the  American  Regions  have,  by  very  injurious  represent- 
ations of  their  brethren,  (all  which  they  desire  to  forget  and  forgive !)  been  many  times 
thrown  into  a  dung-cart;  yet,  as  they  have  been  a  "precious  odour  to  God  in  Christ,"  so,  I 
hope,  they  will  be  a  precious  odour  unto  His  people ;  and  not  only  precious,  but  useful  also, 
when  the  History  of  them  shall  come  to  be  considered.  A  Reformation  of  the  Church  is 
coming  on,  and  I  cannot  but  thereupon  say,  with  the  dying  Cyrus  to  his  children  in  Xeno- 
phon,  'Ex  rwv  tpoysysvvrnjJvuv  jxavSavsrs,  dvr-rj  yap  dpi<frr]  SiSa<fxaXia,  (Learn  from 
the  things  that  have  been  done  already,  for  this  is  the  best  way  of  learning.)  The  reader 
hath  here  an  account  of  the  "things  that  have  been  done  alre-idy."  Bernard,  upon  that 
clause  in  the  Canticles,  ["O  thou  fairest  among  women!"]  has  this  ingenious  gloss:  Pul- 
chram,  non  omnimode  quidem,  sed  pulchram  inter  mtdieres  earn  docet ;  videlicet  cum  disiinc- 
tione,  quatenus  ex  hoc  amplius  reprimaiur,  et  sciat  quid  desit  sibi.*  Thus,  I  do  not  say,  that 
the  Churches  of  New-p]ngland  are  the  most  regular  that  can  be;  yet  I  do  say,  and  am  sure, 
that  they  are  very  like  unto  those  that  were  in  the  first  ages  of  Cliristianity.  And  if  I 
assert  that,  in  the  Reformation  of  the  Cliurch,  the  state  of  it  in  those  first  Ages  is  to  be  not 
a  little  considered,  the  gi-cat  Peter  Ramus,  among  others,  has  emboldened  me.  For  when 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  the  Mcccenas  of  that  great  man,  was  offended  at  him,  for  turninof 
Protestant,  he  replied:  Inter  Opes  illas,  quihus  me  ditdsti,  has  etiam  in  CEiernum  recordabor 
quod  Beneficio  Poessiaca:  Responsionis  iiuc  didici,  de  quindecim  a  Christo  sa;culis,  primum 
vere  esse  aureum;  Reliqua,  quo  longius  abscederent,  esse  nequiora,  atque  deleriora:  turn  ieritur 
cum  fieret  optio,  Aureum  sccculum  delegi.f  In  short,  the  first  Age  was  the  golden  Ao-e:  to 
return  unto  that,  will  make  a  man  a  Protestant,  and,  I  may  add,  a  Puritan.  'Tis  possible 
that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  carried  some  thousands  of  Reformers  into  the  retirements  of  an 
American  desart,  on  purpose  that,  with  an  opportunity  granted  unto  many  of  his  faithful 
servants,  to  enjoy  the  precious  liberty  of  their  Ministry,  though  in  the  midst  of  many  tempt- 
ations all  their  days,  He  might  there,  to  them  first,  and  then  by  them,  give  a  specimen  of 
many  good  tilings,  which  He  would  have  His  Churches  elsewhere  aspire  and  arise  unto ; 
and  this  being  done,  he  knows  not  whether  there  be  not  all  done,  that  New-England  was 
planted  for;  and  whether  the  Plantation  may  not,  soon  after  this,  come  to  nothing.  Upon 
that  expression  in  the  sacred  Scripture,  "Cast  the  unprofitable  servant  into  outer  darkness," 
it  hath  been  imagined  by  some,  that  the  Regiones  extercc\  of  America,  are  the  Tenebra 
exteriorcs,  \  which  the  unprofitable  are  there  condemned  unto.  No  doubt,  the  authors  of 
those  Ecclesiastical  impositions  and  severities,  which  drove  the  English  Christians  into  the 
dark  regions  of  America,  esteemed  those  Christians  to  be  a  very  unprofitable  sort  of  crea- 
tures. But  behold,  ye  European  Churches,  there  are  golden  Candlesticks  [more  than  twice 
seven  times  seven!]  in  the  midst  of  this  "outer  darkness:"  unto  the  upright  children  of 
Abraham,  here  hath  arisen  light  in  darkness.  And,  let  us  humbly  speak  it,  it  shall  be  profit- 
able for  you  to  consider  the  light  which,  from  the  midst  of  this  "outer  darkness,"  is  now  to 
be  darted  over  unto  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantick  Ocean.  But  we  must  therewithal 
ask  your  Prayers,  that  these  "golden  Candlesticks"  may  not  quickly  be  "removed  out  of 
their  place !" 

\  4.  But  whether  New-England  may  live  any  where  else  or  no,  it  must  live  in  our  History ! 

History,  in  general,  hath  had  so  many  and  mighty  commendations  from  the  pens  of  those 
numberless  authors,  who,  from  Herodotus  to  Howel,  have  been  the  professed  writers  of  it, 

*  The  sacrod  writer  calls  her  fair,  not  in  an  absolute  sense,  but  fair  among  women ;  implying  a  distinction,  in 
order  that  his  pruise  may  have  due  qualification,  and  that  she  may  apprehend  her  deficiencies. 

t  Among  the  many  favours  with  which  your  bounty  has  enriched  me,  I  shall  keep  one  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance—I mean  the  lesson  I  have  learned  through  your  Reply  to  the  Poissy  Confei-ence,  that  of  the  fifteen  centuries 
since  Christ,  the  first  was  the  truly  golden  era  of  the  C'huich,  and  that  the  rest  have  been  successive  periods  of 
degeneracy ;  when  therefore  I  had  the  power  of  choosing  between  thera,  I  preferred  the  golden  age. 

i  Remote  regions.  g  Outer  darkness. 


28  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

that  a  tenth  part  of  them  transcribed,  would  be  a  furniture  for  a  Polyanthea  in  folio.*  We, 
that  have  neither  liberty,  nor  occasion,  to  quote  these  commendations  of  History,  will  con- 
tent ourselves  with  the  opinion  of  one  who  was  not  much  of  a  professed  historian,  expressed 
in  that  passage,  whereto  all  mankind  subscribe,  llistnria  est  Testis  temporum,  Ntintia  vetus- 
tatis,  Lux  veritatis,  vita  memoricc,  magistra  vil(C.  f  But  of  all  History  it  must  be  confessed, 
tliat  the  palm  is  to  be  given  unto  Church  History;  wherein  the  dignity,  the  suavity,  and  tiie 
utility  of  the  subject  is  transcendent.  I  observe,  that  for  the  description  of  the  whole 
world  in  the  Book  of  Genesis,  that  first-born  of  all  historians,  the  great  j\Ioses,  implies  but 
one  or  two  chapters,  whereas  he  implies,  it  may  be  seven  times  as  many  chapters,  in  describ- 
ing that  one  little  Pavilion,  the  Tabernacle.  And  when  I  am  thinking  what  may  be  the 
reason  of  this  difference,  methinks  it  intimates  unto  us,  that  the  Church  wherein  the  service 
of  God  is  performed,  is  much  more  precious  than  the  world,  which  was  indeed  created 
for  the  sake  and  use  of  the  Church.  'Tis  very  certain,  that  the  greatest  entertainments 
must  needs  occur  in  the  History  of  the  people  whom  the  Son  of  God  hath  redeemed  and 
purified  unto  himself,  as  a  peculiar  people,  and  whom  the  Spirit  of  God,  by  supern;itural 
operations  upon  their  minds,  does  cause  to  live  like  strangers  in  this  world,  conforming 
themselves  unto  the  Truths  and  Rules  of  his  Holy  Word,  in  expectation  of  a  Kingdom, 
whereto  they  shall  be  in  another  and  a  better  World  advanced.  Such  a  people  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  procured  and  preserved  in  all  ages  visible;  and  the  dispensations  of  his 
wondrous  Providence  towards  this  People,  (for,  "O  Lord,  thou  dost  lift  them  up  and  cast 
them  down!")  their  calamities,  their  deliverances,  the  dispositions  which  they  have  still 
discovered,  and  the  considerable  persons  and  actions  found  among  them,  cannot  but  afford 
matters  of  admiration  and  admonition,  above  what  any  other  story  can  pretend  unto:  'tis 
nothing  but  Atheism  in  the  hearts  of  men,  that  can  perswade  them  otherwise.  Let  any 
person  of  good  sense  peruse  the  History  of  Herodotus,  which,  like  a  river  taking  rise  where 
the  Sacred  Records  of  the  Old  Testament  leave  off,  runs  along  smoothly  and  sweetly,  with 
relations  that  sometimes  perhaps  want  an  apology,  down  until  the  Grecians  drive  the  Per- 
sians before  them.  Let  him  then  peruse  Thucydides,  who,  from  acting,  betook  himself  to 
icriting,  and  carries  the  ancient  state  of  the  Grecians  down  to  the  twenty-first  year  of  the 
Peloponnesian  wars,  in  a  manner  which  Casaubon  judges  to  be  Mirandum  potius  quam  imi- 
tandum.X  Let  him  next  revolve  Xenophon,  that  "Bee  of  Athens,"  who  continues  a  narrative 
of  the  Greek  affairs  from  the  Peloponnesian  wars  to  the  battle  of  Mantinea,  and  gives  us  a 
Cyrus  into  the  bargain,  at  such  a  rate,  that  Lipsius  reckons  the  character  of  a  Suaiis,  Fidus 
el  Circumspectus  Scriptor,^  to  belong  unto  him.  Let  him  from  hence  proceed  unto  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus,  who,  besides  a  rich  treasure  of  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Lybian  and  Grecian,  and 
other  Antiquities,  in  a  phrase  which,  according  to  Piiotius's  judgment,  is  'Kfropin  fxaXigTa 
zips-asiirj,  [of  all  most  becoming  an  historian,]  carries  on  the  thread  begun  by  his  predeces- 
sors, until  the  end  of  the  hundred  and  nineteenth  Olympiad ;  and  where  he  is  defective,  let 
it  be  supplied  from  Arrianus,  from  Justin,  and  from  Curtius,  who,  in  the  relish  of  Colerus,  is 
Quoiis  melle  dulcior.  ||  Let  him  hereupon  consult  Polybius,  and  acquaint  himself  with  the 
birth  and  growth  of  the  Roman  Empire,  as  far  as  'tis  described  in  five  of  the  forty  books 
composed  by  an  author  who,  with  a  learned  Professor  of  History,  is  Prudens  Scriptor,  si 
cpiis  alius.  ^  Let  him  now  run  over  the  table  of  the  Roman  affairs,  compendiously  given  by 
Lucius  Florus,  and  then  let  him  consider  the  transactions  of  above  three  hundred  years 
reported  by  Dionysius  Halicarnassajus,  who,  if  the  censure  of  Bodin  may  be  taken,  Griccos 
onines  et  Latinos  siiperasse  videatur.**     Let  him  from  hence  pass  to  Livy,  of  whom  the 

*  An  anthology. 

+  History  is  Time's  witness,  the  messenger  of  Antiquity,  the  lamp  of  Truth,  the  embodied  soul  of  Memory,  the 
guide  of  human  Life.'' — Cicero,  de  Uratore,  ii.  9.  [Slightly  transposed,  showing  that  the  writer  quotes  from 
recollection.] 

X  Rather  to  be  admired  than  imitated.  §  .\n  agreeable,  faithful,  and  accurate  writer. 

I  Sweeter  than  honey.  ^  A  sagacious  historian,  if  one  ever  existed. 

••  Appears  to  have  outdone  all  other  Greek  and  the  Latin  outhors. 


GENEKAL    INTEODUCTION.  29 

famous  critick  says,  Hoc  solum  ingenium  (de  Hisioricis  Loquor)  populus  Romanus  par  Imperio 
sua  habuit,*  and  supply  those  of  his  Decads  that  are  lost,  from  the  best  fragments  of  anti- 
quity, in  others  (and  especially  Dion  and  Sallust)  that  lead  us  on  still  further  in  our  way. 
Let  him  then  proceed  unto  the  writers  of  the  Cesarean  times,  and  first  revolve  Suetonius, 
then  Tacitus,  then  Herodian,  then  a  whole  army  more  of  historians  which  now  crowd  into 
our  Library;  and  unto  all  the  rest,  let  him  not  fail  of  adding  the  incomparable  Plutarch, 
whose  books,  they  say,  Theodore  Gaza  preferred  before  any  in  the  world,  next  unto  the 
inspired  oracles  of  the  Bible  :  but  if  the  number  be  still  too  little  to  satisfie  an  historical 
appetite,  let  him  add  Polyhistor  unto  the  number,  and  all  tlie  Chronicles  of  the  following 
ages.  After  all,  he  must  sensibly  acknowledge  that  the  two  short  books  of  Ecclesiastical 
History,  written  by  the  evangelist  Luke,  hath  given  us  more  glorious  entertainments  than 
all  these  voluminous  historians  if  they  were  put  all  together.  The  atchievements  of  one 
Paul  particularly,  which  that  evangelist  hath  emblazoned,  have  more  true  glory  in  them,  than 
all  the  acts  of  those  execrable  plunderers  and  murderers,  and  iiTesistible  banditti  of  the 
world,  which  have  been  dignified  by  the  name  of  "conquerors."  Tacitus  counted  Ingentia 
bella,  expiignationes  urbium,  fusos  captosque  reges,\  the  rages  of  war,  and  the  glorious  vio- 
lences, whereof  great  warriors  make  a  wretched  ostentation,  to  be  the  noblest  matter  for  an 
historian.  But  there  is  a  nobler,  I  humbly  conceive,  in  the  planting  and  forming  of  Evan- 
gelical Churches,  and  the  temptations,  tlie  corruptions,  the  afflictions,  which  assault  them, 
and  their  salvations  from  those  assaults,  and  the  exemplary  lives  of  those  that  Heaven 
employs  to  be  patterns  of  holiness  and  usefulness  upon  earth:  and  unto  such  it  is,  that  I 
now  invite  my  readers ;  things,  in  comparison  whereof,  the  subjects  of  many  other  Histories 
are  of  as  little  weight  as  the  questions  about  Z,  the  last  letter  of  our  Alphabet,  and  whether 
His  to  be  pronounced  with  an  aspiration,  where  about  whole  volumes  have  been  written, 
and  of  no  more  account  than  the  composure  of  Didymus.  But  for  the  manner  of  my  treat- 
ing this  matter,  I  must  now  give  some  account  unto  him. 

5  5.  Reader!  I  have  done  the  part  of  an  impartial  historian,  albeit  not  without  all  occa- 
sion perliaps,  for  the  rule  which  a  worthy  writer,  in  his  Hisiorica,  gives  to  every  reader, 
Historici  legantur  cum  moderatione  el  venia,  et  cogitetur  fieri  non  posse  ut  in  omnibus  circum- 
siantiis  sint  lyncei.  J  Polybius  complains  of  those  historians,  who  always  made  either  the 
Carthagenians  brave,  or  the  Romans  base,  or  e  contra,  in  all  their  actions,  as  their  affection 
for  their  own  party  led  them.  I  have  endeavoured,  with  all  good  conscience,  to  decline  this 
writing  meerly  for  a  party,  or  doing  like  the  dealer  in  History,  whom  Lucian  derides,  for 
always  calling  the  captain  of  his  own  party  an  Achilles,  but  of  the  adverse  party  a  Ther- 
sites:  nor  have  I  added  unto  the  just  provocations  for  the  complaint  made  by  the  Baron 
IMaurier,  that  the  greatest  part  of  Histories  are  but  so  many  panegyricks  composed  by 
interested  hands,  which  elevate  iniquity  to  the  heavens,  like  Paterculus,  and  like  Machiavel 
who  propose  Tiberius  Cesar,  and  Cesar  Borgia,  as  examples  fit  for  imitation,  whereas  true 
History  would  have  exhibited  tliem  as  horrid  monsters — as  very  devils.  'Tis  true,  I  am  not 
of  the  opinion  that  one  cannot  merit  the  name  of  an  impartial  historian,  except  he  write 
bare  matters  of  fact  without  all  reflection;  for  I  can  tell  where  to  find  this  given  as  the  defi- 
nition of  History,  Historia  est  rerum  gestarum,  cum  laude  aut  vituperatione,  narratio:^  and 
if  I  am  not  altogether  a  Tacitus,  when  rertues  or  rices  occur  to  be  matters  of  reflection,  as 
well  as  of  relation,  I  will,  for  my  vindication,  appeal  to  Tacitus  himself,  whom  Lipsius  calls 
one  of  the  prudentest  (though  Tertullian,  long  before,  counts  him  one  of  the  lyingest)  of  them 
who  have  enriched  the  world  with  History:  he  says,  Prcccipuum  munus  Annalium  reor,  ne 
virtutes  sileantur,  utqite  pravis  Dictis,  Factisque  ex  posteriiate  et  Infamia  metus  sit.  ||     I  have 

*  In  him  alone  (so  far  as  historians  are  concerned)  the  Roman  people  found  a  genius  worthy  of  their  match- 
less empue. 

+  Gre.1t  wars,  sacked  cities,  kings  in  flight  or  chains.  [eveiy  thing. 

t  Readers  should  exercise  leniency  towaids  historians,  and  bear  it  in  mind  that  they  cannot  be  infallible  in 

I  History  is  the  narration  of  great  transactions,  with  awards  of  pi'aise  or  censure  to  the  actors. 

I  I  deem  it  to  be  the  highest  office  of  History  to  blazon  abroad  the  virtues  of  the  race,  and  to  hold  up  before 
depravity,  whether  it  be  in  word  or  deed,  the  dread  of  eternal  obloquy.— Tacitus,  Annals,  lii.  65. 


30  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

not  commended  any  person,  but  when  I  liavc  really  judged,  not  only  that  he  deserved  it,  but 
also  that  it  would  he  a  benefit  unto  posterity  to  know  wherein  he  desen'ed  it:  and  my  judg- 
ment of  desert,  hath  not  been  biassed  by  persons  being  of  my  own  particular  judgment,  in 
matters  of  disputation,  among  the  Churches  of  God.     I  have  been  as  willing  to  wear  the 
name  of  Simplicius  Verimis,  throughout  my  whole  undertaking,  as  he  that,  before  me,  hath 
assumed  it:  nor  am  I  like  Pope  Zachary,  impatient  so  much  as  to  hear  of  any  Antipodes. 
That  spirit  of  a  Schlusselbergins,  who  falls  foul  with  fury  and  reproach  on  all  who  differ 
from  him:  the  spirit  of  an  Ileylin,  who  seems  to  count  no  obloquy  too  hard  for  a  reformer; 
and  the  spirit  of  those  (folio-writers  there  are,  some  of  them,  in  tiie  English  nation!)  whom 
a  noble  Ilistoiian  stigmatizes,  as,  "Those  hot-headed,  passionate  bigots,  from  whom,  'tis 
enough,  if  you  be  of  a  religion  contrary  unto  theirs,  to  be  defamed,  condemned  and  pursued 
with  a  thousand  calumnies."    I  thank  Heaven  I  hate  it  with  all  my  heart.    But  how  can  the  lives 
of  the  commendable  be  written  without  commending  them  ?  or,  is  that  law  of  History,  given  in 
one  of  the  eminentest  pieces  of  antiquity  we  now  have  in  our  hands,  wholly  antiquated,  Max- 
ime  proprium  est  Hisloriiv,  Laudem  reriim  egregie  geslarum  persequi  T'*  nor  have  I,  on  the  other 
side,  forbore  to  mention  many  censurable  things,  even  in  the  best  of  my  friends,  when  the 
things,  in  my  opinion,  were  not  good ;  or  so  bore  away  for  Placentia,  in  the  course  of  our 
story,  as  to  pass  by  Verona;  but  been  mindful  of  the  direction  which  Polybius  gives  to  the 
historian:  "It  becomes  him  that  writes  an  History,  sometimes  to  extol  enemies  in  his  praises, 
w^hen  their  praise  wortliy  actions  bespeak  it,  and  at  the  same  time  to  reprove  the  best  friends, 
when  their  deeds  appear  worthy  of  a  reproof;  in-as-much  as  History  is  good  for  nothing, 
if  truth  (which  is  the  very  eye  of  the  animal)  be  not  in  it."     Indeed,  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty  upon  all  accounts,  (and  if  it  have  proceeded  unto  the  degree  of  a  fault,  there  is,  it  may 
be,  something  in  my  temper  and  nature  that  has  betrayed  me  therein,)  to  be  more  sparing  and 
easie,  in  thus  mentioning  of  censurable  things,  than  in  my  other  liberty:  a  writer  of  Church- 
History  should,  I  know,  be  like  the  builder  of  the  temple,  one  of  the  tribe  of  Naphthali ;  and 
for  this  I  will  also  plead  my  Polybius  in  my  excuse:  "It  is  not  the  work  of  an  historian,  to 
commemorate  the  vices  and  viilanies  of  men,  so  much  as  their  just,  their  fair,  their  honest 
actions;  and  the  readers  of  History  get  more  good  by  the  objects  of  their  emulation,  than 
of  their  indignation."     Nor  do  I  deny  that,  though  I  cannot  approve  the  conduct  of  Jose- 
phus;  (whom  Jerom  not  unjustly  nor  inaptly  calls  "the  Greek  Livy,"')  when  he  left  out  of 
his  Antiquities,  the  story  of  the  golden  Calf,  and  I  don't  wonder  to  find  Chamier,  and  Rivet, 
and  others,  taxing  him  for  his  partiality  towards  his  country-men;  yet  I  have  left  unmen- 
tioned  some  censurable  occurrences  in  the  story  of  our  Colonies,  as  things  no  less  unuseful 
than  improper  to  be  raised  out  of  the  grave,  wherein  Oblivion  hath  now  buried  them;  lest  I 
should  have  incurred  the  pasquil  bestowed  upon  Pope  Urban,  who,  employing  a  committee 
to  rip  up  the  old  errors  of  his  predecessors,  one  clapped  a  pair  of  spurs  upon  the  heels  of 
the  statue  of  St.  Peter;  and  a  label  from  the  statue  of  St.  Paul  opposite  thereunto,  upon 
the  bridge,  asked  him,  "Whither  he  was  bound?"  St.  Peter  answered,  "I  apprehend  some 
danger  in  staying  here;  I  fear  they'll  call  me  in  question  for  denying  my  blaster."     And  St. 
Paul  replied,  "Nay,  then  I  had  best  be  gone  too,  for  they'll  question  me  also  for  persecuting 
the  Christians  before  my  conversion."     Briefly,  my  pen  shall  repro:ich  none  that  can  give  a. 
good  word  unto  any  good  man  that  is  not  of  their  own  faction,  and  shall  fall  out  with  none 
but  those  that  can  agree  with  no  body  else,  except  those  of  their  own  schism.     If  I  draw 
any  sort  of  men  with  charcoal,  it  shall  be  because  I  remember  a  notable  passage  of  the  best 
Queen  that  ever  was  in  the  world,  our  late  Queen  Mary,     IMonsieur  Juvien,  that  he  might 
justifie  the  Reformation  in  Scotland,  made  a  very  black  representation  of  their  old  Queen 
Mary;  for  which,  a  certain  sycopliant  would  have  incensed  our  Queen  Mary  against  tliat 
Reverend  person,  saying,  "Is  it  not  a  shame  tliat  this  man,  without  any  consideration  for 
your  royal  person,  should  dare  to  throw  such  infamous  calumnies  upon  a  Queen,  from 
whom  your  Royal  Highness  is  descended?"    But  that  excellent  Princess  replied,  "No,  not 

♦  It  is  History's  truest  prerogative,  to  praise  noble  achieTements. 


GENEKAL  INTEO  DUCTIO  N.  g1 

at  all;  is  it  not  enough  that,  by  fulsome  praises,  great  persons  be  lulled  asleep  all  their 
lives;  but  must  flattery  accompany  them  to  their  very  graves?  How  should  they  fear  the 
judgment  of  posterity,  if  historians  be  not  allowed  to  speak  the  truth  after  their  death?" 
But  whether  I  do  myself  commend,  or  whether  I  give  my  reader  an  opportunity  to  censure, 
I  am  careful  above  all  things  to  do  it  with  truth;  and  as  I  have  considered  the  words  of 
Plato,  Dcum  indigne  et  graviier  ferre,  cxrni  quis  ei  similem,  hoc  est,  virtute  prccstantem,  viiu- 
peret,  aut  laudet  conirarium:*  so  I  have  had  the  Ninth  Commandment  of  a  greater  law-giver 
than  Plato,  to  preserve  my  care  of  Truth  from  first  to  last.  If  any  mistake  have  been  any 
where  committed,  it  will  be  found  meerly  circumstantial,  and  wholly  involuntary ;  and  let  it 
be  remembered,  that  though  no  historian  ever  merited  better  than  the  incomparable  Thuanus, 
yet  learned  men  have  said  of  his  work,  what  they  never  shall  truly  say  of  ours,  that  it  con- 
tains multa  falsissima  et  indigna.]  I  find  Erasmus  himself  mistaking  one  man  for  two, 
when  writing  of  the  ancients.  And  even  our  own  English  writers  too  are  often  mistaken, 
and  in  matters  of  a  very  late  importance,  as  Baker,  and  Heylin,  and  Fuller,  (professed  his- 
torians) tell  us  that  Richard  Sutton,  a  single  man,  founded  the  Charter-House;  whereas  his 
name  was  Thomas,  and  he  was  a  married  man.  I  think  I  can  recite  such  mistakes,  it  may 
be  sans  number  occurring  in  the  most  credible  writers;  yet  I  hope  I  shall  commit  none  such. 
But  although  I  thus  challenge,  as  my  due,  the  character  of  an  impartial,  I  doubt  I  may  not 
challenge  that  of  an  elegant  historian.  I  cannot  say  whether  the  style  wherein  this  Church- 
History  is  written,  will  please  the  modern  criticks:  but  if  I  seem  to  have  used  aaJXatfTarTj 
tfuvTa^Ji  rpaip'/)?,  t  a  simple,  submiss,  humble  style,  'tis  the  same  that  Eusebius  affirms  to 
have  been  used  by  Hegesippus,  who,  as  far  as  we  understand,  was  the  first  author  (after  Luke) 
that  ever  composed  an  entire  body  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  which  he  divided  into  five 
books,  and  entituled,  {jifoixvrj^ara  tuv  h\kr]<fiagTixCJv  irpa^suiv.  §  Wliereas  others,  it 
may  be,  will  reckon  the  style  embellished  with  too  much  of  ornament,  by  the  multiplied 
references  to  other  and  former  concerns,  closely  couched,  for  the  observation  of  the  atten- 
tive, in  almost  every  paragrapli ;  but  I  must  confess,  that  I  am  of  his  mind  who  said,  Sicuti 
sal  modice  cibis  aspersus  Condit,  et  gratiam  saporis  addit,  ita  si  paulimi  antiquitutis  admiscu- 
eris,  Oratio  fit  venustior.  \\  And  I  have  seldom  seen  that  way  of  writing  faulted,  but  by 
those  who,  for  a  certain  odd  reason,  sometimes  find  fault  that  "the  grapes  are  not  ripe." 
These  embellishments  (of  which  yet  I  only — Veniam  pro  laude  peto^)  are  not  the  puerile 
spoils  of  Polyanthea's ;  but  I  should  have  asserted  them  to  be  as  choice  J?owers  as  most  that 
occur  in  ancient  or  modern  writings,  almost  unavoidably  putting  themselves  into  the 
author's  hand,  while  about  his  work,  if  those  words  of  Ambrose  had  not  a  little  frighted 
me,  as  well  as  they  did  Baronius,  Unumquemque  Fallunt  sua  scripta.**  I  observe  that 
learned  men  have  been  so  terrified  by  the  reproaches  of  pedantry,  wliich  little  smatterers  at 
reading  and  learning  have,  by  their  quoting  humours,  brought  upon  themselves,  that,  for  to 
avoid  all  approaches  towards  that  which  those  feeble  creatures  have  gone  to  imitate,  the 
best  way  of  writing  has  been  most  injuriously  deserted.  But  what  shall  we  say?  The  best 
way  of  writing  under  heaven  shall  be  the  worst,  when  Erasmus,  his  monosyllable  tyrant, 
will  have  it  so!  and  if  I  should  have  resigned  my  self  wholly  to  the  judgment  of  others, 
what  way  of  writing  to  have  taken,  the  story  of  the  two  statues  made  by  Policletus  tells 
me  what  may  have  been  the  issue:  he  contrived  one  of  them  according  to  the  rules  that 
best  pleased  himself,  and  the  other  according  to  the  fancy  of  every  one  that  looked  upon  his 
work:  the  former  was  afterwards  applauded  by  all,  and  the  latter  derided  by  those  very  per- 
sons who  hnd  given  their  dkections  for  it.     As  for  such  unaccuracies  as  the  critical  may 

*  It  is  offensive  to  Deity  himself  when  dishonour  is  cast  on  such  as  resemble  Him  in  the  loftiness  of  their 
virtue,  or  when  praise  is  bestowed  on  their  opposiles. 
+  Much  that  is  most  false  and  unworthy. 

X  The  simplest  style  of  writing.  §  Memoirs  of  ecclesiastical  transactions. 

I  As  a  little  salt  seasons  food,  and  increases  its  relish,  so  a  spice  of  antiquity  heightens  the  charm  of  style. 
Tf  Ask  pardon  for  this  self-praise.         *•  Every  writer  forms  mistaken  judgments  of  his  own  productions. 


32  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

discover,  Opere  in  longo,*  I  appeal  to  the  courteous  for  a  favourable  construction  of  them; 
.•Hid  certainly  tliey  will  be  favourably  judged  of,  when  tlierc  is  considered  the  variety  of  my 
other  imployments;  which  have  kept  me  in  continual  hurries,  I  had  almost  said  like  those 
of  the  ninth  sphere,  for  tlie  few  montlis  in  which  this  Work  has  been  digesting.     It  was  a 
thing  well  thought,  by  the  wise  designers  of  Clielsey-CuUedge,  wherein  able  historians 
were  one  sort  of  persons  to  be  maintained;  that  tiie  Romanists  do  in  one  point  condemn 
the  Protestants;  for  among  the  Romanists,  tliey  don't  burden  their  Professor  with  any  Par- 
ochial incumhrances ;  but  among  the  Protestants,  the  very  same  individual  man  must  preach, 
catechize,  administer  the  Sacraments,  visit  the  afflicted,  and  manage  all  the  parts  of  Church- 
discipline;  and  if  any  books  for  the  service  of  Religion  be  written,  persons  tluis  extreamly 
incumbered  must  be  the  writers.     Now,  of  all  the  Churches  under  heaven,  there  are  none 
that  expects  so  much  variety  of  service  from  their  Pastors  as  those  of  New-England;  and  of 
all  the  Churches  in  New-England,  there  are  none  that  require  more  than  those  in  Boston, 
the  metropolis  of  the  English  America;  whereof  one  is,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  com- 
mitted unto  the  care  of  the  unworthy  hand  by  which  this  History  is  compiled.     Reader, 
give  me  leave  humbly  to  mention,  with  him  in  Tully,  Antequam  de  re,  Pauca  de  me  I  f     Con- 
stant sermons,  usually  more  than  once,  and  perhaps  three  or  four  times  in  a  week,  and  all 
the  other  duties  of  a  pastoral  watchfulness,  a  very  large  flock  has  all  this  while  demanded 
of  me;  wherein,  if  1  had  been  furnished  with  as  many  heads  as  a  Typheus,  as  many  eyes 
as  an  Argos,  and  as  many  hands  as  a  Briareus,  I  might  have  had  work  enough  to  have 
employed  them  all ;  nor  hath  my  station  left  me  free  from  obligations  to  spend  very  much 
time  in  the  Evangelical  service  of  others  also.     It  would  have  been  a  great  sin  in  me  to 
have  omitted,  or  abated,  my  just  cares,  to  fulfil  my  Ministry  in  these  things,  and  in  a  manner 
give  my  self  loholly  to  them.     All  the  time  I  have  had  for  my  Church-History,  hath  been  per- 
haps only,  or  chiefly,  that  which  I  might  have  taken  else  for  less  profitable  recreations;  and 
it  hath  all  been  done  by  snatches.     My  reader  will  not  find  me  the  person  intended  in  his 
Littany,  when  he  says.  Libera  me  ab  homine  unius  negotii:l  nor  have  I  spent  thirty  years  in 
shaping  this  my  History,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  did  for  his,  [and  yet  both  Bodinus  and  Sigonius 
complain  of  the  tfcpaXfjiara  &  attending  it.     But  I  wish  I  could  have  enjoyed,  entirely  for 
this  work,  one  quarter  of  the  little  more  than  two  years  wliich  have  rolled  away  since  I 
began  it;  whereas  I  have  been  forced  sometimes  wholly  to  throw  by  the  work  whole  months 
together,  and  then  resume  it,  but  by  a  stolen  hour  or  two  in  the  day,  not  without  some 
hazard  of  incurring  the  title  which  Coryat  put  upon  his  History  of  his  Travels,  "  Crudities 
hastily  gobbled  up  in  five  months.^''      Protogenes  being  seven  years  in  drawing  a  picture, 
Apelles,  upon  the  sight  of  it,  said,  "The  grace  of  the  work  was  much  allayed  by  the  length 
of  the  time."    Whatever  else  there  may  have  been  to  take  off  the  "grace  of  the  work" 
now  in  the  reader's  hands,  (whereof  the  pictures  of  great  and  good  men  make  a  consider- 
able part,)  I  am  sure  there  hath  not  been  the  "length  of  the  time"  to  do  it.     Our  English 
Martyrologer  counted  it  a  sufficient  apology  for  what  meanness  might  be  found  in  the  first 
edition  of  his  "acts  and   monuments,"  that  it  was  "hastily  rashed  up  in  .about  fourteen 
months:"  .ind  I  m.iy  aj)ologize  for  this  collection  of  our  "acts  and  monuments,"  tliat  I 
should  iiave  been  glad,  in  the  little  more  than  two  years  whicli  have  r.an  out  since  I  entred 
upon  it,  if  I  could  liave  had  one  half  of  "about  fourteen  months"  to  have  entirely  devoted 
thereunto.     But  besides  the  time,  which  the  daily  services  of  my  own  first,  and  then  many 
other  Churches,  have  necessarily  called  for,  I  iiave  lost  abundance  of  precious  time  through 
the  feeble  and  broken  state  of  my  health,  which  hath  unfitted  me  for  hard  study;  I  can  do 
nothing  to  purpose  at  lucubrations.     And  yet,  in  this  time  also  of  the  two  or  three  years  last 
past,  I  have  not  been  excused  from  the  further  diversion  of  publishing  (though  not  so  miiny  as 
they  say  Mercurius  Trisinegistus  did,  yet)  more  than  a  score  of  other  books,  upon  a  copious 
variety  of  other  subjects,  besides  the  composing  of  several  more,  that  are  not  yet  publislied. 

•  In  the  coiirso  of  a  long  work. 

t  Bcforo  I  talk  of  my  subject,  I  must  say  a  few  things  about  myself. 

%  Deliver  me  from  a  man  of  one  idea.  §  Mistakes. 


GENERAL    INTEODUCTION.  §3 

Nor  is  this  neitiier  all  tlie  task  tliat  I  have  in  this  while  had  lying  upon  me ;  for  (thougli 
I  am  very  sensible  of  what  Jerom  said,  Non  bene  fit,  quod  occupato  Animo  fit;*  and  of 
Quiutilian's  remark,  Non  simul  in  multa  iniendere  Animus  toium  potest ;\  when  I  applied 
my  mind  unto  this  way  of  serving  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  my  generation,  I  set  upon 
another  and  a  greater,  which  has  had,  I  suppose,  more  of  my  thought  and  hoye  than  this,  and 
wherein  there  hath  passed  me,  for  the  most  part,  Nulla  dies  sine  linea.  X  I  considered,  that 
all  sort  of  learning  might  be  made  gloriously  subservient  unto  the  illustration  of  the  sacred 
Scripture;  and  that  no  professed  commentaries  had  hitherto  given  a  thousandth  part  of  so 
much  illustration  unto  it,  as  might  be  given.  I  considered  that  multitudes  of  particular  texts 
had,  especially  of  later  years,  been  more  notably  illustrated  in  the  scattered  books  of 
learned  men,  than  in  any  of  the  ordinary  commentators.  And  I  considered  that  the  trea- 
sures of  illustration  for  the  Bible,  dispersed  in  many  hundred  volumes,  might  be  fetched  all 
together  by  a  labour  that  would  resolve  to  conquer  all  things  ;  and  that  all  the  improvements 
wliich  the  later  ages  have  made  in  the  sciences,  might  be  also,  with  an  inexpressible  pleasure, 
called  in,  to  Christ  the  illustration  of  the  holy  oracles,  at  a  rate  that  hath  not  been  attempted 
in  the  vulgar  Annotations;  and  that  a  common  degree  of  sense  would  help  a  person,  who 
should  converse  much  with  these  things,  to  attempt  sometimes  also  an  illustration  of  his 
own,  which  might  expect  some  attention.  Certainly,  it  will  not  be  ungrateful  unto  good 
men,  to  have  innumerable  Antiquities,  Jewish,  Chaldee,  Arabian,  Grecian,  and  Roman, 
brought  home  unto  us,  with  a  sweet  light  reflected  from  them  on  the  loord,  which  is  our 
light;  or,  to  have  all  the  typical  men  and  things  in  our  Book  of  Mysteries,  accommodated 
with  tlieir  Antitypes :  or,  to  have  many  hundreds  of  references  to  our  dearest  Lord  Messiah, 
discovered  in  the  writings  which  testifie  of  Him,  oftner  than  the  most  of  mankind  have 
hitherto  imagined  :  or,  to  have  the  histories  of  all  ages,  coming  in  with  punctual  and  sur- 
prising /w/^Z/MenLs  of  the  divine  Prophecies,  as  t;ir  as  they  have  been  hitherto  fulfilled;  and 
not  mere  conjectures,  but  even  mathematical  and  incontestible  demonstrations,  given  of 
expositions  offered  upon  the  Propliecies,  that  yet  remain  to  be  accomplislied :  or,  to  have  in 
one  ?!ra;),  thousands  of  those  "rem:irkable  discoveries  of  the  deep  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,"  whereof  one  or  two,  or  a  few,  sometimes,  have  been,  witli  good  success,  accounted 
m:)teri<ils  enough  to  advance  a  person  into  Authorism;  or  to  have  the  delicious  curiosities  of 
Grotius,  and  Bochart,  and  Mede,  and  Lightfoot,  and  Selden,  and  Spencer,  (carefully  selected 
and  corrected,)  and  many  more  giants  in  knowledge,  all  set  upon  one  Table. 

Travellers  tell  us,  that  at  Florence  there  is  a  rich  table,  worth  a  thousand  crowns,  made 
ot  precious  stones  neatly  inlaid;  a  table  that  was  fifteen  years  in  making,  with  no  less  than 
thirty  men  daily  at  work  upon  it;  even  such  a  table  could  not  afford  so  rich  entertainments, 
as  one  tliat  should  have  the  soul-feasting  thoughts  of  those  learned  men  together  set  upon 
it.  Only  'tis  pity,  tliat  instead  of  one  poor  feeble  American,  overwhelmed  with  a  thousand 
other  cares,  and  capable  of  touching  this  work  no  otherwise  than  in  a  digression,  there  be 
not  more  tlian  thirty  men  daily  imployed  about  it.  For,  when  the  excellent  Mr.  Pool  had 
finished  his  laborious  and  immortal  task,  it  was  noted  by  some  considerable  persons,  "That 
wanting  assistance  to  collect  for  him  many  miscellaneous  criticisms,  occasionally  scattered 
in  other  authors,  he  left  many  better  things  behind  him  than  he  found."  And  more  than  all 
this,  our  Essay  is  levelled,  if  it  be  not  anticipated  with  that  Epitaph,  Mngnis  tamen  excidit 
ausis.^  Designing  accordingly,  to  give  the  Church  of  God  such  displays  of  his  blessed 
word,  as  may  be  more  entertaining  for  the  rarity  and  novelty  of  them,  than  any  that  have 
hitherto  been  seen  together  in  any  exposition;  and  yet  such  as  may  be  acceptable  unto  the 
most  judicious,  for  the  demonstrative  truth  of  them,  and  unto  the  most  orthodox,  for  the 
regard  had  unto  the  Analogy  of  Faith  in  all,  T  have  now,  in  a  few  months,  got  ready  an  huge 

•  Nothing;  is  well  done,  which  is  undertaken  with  a  mind  preoccupied. 

No  one  can  bestow  his  ichale  attention  upon  several  things  nt  the  same  time. 

Every  d.ay  has  added  at  least  a  line.  |  Nevertheless,  he  fell  short  of  his  great  enterprise. 

Vol.  I.— 3 


34  GENERAL    INTKODUCTION. 

number  of  golden  keys  to  open  the  pandects  of  Heaven,  and  some  thousands  of  charming 
and  curious,  and  singular  notes,  by  the  7iew  help  whereof,  the  word  of  Christ  77iay  run  and  be 
glorified.  If  tlie  God  of  my  life  will  please  to  spare  (my  life  my  yet  sinful,  and  slothful, 
and  thereby  I'orfeited  life !)  as  many  years  longer  as  the  barren  fig-tree  had  in  the  parable, 
I  may  make  unto  the  Church  of  God  an  humble  tender  of  our  Biblia  Americana,*  a 
volume  enriched  with  better  things  than  all  the  plate  of  the  Indies;  yet  not  I,  but  the 
Grace  of  Christ  with  me.  My  reader  sees  why  I  commit  the  fault  of  a  •n'apiauTia  f 
which  appears  in  the  mention  of  these  minute  passages ;  'tis  to  excuse  whatever  other  fault 
of  inaccuracy  or  inadvertency  may  be  discovered  in  an  History,  which  hath  been  a  sort  of  rhap- 
sody made  up  (like  the  paper  whereon  'tis  written!)  with  many  little  rags,  torn  from  an 
imployment  multifarious  enough  to  overwhelm  one  of  my  small  capacities. 

Magna  dahit,  qui  ynagna  potest;  mihi  parva  potenti, 
Parvaque  poscenti,  parva  dedisse  sat  esi.t 

5  6.  But  shall  I  Drognosticate  thy  fate,  now  that, 

Farve  {sed  invideo)  sine  me,  liber,  ibis  in  urbem.  § 

Luther,  who  was  himself  owner  of  such  an  heart,  advised  every  historian  to  get  the  Heart 
of  a  lion;  and  the  more  I  consider  of  the  provocation,  which  this  our  Church-History  must 
needs  give  to  that  roaring  Lion  who  has,  through  all  ages  hitherto,  been  tearing  the  church 
to  pieces,  the  more  occasion  I  see  to  wish  my  self  a  Cceur  de  Lion.  But  had  not  my  heart 
been  trebly  oak'd  and  brass'd  for  such  encounters  as  this  our  history  may  meet  withal,  I 
would  have  worn  the  silk-worms  motto,  Operiiur  dum  nperalur,\\  and  have  chosen  to  have 
written  Anomjmuusly ;  or,  as  Claudius  Salmasius  calls  himself  Walo  Messelimis,  as  Ludovi- 
cusMolinffius  calls  himself  Liidiomccus  Colvimia,  as  Carolus  Scribanius  calls  himself  Clarus 
Bonarscius,  (and  no  less  men  than  Peter  du  Moulin  and  Dr.  Henry  3Iore,  stile  themselves, 
the  one  Hippnlylus  Fronto,  tlie  other  Franciscus  Paleopolitanns.)  Thus  I  would  have  tried 
whether  I  could  not  have  Anagranimatized  my  name  into  some  concealment;  or  I  would 
have  referred  it  to  be  found  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  second  Syntagm  of  Sehien  de  Diis 
Syris.     Whereas  now  I  freely  confess,  'tis  Cotton  Mather  that  has  written  all  these  things; 

3Ie,  me,  adsum  qui  scripsi;  in  me  convcrtite  ferrum.^ 

I  hope  'tis  a  right  work  that  I  have  done;  but  we  are  not  yet  arrived  unto  the  day,  "wherein 
God  will  bring  every  work  into  judgment,"  (the  day  of  the  kingdom  tliat  was  promised 
unto  David,)  and  a  Son  of  David  hath  as  truly  as  wisely  told  us,  that  until  the  arrival  of 
that  happy  day,  this  is  one  of  the  vanities  attending  humane  affiiirs:  "For  a  right  work,  a 
man  shall  be  envied  of  his  neighbour."  It  will  not  be  so  much  a  surprise  unto  me,  if  I 
should  live  to  see  our  Church-History  vexed  with  ante  mad-versions  of  calumnious  writers, 
as  it  would  have  been  unto  Virgil,  to  read  his  Bucolicks  reproached  by  the  Anti-bucolica  of 
a  nameless  scribbler,  and  his  JEneids  travestied  by  the  JFjueidomaslix  of  Carbilius:  or  Her- 
ennius  taking  pains  to  make  a  collection  of  the  faults,  and  Faustinus  of  the  thefts,  in  his 
incomparalile  composures:  yea,  Pliny  and  Seneca  themselves,  and  our  Jerom,  reproaching 
him,  as  a  man  of  no  judgment  nor  skill  in  sciences;  while  Pivdianus  allirms  of  him,  that  he 
was  himself.  Usque  adeo  iniidic  expers,  ut  si  quid  erudite  dictum  inspiceret  alterius,  jwn  7ninus 

•  American  Scriptures.  +  Egotistical  discussioiu 


X  Great  tliinics  lie  gives  who  hath  them ;  'tis  my  lot 
To  own  nnd  nslt  for  Utile :  but  the  c:iU 
Of  Heaven  is  answered  if  I  give  my  aJl. 

Ovid,  Trist.  i.  1.  1. 


§  Thou,  little  nook,  while  I  behind  thee  stay, 
To  the  great  world  dost  take  thine  envied  way. 


I  Tlie  more  closely  she  toils,  the  more  closely  she  hides. 

^  1  wrote  iti— I!— voiit  all  your  spite  on  me!— Virgil,  ..'Enei!,  ix.  427    (trarrstied). 


GENERAL    INTEO  DUCTI  ON. 


85 


gauderet  ac  si  suum  esset*  How  should  a  book  no  better  laboured  than  this  of  ours,  escape 
Zoilian  outrages  when  in  all  ages  the  most  exquisite  works  have  been  as  much  vilified  as 
Plato's  by  Sealiger,  and  Aristotle's  by  Lactantius?  In  the  time  of  our  K.  Edward  VI.  there 
was  an  order  to  bring  in  all  the  teeth  of  St.  Appollonia,  which  the  people  of  his  one  king- 
dom carried  about  them  for  the  cure  of  the  tooth-ach;  and  they  were  so  many  that  they 
almost  filled  a  tun.  Truly  Envy  hath  as  many  teeth  as  Madam  Apollonia  would  have  had, 
if  all  those  pretended  reliques  had  been  really  hers.  And  must  all  these  teeth  be  fastened 
on  thee,  O  my  Book?  It  may  be  so!  and  yet  the  Book,  when  ground  between  these  teeth, 
will  prove  like  Ignatius  in  the  teeth  of  the  furious  tygers,  "The  whiter  manchet  for  the 
Churches  of  God."  The  greatest  and  fiercest  rage  of  envy,  is  tliat  which  I  expect  from  those 
Idum^eans,  whose  religion  is  all  ceremony,  and  whose  cliarity  is  more  for  them  who  deny 
the  most  essential  things  in  the  articles  and  homilies  of  the  Church  of  England,  than  for 
the  most  conscientious  men  in  the  world,  who  manifest  their  being  so,  by  their  dissent  in 
some  little  ceremony;  or  those  persons  whose  hearts  are  notably  expressed  in  those  words 
used  by  one  of  them  ['tis  Howel  in  his  Familiar  Letters,  vol.  1.,  sec.  6,  lett.  32,]  "I  rather 
pity,  than  hate,  Turk  or  Infidel,  for  they  are  of  the  same  metal,  and  bear  the  same  stamp 
as  I  do,  though  the  inscriptions  diflfer;  if  I  hate  any,  'tis  those  schismaticks  that  puzzle  the 
sweet  peace  of  our  Church;  so  that  I  could  be  content  to  see  an  Anabaptist  go  to  hell  on  a 
Brownist's  back."  The  writer  whom  I  last  quoted,  hath  given  us  a  story  of  a  young  man 
in  High-Holbourn,  who  being  after  his  death  dissected,  there  was  a  serpent  with  divers  tails 
found  in  the  left  ventricle  of  his  heart.  I  make  no  question,  that  our  Church-History  will 
find  some  reader  disposed  like  that  writer,  with  an  heart  as  full  of  serpent  and  venom  as 
ever  it  can  hold :  nor  indeed  will  they  be  able  to  hold,  but  the  tongues  and  pens  of  those 
angry  folks  will  scourge  me  as  with  scorpions,  and  cause  me  to  feel  (if  I  will  feel)  as  many 
lashes  as  Cornelius  Agrippa  expected  from  their  brethren,  for  the  book  in  which  he  exposed 
their  vanities.  A  scholar  of  the  great  Juels  made  once  about  fourscore  verses,  for  which 
the  Censor  of  Corpus  Christi  CoUedge,  in  the  beginning  of  Queen  Maries  reign,  publickly 
and  cruelly  scourged  him,  with  one  lash  for  every  verse.  Now,  in  those  verses,  the  young 
man's  prayers  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  have  this  for  part  of  the  answer  given  to  them: 


Respondet  Dominns,  spectans  de  sedibus  altis, 
JVe  dubites  recte  credere,  parve  puer, 

Olim  sum  passus  mortem,  nunc  occnpo  dextram 
Patris,  nunc  summi  sunt  mea  regna  poli, 

Sed  tu,  crcde  mihj,  vires  Scrivtura  resumet, 
Tolleturque  sua  tempore  missa  nequam. 


IN   ENGLISH. 
The  Lord,  beholding  from  his  throne,  reply'd, 
"Doubt  not,  O  Youth!  firmly  in  me  confide: 
I  dy'd  long  since,  now  sit  at  the  right  hand 
Of  my  bless'd  Father,  and  the  world  command. 
Believe  me.  Scripture  shall  regain  her  sway, 
And  wicked  Mass  in  due  time  fade  away." 


Reader,  I  also  expect  nothing  but  scourges  from  that  generation  to  whom  the  mass-book 
is  dearer  than  the  Bible:  but  I  have  now  likewise  confessed  another  expectation,  that  shall 
be  my  consolation  under  a...  They  tell  us,  that  on  the  highest  of  the  Capsian  mountains, 
in  Spain,  there  is  a  lake,  whereinto  if  you  throw  a  stone,  there  presently  ascends  a  smoke 
which  forms  a  dense  cloud,  from  whence  issues  a  tempest  of  rain,  hail,  and  horrid  thunder- 
claps for  a  good  quarter  of  an  hour.  Our  Church-History  will  be  like  a  stone  cast  into  that 
lake,  for  the  furious  tempest  which  it  will  raise  among  some,  whose  Ecclesiastical  dignities 
have  set  them  as  on  the  top  of  Spanish  mountains.  The  Catholick  spirit  of  communion 
wherewith  'tis  written,  and  the  liberty  which  I  have  taken  to  tax  the  schismatical  imposi- 
tions and  persecutions  of  a  party  who  have  always  been  as  real  enemies  to  the  Englisli 
nation  as  to  the  Christian  and  Protestant  interest,  will  certainly  bring  upon  the  wliole  com- 
posure the  quick  censures  of  that  party  at  the  first  cast  of  their  look  upon  it.  In  the  Duke 
of  Alva's  council  of  twelve  judges,  there  was  one  Hessels,  a  Flemming,  who  slept  always 
at  the  trial  of  criminals,  and  when  they  waked  him  to  deliver  his  opinion,  he  rubbed  his 

•  He  was  so  incapable  of  envy  thai,  whenever  he  fell  in  with  an  elegant  expression  from  the  pen  of  another, 
ho  was  as  much  delighted  as  if  it  had  been  his  own. 


36  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

eves,  and  cryed,  between  sleeping  and  waking,  Ad  jmtihuliim!  Ad  patibulumf  "to  the  gal- 
lows with  them  I"  [And,  by  the  way,  this  blade  w;is  himself,  at  the  last,  condemned  unto  the 
gallows  witliout  an  hearing!]  As  quick  censures  must  this  our  labour  expect  from  those 
who  \\ill  not  bestow  waking  thouglits  upon  the  representations  of  Christianity  here  made 
unto  tiie  world;  but  have  a  sentence  of  death  always  to  pass,  or  at  least  wish,  upon  those  gen- 
erous principles,  without  which,  'tis  impossible  to  maintain  the  Reformation :  and  I  confess 
I  am  very  well  content,  that  this  our  labour  takes  the  fate  of  tl)ose  principles:  nor  do  I  dis- 
sent from  the  words  of  the  excellent  Whitaker  upon  Luther,  "jPtcZix  ilk,  quern  Dominus  eo 
llonore  diu^nalus  est,  ut  Homines  nequissimos  suos  haberet  inimic.os*  But  if  the  old  epigram- 
matist when  he  saw  guilty  folks  raving  mad  at  his  lines,  could  say: 

Hoc  volo;    nunc  nohia  carmina  nostra  placentci 

certainly  an  liistorlan  should  not  be  displeased  at  it,  if  the  enemies  of  truth  discover  their 
madness  at  the  true  and  free  communications  of  his  history;  and  therefore  the  more  stones 
they  throw  at  this  book,  there  will  not  only  be  the  more  proofs  that  it  is  a  tree  which  hath 
good  fruits  growing  upon  it,  but  I  will  build  my  self  a  monument  with  them,  whereon  shall 
be  inscribed  that  clause  in  the  epitaph  of  the  martyr  Stephen : 

Excepit  lapides,  cui  petra  Christus  erat:X 

Albeit  perhaps  the  epitaph,  5  which  the  old  monks  bestowed  upon  Wickliff,  will  be  rather 
endeavoured  for  me,  (if  I  am  thought  worth  one!)  by  the  men  who  will,  with  all  possible 
monkery,  strive  to  stave  off  the  approaching  Reformation. 

But  since  an  undertaking  of  this  nature  must  thus  encounter  so  much  envy  from  those 
who  are  under  the  power  of  the  spirit  that  works  in  the  children  0/  unpersivadeableiiess, 
methinks  I  might  perswade  my  self,  that  it  will  find  anotiier  sort  of  entertainment  from  those 
good  men  who  have  a  better  spirit  in  them:  for,  as  the  Apostle  James  hath  noted,  (so  with 
Monsieur  Claude  I  read  it,)  "The  spirit  that  is  in  us  lusteth  against  envy;"  and  yet,  even  in 
US  also,  tliere  will  be  the  flesh,  among  whose  works  one  is  envy,  which  will  be  lusting 
against  the  spirit.  All  good  men  will  not  be  satisfied  with  every  thing  that  is  here  set 
before  tiicm.  In  my  own  country,  besides  a  considerable  number  of  loose  and  vain  inhabit- 
ants risen  up,  to  whom  the  Congregational  Church-discipline,  which  cannot  live  well  where 
the  power  of  godliness  dyes,  is  become  distasteful  for  the  purity  of  it;  there  is  also  a 
number  of  eminently  godly  persons,  who  are  for  a  larger  way,  and  unto  these  my  Church- 
Histoiy  will  give  distaste,  by  the  things  which  it  may  happen  to  utter  in  favour  of  th:it 
Church-discipline  on  some  few  occasions;  and  the  discoveries  which  I  may  h;ippen  to  make 
of  my  apjirchensions,  that  Scripture,  and  reason,  and  antiquity  is  for  it;  and  that  it  is  not  f;ir 
from  a  glorious  resurrection.  But  that,  as  the  famous  ]Mr.  Baxter,  after  thirty  or  forty  years 
hard  study,  about  the  true  instituted  Church-discipline,  at  last  not  only  owned,  but  also 
invincibly  proved,  that  it  is  the  congregational;  so,  the  further  that  the  unprejudiced  studies 
of  learned  men  proceed  in  this  matter,  the  more  generally  the  Congregational  Church-dis- 
cipline will  be  pronounced  for.  On  the  other  side,  there  are  some  among  us  who  very 
strictly  profess  the  Congregational  Church-discipline,  but  at  the  same  time  they  have  an 

•  Hnpiiy  Liilher!  whom  tho  Lord  signalized  with  Uie  honour  of  having  tho  greatest  reprobates  for  his  worst 
enemies. 

t  Vm  plcasod  at  last:  yictorious  is  my  wit: 

Tho  galled  jade  winces,  and  my  mark  is  hit. — .Martial,  F.pig.  vi.  614, 

%  A  specimen  of  the  bad  taste  for  playing  upon  words,  which  so  much  disfigures  ancient  scholastic  literature: 
lie  died  by  stoning,  but  his  Koclc  was  Christ. 

§  We  f.iko  the  effusion  alluded  to  by  our  author,  with  the  context,  from  Speed's  Chronicle,  [p.  7C0,  ed.  IGQS.j— 
"This  famous  Doctor,  dying  of  a  palsic,  hath  this  chnritahle  Kulnge  or  Epitaph  bestowed  on  liim  by  a  Monke :  The 
Divells  Iiuslrument,  Churches  Knemy,  Peoples  Confusion,  Ilereticks  Idoll,  Hypocrites  Mirrour,  Schismes  Rroacher, 
Hatreds  Power,  l.ycs  Forger,  Flatteries  Sinke;  who  at  his  dea(h  despaired  like  Cain,  and  stricken  by  the  horriblts 
judgment  of  God,  brealhea  forth  his  wicked  soule  to  the  darke  mansion  of  the  black  divell." 


GENERAL    INTEOD  D  CTI  0  N,  37 

unhnppy  narrowness  of  soul,  by  which  they  confine  their  value  and  kindness  too  much  unto 
their  own  party:  and  unto  those  my  Church-History  will  be  offensive,  because  my  regard 
unto  our  own  declared  principles  does  not  hinder  me  from  giving  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
unto  the  valuable  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  find  not  our  Church-discipline  as 
yet  agreeable  unto  their  present  understandings  and  illuminations.  If  it  be  thus  in  my  own 
country,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  in  that  whereto  I  send  this  account  of  my  own.  Briefly, 
as  it  hath  been  said,  that  if  all  Episcopal  men  were  like  Archbishop  Usher,  and  all  Preshy. 
terians  like  Stephen  Marshal,  and  all  Independents  like  Jeremiah  Burroughs,  the  wounds  of 
the  Church  would  soon  be  healed;  my  essay  to  carry  that  spirit  through  this  whole  Church- 
History,  will  bespeak  wounds  for  it,  from  those  that  are  of  another  spirit.  And  there 
will  also  be  in  every  country  those  good  men,  who  yet  have  not  had  the  grace  of  Christ  so 
far  prev.ailing  in  them,  as  utterly  to  divest  them  of  that  piece  of  ill-nature  which  the  Come- 
dian resents.  In  homine  imperito,  quo  nil  quicquam  injustius,  quia  nisi  quod  ipsefacil,  nil  rede 
factum  putat.  * 

However,  all  these  things,  and  an  hundred  more  such  things  which  I  think  of,  are  very 
small  discouragements  for  such  a  service  as  I  have  here  endeavoured.  I  foresee  a  recom- 
pence  which  will  abundantly  swallow  up  all  discouragements!  It  may  be  Strato  the  Philoso- 
pher counted  himself  well  recompenced  for  his  labours,  when  Ptolemy  bestowed  fourscore 
talents  on  him.  It  may  be,  Archimelus  the  poet  counted  himself  well  recompenced,  when 
Hiero  sent  him  a  thousand  bushels  of  wheat  for  one  little  epigram:  and  Saleius  the  poet 
might  count  himself  well  recompenced,  when  Vespasian  sent  him  twelve  thousand  and  five 
hundred  philippieks;  and  Oppian  the  poet  might  count  himself  well  recompenced,  when 
Caracalla  sent  him  a  piece  of  gold  for  every  line  that  he  had  inscribed  unto  him.  As  I  live 
in  a  country  where  such  recompenees  never  were  in  fashion ;  it  hath  no  preferments  for  me, 
and  T  shall  count  that  I  am  well  rewarded  in  it,  if  I  can  escape  without  being  heavily 
reproached,  censured  and  condemned,  for  what  I  have  done:  so  I  thank  the  Lord,  I  should 
exceedingly  scorn  all  such  mean  considerations,  I  seek  not  out  for  benefactors,  to  whom 
these  labours  may  be  dedicated:  there  is  one  to  whom  all  is  due!  from  him  I  shall  have  a 
recompence:  and  what  recompence?  The  recompence,  whereof  I  do,  with  inexpressible 
joy,  assure  my  self  is  this.  That  these  my  poor  labours  will  certainly  serve  the  Churches 
and  interests  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  I  think  I  may  say,  that  I  ask  to  live  no  longer 
than  I  count  a  service  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Churches,  to  be  it  self  a  glorious 
recompence  for  the  doing  of  it.  When  David  was  contriving  to  build  the  house  of  God, 
there  was  that  order  given  from  Heaven  concerning  him,  "Go  tell  David  my  servant."  Tlic 
adding  of  that  more  than  royal  title  unto  the  name  of  David,  was  a  suflicient  recompen'-e 
for  all  his  contrivance  about  the  house  of  God.  In  our  whole  Church-History,  we  have 
been  at  work  for  the  house  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  [even  that  Man,  who  is  the  Lord  God, 
and  whose  form  seems  on  that  occasion  represented  unto  His  David.]  And  herein  'tis 
recompence  enough,  that  I  have  been  a  servant  unto  that  heavenly  Lord.  The  greatest 
honour,  and  the  sweetest  pleasure,  out  of  heaven,  is  to  serve  our  illustrious  Lord  Jesus 
Cheist,  who  hath  "loved  us,  and  given  himself  for  us:"  and  unto  whom  it  is  infinitely 
reasonable  that  we  should  give  our  selves,  and  all  that  we  have  and  are:  and  it  may  be  the 
Angels  in  Heaven,  too,  aspire  not  after  an  higher  felicity. 

Unto  thee,  therefore,  O  thou  Son  of  God,  and  King  of  Heaven,  and  Lord  of  all 
things,  lohom  all  the  glorious  Angels  of  Light  unspeakably  love  to  glorifie ;  I 
humbly  offer  up  a  poor  History  of  Churches,  which  own  thee  alone  for  their  Head, 
and  Prince,  and  Law-Giver;  Churches  which  thou  hast  purchased  with  thy  own 
Mood,  and  with  wonderful  dispensations  of  thy  Providence  hitherto  protected  and 

*  "No  one  is  more  illiberal  than  he 
Whom  ignorance  has  bloated  with  conceit : — 
Nought  is  well  done  but  what  he  does  himself."— Tkrknce,  Jldelphi,  Act.  i.,  Scene  2,  ver.  18. 


38  GENERAL    I  N  T  K  0  DU  CT  I  0  N. 

preserved  ;  and  of  a  people  which  thou  didst  form  for  thy  self,  to  shew  forth  thy 
praises.  I  bless  thy  great  Name,  for  thy  inclining  of  me  to,  and  carrying  of  rne 
through,  the  work  of  this  History:  I  pray  thee  to  sprinkle  the  book  of  this  History 
with  thy  blood,  and  make  it  acceptable  and  profitable  unto  thy  Churches,  and  serve 
thy  Truths  and  Ways  among  thy  people,  by  that  which  thou  hast  here  prepared; 
for  Uis  THOU  that  hast  prepared  it  for  them.     Amen. 

Quid  sum  ?    Nil. — Quis  sum  ?    Nullus. — Sed  gratia  Christi, 
Quod  sum,  quod  vivo,  quodque  lahoro,    facit.* 

*  What  am  IT    Nothing. — Sovereitrn  Grace  alone 
Lives  iu  my  life,  and  does  what  I  have  done. 


THE    FIRST    BOOK. 

ANTIQUITIES; 

OR, 

A  FIELD  PREPARED  FOR  CONSIDERABLE  THINGS  TO  BE  ACTED  THEREUPON. 


THE     INTRODUCTION. 


It  was  not  long  ago,  as  about  the  middle  of  the  former  century,  that 
under  the  influences  of  that  admirable  hero  and  martyr,  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  Gasper  Coligni,  the  great  Admiral  of  France,  a  noble  and  learned 
knight  called  Villagagnon,  began  to  attempt  the  Settlement  of  some  Colo- 
nies in  America,  (as  it  was  declared)  for  the  propagation  of  that  religion. 
He  sailed  with  several  ships  of  no  small  burthen,  till  he  arrived  at 
Bi-asile ;  where  he  thought  there  were  now  shown  him  quiet  seats,  for  the 
retreat  of  a  people  harrassed  already  with  deadly  persecutions,  and  threat- 
ned  with  yet  more  calamities.  Thence  he  wrote  home  letters  unto  that 
glorious  patron  of  the  reformed  churches,  to  inform  him,  that  he  had  now 
a  fair  prospect  of  seeing  those  churches  erected,  multiplied,  and  sheltered 
in  the  southern  regions  of  the  New  World;  and  requested  him,  that 
Geneva  might  supply  them  with  Pastors  for  the  planting  of  such  churches 
in  these  New  Plantations.  The  blessed  Calvin,  with  his  colleagues,  there- 
upon sent  of  their  number  two  worthy  persons,  namely  Richerius  and 
Quadrigarius,  to  assist  this  undertaking;  and  unto  these  were  joined 
several  more,  especially  Leirus,  and  who  became  a  leader  to  the  rest, 
Corquillerius,  an  eminent  man,  for  the  cause  of  Christianity,  then  residing 
at  Geneva.  Embarked  in  three  ships,  well  fitted,  they  came  to  the 
American  country,  whither  they  had  been  invited ;  and  they  soon  set  up 
an  evangelical  church  order,  in  those  corners  of  the  earth  where  God  in 

•  If  it  please  God. 


40  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  never  before  been  Ccalled  upon.  But  it  was  not 
long  before  some  unhappy  controversies  arose  among  them,  which  drove 
their  principal  ministers  into  Europe  again,  besides  those  three  that  were 
murthered  by  their  apostate  Governour,  whose  martyrdom  Lerius  pro- 
cured Crispin  to  commemorate  in  his  history,  but  I  now  omit  in  this  of 
ours,  Ne  me  Crispini  scrinia  ledi,  compil&sse  putes,^'  and  as  for  the  people 
that  staid  behind,  no  other  can  be  learned,  but  that  they  are  entirely  lost, 
either  in  paganism  or  disaster:  in  this,  more  unhappy  sure,  than  that  hun- 
dred thousand  of  their  brethren  who  were  soon  after  butchered  at  home, 
in  that  horrible  massacre,  which  then  had  not,  but  since  hath,  known  a 
parallel.  So  has  there  been  utterly  lost  in  a  little  time,  a  country  intended 
for  a  receptacle  of  Protestant  Churches  on  the  American  Strand.  It  is  the 
most  incomparable  De  Thou,  the  honourable  President  of  the  Parliament 
at  Paris,  an  Historian  whom  Casaubon  pronounces,  "A  singular  gift  of 
Heaven,  to  the  last  age,  for  an  example  of  piety  and  probity,"  that  is  our 
author,  (besides  others)  for  this  History. 

'  Tis  now  time  for  me  to  tell  my  reader,  that  in  our  age  there  has  been 
another  essay  made  not  by  French,  but  by  English  Peotestants,  to  fill 
a  certain  country  in  America  with  Reformed  Churches;  nothing  in  doctrine, 
little  in  discipline,  different  from  that  of  Geneva.  Mankind  will  pardon 
me,  a  native  of  that  country,  if  smitten  with  a  just  fear  of  incroaching 
and  ill-bodied  degeneracies,  I  shall  use  my  modest  endeavours  to  prevent 
the  loss  of  a  country  so  signalized  for  the  profession  of  the  purest  Religion, 
and  for  the  protection  of  God  upon  it,  in  that  holy  profession.  I  shall 
count  my  country  lost,  in  the  loss  of  the  primitive  principles,  and  the 
primitive  pjractices,  upon  which  it  was  at  first  established:  but  certainly 
one  good  way  to  save  that  loss,  would  be  to  do  something  that  the  memory 
of  the  great  things  done  for  us  hy  our  God,  may  not  be  lost,  and  that  the 
story  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  foundation  and  formation  of  this 
country,  and  of  its  preservation  hitherto,  may  be  impartially  handed  unto 
posterity.  Tnis  is  the  undertaking  whereto  I  now  address  myself;  and 
now.  Grant  me  thy  gracious  assistances,  0  my  God!  that  in  this  my  under- 
taking I  m,ay  he  Icept  from  every  false  way:  hut  that  sincerely  aiming  at  thy 
glory  in  my  undertaking,  I  Tnay  find  my  labours  made  acceptable  and  profit- 
able unto  thy  Churches,  and  serviceable  unto  the  interests  of  thy  gospel;  so  let 
my  God  think  upon  me  for  good;  and  spare  me  according  to  the  greatness  of 
Oiy  mjercy  in  the  blessed  Jesus.     Amen. 

•  That  you  may  not  suspect  me  of  having  rifled  the  portrolios  of  Crispin.— IIorac«,  Sat.  i.  1.  ver.  120. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  41 

VENISTI    TANDEM?*    OR,    DISCOVERIES    OF    AMERICA; 

TENDING  TO,  AND  ENDING  IN,  DISCOVERIES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

§  1.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  thougla  'tis  hut  an  opinion^  and  hut 
of  some  learned  men,  that  when  the  sacred  oracles  of  Heaven  assure  us, 
the  things  under  the  earth  are  some  of  those,  whose  knees  are  to  how  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  by  those  things  are  meant  the  inhabitants  of  America,  who 
are  Antipodes  to  those  of  the  other  hemisphere.  I  would  not  quote  any 
words  of  Lactantius,  though  there  are  so7ne  to  countenance  this  interpret- 
ation, because  of  their  being  so  ungeographical:  nor  would  I  go  to 
strengthen  the  interpretation  by  reciting  the  words  of  the  Indians  to  the 
first  ivhite  invaders  of  their  territories,  we  hear  you  are  come  from  under  the 
world  to  take  our  loorld  from  us.  But  granting  the  uncertainty  of  such  an 
exposition,  I  shall  yet  give  the  Church  of  God  a  certain  account  of  those 
things,  which  in  America  have  been  believing  and  adoring  the  glorious 
name  of  Jesus ;  and  of  that  country  in  America,  where  those  things  have 
been  attended  with  circumstances  most  remarkable.  I  can  contentedly 
allow  that  America  (which,  as  the  learned  Nicholas  Fuller  observes,  might 
more  justly  be  called  Columbina)  was  altogether  unknown  to  the  penmen 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  the  ages  when  the  Scriptures  were  penned. 
I  can  allow,  that  those  parts  of  the  earth,  which  do  not  include  America, 
are,  in  the  inspired  writings  of  Luke  and  of  Paul,  stiled  all  the  ivorld.  I  can 
allow,  that  the  opinion  of  Torniellus  and  of  Pagius,  about  the  apostles 
preaching  the  gospel  in  America,  has  been  sufficiently  refuted  by  Basna- 
gius.  But  I  am  out  of  the  reach  of  Pope  Zachary's  excommunication.  I 
can  assert  the  existence  of  the  American  Antipodes:  and  I  can  report 
unto  the  European  churches  great  occurrences  among  these  Americans. 
Yet  I  will  report  every  one  of  them  with  such  a  Christian  and  exact 
veracity,  that  no  man  shall  have  cause  to  use  about  any  one  of  them  the 
words  which  the  great  Austin  (as  great  as  he  was)  used  about  the  existence 
of  Antipodes;  it  is  a  fable,  and  nulld  ratione  credendum.f 

§  2.  If  the  tvicked  one  in  whom  the  whole  world  lyeth,  were  he,  who  like 
a  dragon,  keeping  a  guard  upon  the  spacious  and  mighty  orchards  of 
America,  could  have  such  a  fascination  upon  the  thoughts  of  mankind, 
that  neither  this  halancing  half  of  the  globe  should  be  considered  in 
Europe,  till  a  little  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  nor  the  clue  that 
might  lead  unto  it,  namely,  the  Loadstone,  should  be  known,  till  a  Nea- 
politian  stumbled  upon  it,  about  an  hundred  years  before;  yet  the  over- 
ruling Providence  of  the  great  God  is  to  be  acknowledged,  as  well  in  the 

*  Hiist  thou  come  at  last?  t  Utterly  incredible. 


42  MAGNALIA    CHRIST  J    AMERICANA: 

concealing  of  America  for  so  long  a  time,  as  in  the  discovering  of  it,  wlien 
the  fulness  of  time  was  come  for  the  discovery:  for  we  may  count 
America  to  have  been  concealed,  while  mankind  in  the  other  hemisphere 
had  lost  all  acquaintance  with  it,  if  we  may  conclude  it  had  any  from  the 
words  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  that  Phcenecians  were,  by  great  storms,  driven 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  far  westward,  £*i  -rroXkas  'y)(xe»aff,  for  many  days 
together,  and  at  last  fell  in  with  an  Island  of  prodigious  magnitude;  or 
from  the  words  of  Plato,  that  beyond  the  pillars  of  Hercules  there  was  an 
Island  in  the  Atlantick  Ocean,  a|xa  X(/3ut5j:  xai  Adia^  fAEi^wv,  larger  than  Africa 
and  Asia  put  together:  nor  should  it  pass  without  remark,  that  three  most 
memorable  things,  which  have  born  a  very  great  aspect  upon  liumane 
affairs,  did,  near  the  same  time,  namely,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  fifteenth, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  arise  unto  the  world:  the  first 
was  the  resurrection  of  literature ;  the  second  was  the  opening  of  America; 
the  third  was  the  Reformation  of  Religion.  But,  as  probably,  the  devil 
seducing  the  first  inhabitants  of  America  into  it,  therein  aimed  at  the 
having  of  them  and  their  posterity  out  of  the  sound  of  the  silver  trumpets 
of  the  Gospel,  then  to  be  heard  through  the  Koman  Empire;  if  the  devil 
had  any  expectation,  that  by  the  peopling  of  America,  he  should  utterly 
deprive  any  Europeans  of  the  two  benefits,  Literature  and  Religion,  which 
dawned  upon  the  miserable  world,  one  just  before,  the  other  just  after,  the 
first  famed  navigation  hither,  '  tis  to  be  hoped  he  will  be  disappointed  of 
that  expectation.  The  Church  of  God  must  no  longer  be  wrapped  up  in 
Strabo's  cloak;  Geography  must  now  find  work  for  a  Christiano-grap)hy  in 
regions  far  enough  beyond  the  bounds  wherein  the  Church  of  God  had, 
through  all  former  ages,  been  circumscribed.  Eenowned  Churches  of 
Christ  must  be  gathered  where  the  Ancients  once  derided  them  that 
looked  for  any  inhabitants.  The  mystery  of  our  Lord's  garments,  made 
four  parts,  by  the  soldiers  that  cast  lots  for  them,  is  to  be  accomplished  in 
the  good  sence  put  upon  it  by  Austin,  who,  if  he  had  known  America, 
could  not  have  given  a  better:  Quadripartita  vestis  Domini  Jesu,  quadri- 
partitarn  figuravit  ejus  Ecclesiam,  toto  scilicet,  qui  quatuor  partihus  constat, 
terrarum  orhe  diffusam.* 

§  3.  Whatever  truth  may  be  in  that  assertion  of  one  who  writes: 
"If  we  may  credit  any  records  besides  the  Scriptures,  I  know  it  might  be 
said  and  proved  well,  that  this  New  World  was  known,  and  partly 
inhabited  by  Britains,  or  by  Saxons  from  England,  three  or  four  hundred 
years  before  ^Ae  Spaniards  coming  thither  f^  which  assertion  is  demonstrated 
from  the  discourses  between  the  Mexicans  and  the  Spaniards  at  their  first 
arrival;  and  the  Popish  reliques,  as  well  as  British  terms  and  words, 
which  the  Spaniards  then  found  among  the  Mexicans,  as  well  as  from 
undoubted  passages,  not  only  in  other  authors,  but  even  in  the  British 

•  Tho  pnrting  of  the  gnnnont  of  our  Lord  Jesus  ir)to  four  pieces  was  a  type  of  a  like  division  of  Uis  Cliuicb, 
wliich  is  distributed  through  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  43 

annals  also:  nevertlieless,  mankind  generally  agree  to  give  unto  Chris- 
topher Columbus,  a  Genoese,  the  honour  of  being  the  first  European  that 
opened  a  way  into  these  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  in  the  year  1492,  that 
this  famous  man,  acted  by  a  most  vehement  and  wonderful  impulse,  was 
carried  into  the  northern  regions  of  this  vast  hemisphere,  which  might 
more  justly  therefore  have  received  its  name  from  him,  than  from  Americus 
Vesputius,  a  Florentine,  who,  in  the  year  1497,  made  a  further  detection 
of  the  more  southern  regions  in  this  continent.  So  a  world,  which  has  been 
one  great  article  among  the  Res  deperditoe*  of  Pancirollus,  is  now  found  out, 
and  the  affairs  of  the  ivhole  world  have  been  affected  by  the  finding  of  it. 
So  the  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  well  compared  unto  a  ship,  is 
now  victoriously  sailing  round  the  glohe  after  Sir  Francis  Drake's  renowned 
ship,  called,  The  Victory,  which  could  boast. 

Prima  ego  velivolis  amhiti  cursibus  orhem.f 

And  yet  the  story  about  Columbus  himself  must  be  corrected  from  the 
information  of  De  la  Vega,  that  "one  Sanchez,  a  native  of  Helva  in  Spain, 
did  before  him  find  out  these  regions."  He  tells  us  that  Sanchez  using  to 
trade  in  a  small  vessel  to  the  Canaries,  was  driven  by  a  furious  and 
tedious  tempest  over  unto  these  western  countries ;  and  at  his  return  he 
gave  to  Colon,  or  Columbus,  an  account  of  what  he  had  seen,  but  soon 
after  died  of  a  disease  he  had  got  on  his  dangerous  voyage.  However, 
I  shall  expect  my  reader,  e'er  long,  to  grant,  that  some  things  done  since 
by  Almighty  God  for  the  English  in  these  regions,  have  exceeded  all  that 
has  been  hitherto  done  for  any  other  nation:  If  this  New  World  were  not 
found  out  first  by  the  English ;  yet  in  those  regards  that  are  of  all  the 
greatest,  it  seems  to  be  found  out  more /or  them  than  any  other. 

§  4.  But  indeed  the  two  Cabots,  father  and  son,  under  the  commission 
of  our  King  Henry  VH.,  entering  upon  their  generous  undertakings  in  the 
year  1497,  made  further  discoveries  of  America,  than  either  Columbus  or 
Vesputius ;  in  regard  of  which  notable  enterprizes,  the  younger  of  them 
had  very  great  honours  by  the  Crown  put  upon  him,  till  at  length  he  died 
in  a  good  old  age,  in  which  old  age  King  Edward  VI.  had  allowed  him 
an  honourable  pension.  Yea,  since  the  Cabots,  employed  by  the  King  of 
England,  made  a  discovery  of  this  continent  in  the  year  1497,  and  it  was 
the  year  1498  before  Columbus  discovered  any  part  of  the  continent; 
and  Vesputius  came  a  considerable  time  after  both  of  them ;  I  know  not 
why  the  Spaniard  should  go  unrivalled  in  the  claim  of  this  New  World, 
which  from  the  first  finding  of  it  is  pretended  unto.  These  discoveries 
of  the  Cabots  were  the  foundation  of  all  the  adventures,  with  which  the 
English  nation  have  since  followed  the  sun,  and  served  themselves  into  an 

*  "TAe  Catalogue  of  Lost  Things,"— title  of  a  book, 

t  "  I  first,  with  canvas  to  the  gale  unfurl'd, 
Made  the  wide  circuit  of  the  mighty  world." 


44  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

acquaiDtance  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Atlantick  Ocean.  And  now  I  shall 
drown  my  reader  with  myself  in  a  tedious  digression,  if  I  enumerate  all 
the  attempts  made  by  a  Willoughby,  a  Frobisher,  a  Gilbert,  and  besides 
many  others,  an  incomparable  Rawleigh,  to  settle  English  colonies  in  the 
desarts  of  the  western  India.  It  will  be  enough  if  I  entertain  him  with 
the  Ilistory  of  that  English  Settlement,  which  may,  upon  a  thousand 
accounts,  pretend  unto  more  of  tru^  English  than  all  the  rest,  and  which 
alone  therefore  has  been  called  New-England. 

§  5.  After  a  discouraging  series  of  disasters  attending  the  endeavours 
of  the  English  to  swarm  into  Florida,  and  the  rest  of  the  continent  unto 
the  northward  of  it,  called  Virginia,  because  the  first  ivhite  born  in  those 
regions  was  a  daughter^  then  born  to  one  Ananias  Dare,  in  the  year  1585, 
the  courage  of  one  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  and  one  captain  Bartholomew 
Gilbert,  and  several  other  gentlemen,  served  them  to  make  yet  more  essays 
upon  the  like  designs.  This  captain  Gosnold  in  a  small  bark,  on  May  11, 
1602,  made  land  on  this  coast  in  the  latitude  of  forty -three ;  where,  though 
"Ee  liked  the  welcome  he  had  from  the  Salvages  that  came  aboard  him,  yet 
he  disliked  the  weather,  so  that  he  thought  it  necessary  to  stand  more 
southward  into  the  sea.  Next  morning  he  found  himself  embayed  within 
a  mighty  head  of  land;  which  promontory,  in  remembrance  of  the  Cod  fish 
in  great  quantity  by  him  taken  there,  he  called  Cape-Cod,  a  name  which 
I  suppose  it  will  never  lose,  till  shoals  of  Cod-fish  be  seen  swimming  upon 
the  top  of  its  highest  hills.  On  this  Cape,  and  on  the  Islands  to  the  south- 
ward of  it,  he  found  such  a  comfortable  entertainment  from  the  summer- 
fruits  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  from  the  loild  creatures  then  ranging  the  woods, 
and  from  the  rvilder  people  now  surprised  into  courtesie,  that  he  carried 
back  to  England  a  report  of  the  country,  better  than  what  the  spies  once 
gave  of  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  Not  only  did  the  merchants 
of  Bristol  now  raise  a  considerable  stock  to  prosecute  these  discoveries, 
but  many  other  persons  of  several  ranks  embarked  in  such  undertakings; 
and  many  sallies  into  America  were  made ;  the  exacter  narrative  whereof 
I  had  rather  my  reader  should  purchase  at  the  expence  of  consulting  Pur- 
chas's  Pilgrims,  than  endure  any  stop  in  our  hastening  voyage  unto  the 
History  of  a  New-English  Israel. 

§  6.  Perhaps  my  reader  would  gladly  be  informed  how  America  came 
to  be  first  peopled;  and  if  Hornius's  "Discourses,"  De  origine  Gentium 
Americanarum,  do  not  satisfie  him,  I  hope  shortly  the  most  ingenious  Dr. 
Woodward,  in  his  Xatural  Ilistory  of  the  Earth,  will  do  it.  In  the  mean 
time,  to  stay  thy  stomach,  reader,  accept  the  account  which  a  very  sensi- 
ble Russian,  who  had  been  an  officer  of  prime  note  in  Siberia,  gave  unto 
Father  Avril.  Said  he,  "  There  is  beyond  the  Obi  a  great  river  called 
Kawoina,  at  the  mouth  whereof,  discharging  it  self  into  the  Frozen  Sea, 
there  stands  a  spacious  Island  very  well  peopled,  and  no  less  considerable 
for  hunting  an  animal,  whose  teeth  are  in  great  esteem.     The  inhabitants 


OK,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  45 

go  frequently  upon  tlie  side  of  the  Frozen  Sea  to  hunt  this  monster ;  and 
because  it  requires  great  labour  with  assiduity,  they  carry  their  families 
usually  along  with  them.  Now  it  many  times  happens  that  being  sur- 
prized with  a  thaw,  they  are  carried  away,  I  know  not  whither,  upon 
huge  pieces  of  ice  that  break  off  one  from  another.  For  my  part,  I  am 
perswaded  that  several  of  those  hunters  have  been  carried  upon  these 
floating  pieces  of  ice  to  the  most  northern  parts  of  America,  which  is  not 
far  from  that  part  of  Asia  that  jutts  out  into  the  sea  of  Tartary.  And 
that  which  confirms  me  in  this  opinion,  is  this,  that  the  Americans  who 
inhabit  that  country,  which  advances  farthest  towards  that  sea,  have  the 
same  PJiysiognomy  as  those  Islanders." — Thus  the  Vayode  of  Smolensko. 
But  all  the  concern  of  this  our  history,  is  to  tell  how  English  lieople  first 
came  into  America ;  and  what  English  people  first  came  into  that  part  of 
America  where  this  History  is  composed.  Wherefore,  instead  of  reciting 
the  many  Adventures  of  the  English  to  visit  these  parts  of  the  world,  I 
shall  but  repeat  the  words  of'one  Captain  Weymouth,  an  historian^  as  well 
as  an  undertaker  of  those  Adventures;  who  reports,  "that  one  main  end  of 
all  these  undertakings,  was  to  plant  the  gospel  in  these  dark  regions  of 
America."  How  well  the  most  of  the  English  plantations  have  answered 
this  main  end,  it  mainly  becomes  them  to  consider:  however,  I  am  now 
to  tell  mankind,  that  as  -for  one  of  these  English  plantations,  this  was  not 
only  a  main  end,  but  the  sole  end  upon  which  it  was  erected.  If 'they  that 
are  solicitous  about  the  interests  of  the  gospel,  would  know  what  and  luhere 
that  plantation  is;  be  it  noted,  that  all  the  vast  country  from  Florida  to 
Nova-Francia,  was  at  first  called  Virginia;  but  this  Virginia  was  distin- 
guished into  North  Virginia  and  South  Virginia,  till  that  famous  Travel- 
ler Captain  John  Smith,  in  the  year  1614,  presenting  unto  the  court  of 
England  a  draught  of  North  Virginia,  got  it  called  by  the  name  of  New- 
England;  which  name  has  been  ever  since  allowed  unto  my  country,  as 
unto  the  most  resembling  daughter  to  the  chief  lady  of  the  European  Avorld. 
Thus  the  discoveries  of  the  country  proceeded  so  far,  that  K.  James  I.  did 
by  his  letters  p)atents  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  his  reign,  give  and  grant  unto  a  certain  honourable  council  established 
at  Plymouth,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the  planting,  ruling,  and  order- 
ing, and  governing  of  New-England  in  America,  and  to  their  successors 
and  assigns,  all  that  part  of  America,  lying  and  being  in  breadth,  from 
forty  degrees  of  northerly  latitude,  from  the  equinoctial  line,  to  the  forty- 
eighth  degree  of  the  said  northerly  latitude  inclusively ;  and  the  length  of, 
and  within  all  the  breadth  aforesaid,  throughout  all  the  j^rm  lands  from 
sea  to  sea.  This  at  last  is  the  spot  of  earth,  which  the  God  of  heaven  sjned 
out  for  the  seat  of  such  evangelical,  and  ecclesiastical,  and  very  remarkable 
transactions,  as  require  to  be  made  an  history;  here  'twas  that  our  blessed 
Jesus  intended  a  resting  place,  must  I  say?  or  only  an  hiding  place  for 
those  reformed  Churches,  which  have  given  him  a  little  accomplishment 


46  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

of  his  eternal  Father's  promise  unto  him;  to  be,  we  hope,  yet  further 
accomplished,  of  having  the  utmost  parts  of.  the  earth  for  his  possession? 

§  7.  The  learned  Joseph  Mede  conjectures  that  the  American  Hemi- 
sphere will  escape  the  conjlagration  of  the  earthy  which  we  expect  at  the 
descent  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  Heaven :  and  that  the  people  here 
will  not  have  a  share  in  the  blessedness  which  the  renovated  icorld  shall 
enjoy,  during  the  thousand  years  of  lioly  rest  promised  unto  the  Church  of 
God:  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  regions,  who  were  originally 
Scytheans,  and  therein  a  notable  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  about  the 
enlargement  of  Japhet,  will  be  the  Gog  and  Magog  whom  the  devil  will 
seduce  to  invade  the  New-Jerusalem,  with  an  envious  hope  to  gain  the 
angelical  ciixunistances  of  the  people  there.  All  this  is  but  conjecture;  and 
it  may  be  'twill  appear  unto  some  as  little  probable,  as  that  of  the  later 
Pierre  Poiret  in  his  V  (Economy  Divine^  that  by  Gog  and  Magog  are  meant 
the  devils  and  the  dumned^  which  he  thinks  will  be  let  loose  at  the  end  of 
the  thousand  years,  to  make  a  furious,  but  a  fruitless  attempt  on  the  glori- 
fied saints  of  the  New- Jerusalem.  However,  I  am  going  to  give  unto  the 
Christian  reader  an  history  of  some  feeble  attempts  made  in  the  American 
hemisphere  to  anticipate  the  state  of  the  New-Jerusalem,  as  for  as  the 
unavoidable  vanity  of  human  affairs  and  influence  of  Satan  upon  them 
would  allow  of  it ;  and  of  many  worthy  j^ersons  whose  posterity,  if  they 
make  a  squadron  in  ihe  fleets  of  Gog  and.  Magog,  will  be  apostates  deserving 
a  room,  and  a  doom  with  the  legions  of  the  grand  apostate,  that  will  deceive 
the  nations  to  that  mysterious  enterprize. 


u  ti  dX  if  dj   ill  dA      iXo 
PRIIORDIA;*    OR,  THE   VOYAGE   TO  NEW-ENGLAND, 

WHICH   PRODUCED   THE   FIRST   SETTLEMENT  OF    NEAV-PLYMOITH ;    WITH  AX  ACCOUNT  OF 
MANY  REMARKABLE  AND  MEMORABLE  PROVIDENCES  RELATING  TO  THAT  VOYAGE. 

§  1.  A  NUMBER  of  devout  and  serious  Christians  in  the  English  nation, 
finding  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  in  that  nation,  according  to  the 
Word  of  God,  and  the  design  of  many  among  the  first  Reformers,  to 
labour  under  a  sort  of  hopeless  retardation ;  they  did.  Anno  1602,  in  the 
north  of  England,  enter  into  a  Covenant,  wherein  expressing  themselves 
desirous,  not  only  to  attend  the  ivorship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Cliirst,  with  a 
freedom  from  humane  inventions  and  additions,  but  also  to  enjoy  all  the 
Evangelical  Institutions  of  that  worship,  they  did  like  those  Macedonians, 
that  are  therefore  by  the  Apostle  Paul  commended,  "give  themselves  up, 

•  Primitive  History. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  47 

first  unto  God,  and  then  to  one  another."  These  pious  people  finding  that 
their  brethren  and  neighbours  in  the  Church  of  England,  as  then  established 
hy  latv,  took  offence  at  these  their  endeavours  after  a  scriptural  reformation; 
and  being  loth  to  live  in  the  continual  vexations  which  they  felt  arising 
from  their  non-conformity  to  things  which  their  consciences  accounted 
superstitious  and  umvarrantahle^  they  peaceably  and  willingly  embraced  a 
hanishment  into  the  Netherlands;  where  they  settled  at  the  city  of  Leyden, 
about  seven  or  eight  years  after  their  first  combination.  And  now  in  that 
city  this  people  sojourned,  an  Holy  Church  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  for  sev- 
eral years  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr.  John  Robinson,  who  had  for  his 
help  in  the  goveniment  of  the  Chnrch,  a  most  wise,  grave,  good  man,  Mr. 
William  Brewster,  the  ruling  elder.  Indeed,  Mr.  John  Robinson  had  beenj 
in  his  younger  time  (as  very  good  fruit  hath  sometimes  been,  before  age  hath! 
ripened  it)  sowred  with  the  principles  of  the  most  rigid  sepjaration^  in  the 
maintaining  whereof  he  composed  and  published  some  little  Treatises, 
and  in  the  management  of  the  controversie  made  no  scruple  to  call  the 
incomparable  Dr.  Ames  himself,  Dr.  Amiss^  for  opposing  such  a  degree  of 
separation.  But  this  worthy  man  sufltered  himself  at  length  to  be  so  far 
convinced  by  his  learned  antagonist^  that  with  a  most  ingenious  retractation^ 
he  afterwards  writ  a  little  book  to  prove  the  laivfulness  of  one  thing,  which 
his  mistaken  zeal  had  formerly  impugned  several  years,  even  till  1625,  and 
about  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  own  age,  continued  he  a  blessing  unto  the 
whole  Church  of  Gody  and  at  last,  when  he  died,  he  left  behind  him  in  his 
immortal  writings,  a  name  very  much  embalmed  among  the  people  that  are 
best  able  to  judge  of  merit;  and  even  among  such,  as  about  the  matters  of 
Ghurch-discip)line,  were  not  of  his  perswasion.  Of  such  an  eminent  character 
was  he,  while  he  lived^  that  when  Armenianism  so  much  prevailed,  as  it 
then  did  in  the  low  countries,  those  famous  Divines,  Polyander  and  Festus 
Hommius,  emploj' ed  this  our  learned  Robinson  to  dispute  publickly  in  the 
University  of  Leyden  against  Episcopius,  and  the  other  champions  of  that 
grand  choak-ioeedoftrue  Christianity :  and  when  he  died,  not  only  the  Univer- 
sity, and  Ministers  of  the  city,  accompanied  him  to  his  grave,  with  all  their 
accustomed  solemnities^  but  some  of  the  chief  among  them  with  sorrowful 
resentments  and  expressions  affirmed,  "  That  all  the  Churches  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  had  sustained  a  great  loss  by  the  death  of  this  worthy  man." 
§  2.  The  English  Church  had  not  been  very  long  at  Leyden,  before  they 
found  themselves  encountred  with  many  inconveniences.  They  felt  that 
they  were  neither  for  healthy  nor  p)urse^  nor  language  well  accommodated; 
but  the  concern  which  they  most  of  all  had,  was  for  their  posterity.  They 
saw,  that  whatever  hanhs  the  Dutch  had  against  the  inroads  of  the  sea,  they 
had  not  sufficient  ones  against  &,  flood  of  manifold  profaneness.  They  could 
not  with  ten  years^  endeavour  bring  their  neighbours  particularly  to  any  suit- 
able observation  of  the  Lord's  Day  ;  without  which  they  knew  that  all 
practiced  Religion  must  wither  miserably.  They  beheld  some  of  their  children, 


48  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

by  the  temptations  of  the  place,  were  especially  given  in  the  licentious  ways 
of  many  young  ^^eojjle,  drawn  into  dangerous  extravagancies.  Moreover, 
they  were  very  loth  to  lose  their  interest  in  the  English  nation ;  but  were 
desirous  rather  to  enlarge  their  King's  dominions.  They  found  themselves 
also  under  a  very  strong  disposition  of  zeal,  to  attempt  the  establishment 
of  Congregational  Churches  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  world;  where 
they  hoped  they  should  be  reached  by  the  Royal  influence  of  their  Prince, 
in  whose  allegiance  they  chose  to  live  and  die;  at  the  same  time  likewise 
hoping  that  the  Ecclesiasticks,  who  had  thus  driven  them  out  of  the  king- 
dom into  a  New  World,  for  nothing  in  the  world  but  their  non-conformity 
to  certain  rites,  by  the  imposers  confessed  indifferent,  would  be  ashamed  ever 
to  persecute  them  with  any  further  molestations,  at  the  distance  of  a  thou- 
sand leagues.  These  reaso?is  were  deeply  considered  by  the  Church ;  and 
after  many  deliberations,  accompanied  with  the  most  solemn  humiliations 
and  sup2'lications  before  the  God  of  Heaven,  they  took  up  a  resolution,  under 
the  conduct  of  Heaven,  to  remove  into  America;  the  opened  regions 
whereof  had  now  filled  all  Europe  with  reports.  It  was  resolved,  that ^;ar^ 
of  the  Church  should  go  before  their  brethren,  to  prepare  a  place  for  the 
rest;  and  whereas  the  minor  part  of  younger  and  stronger  men  were  to  go 
first,  the  Pastor  was  to  stay  with  the  major,  till  tliey  should  see  cause  to 
follow.  Nor  was  there  any  occasion  for  this  resolve,  in  any  weariness  which 
the  States  of  Holland  had  of  their  company,  as  was  basely  ivhispered  by  their 
adversaries;  therein  like  those  who  of  old  assigned  the  same  cause  for  the 
departure  of  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt:  for  the  magistrates  of  Leyden 
in  their  Court,  reproving  the  Walloons,  gave  this  testimony  for  our  English : 
"These  have  lived  now  ten  years  among  us,  and  yet  we  never  had  any 
accusation  against  any  one  of  them;  whereas  your  quarrels  are  continiial." 
§  3.  These  good  people  were  now  satisfyed,  they  had  as  plain  a  command 
of  Heaven  to  attempt  a  removal,  as  ever  their  father  Abraham  had  for  his 
leaving  the  Caldean  territories;  and  it  was  nothing  but  such  a  satisfaction 
that  could  have  carried  them  through  such,  otherwise  insuperable  difficult- 
ies, as  they  met  withal.  But  in  this  removal  the  termimis  ad  Quem^  was  not 
yet  resolved  upon.  The  country  of  Guiana  flattered  them  with  the  prom- 
ises of  a  perpetual  Spriug,  and  a  thousand  other  comfortable  entertainments. 
But  the  probable  disagreement  of  so  torrid  a  climate  unto  English  bodies, 
and  the  more  dangerous  vicinity  of  the  Spaniards  to  that  climate,  were 
considerations  which  made  them  fear  that  country  would  be  too  hot  for 
them.  They  rather  propounded  some  covmtry  bordering  upon  Virginia; 
and  unto  this  purpose,  they  sent  over  agents  into  England,  who  so  far 
treated  not  only  with  the  Virginia  company,  but  with  several  great  persons 
about  the  Court;  unto  whom  they  made  evident  tlteir  agreement  iviih  the 
French  Reformed  Churches  in  all  things  luhaisoever,  except  in  a  few  small  acci- 
dental points;  that  at  last,  after  many  tedious  delays,  and  after  the  loss  of 

*  Tlie  destination. 


OE,     THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  49 

many  friends  and  hopes  in  those  delays,  they  obtained  a  Patent  for  a  quiet 
settlement  in  those  territories ;  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  himself 
gave  them  some  expectations  that  they  should  never  be  disturbed  in  that 
exercise  of  Religion,  at  which  they  aimed  in  their  settlement ;  yea,  when  Sir 
Robert  Nanton,  then  principal  Secretary  of  State  unto  King  James,  moved 
his  Majesty  to  give  way  "that  such  a  people  might  enjoy  their  liberty  of 
conscience  under  his  gracious  protection  in  America,  where  they  would 
endeavour  the  advancement  of  his  Majesty's  dominions,  and  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  interests  of  the  Gospel;"  the  King  said,  "it  was  a  good  and 
honest  motion."  All  this  notwithstanding,  they  never  made  use  of  that 
Patent :  but  being  informed  of  New-England,  thither  they  diverted  their 
design,  thereto  induced  by  sundry  reasons ;  but  particularly  by  this,  that 
the  coast  being  extreamly  well  circumstanced  for  fishing,  they  might  therein 
have  some  immediate  assistance  against  the  hardships  of  their  first  encoun- 
ters.— Their  agents  then  again  sent  over  to  England,  concluded  articles 
between  them  and  such  adventurers  as  would  be  concerned  with  them  in 
their  present  undertakings — articles,  that  were  indeed  sufficiently  hard  for 
those  poor  men  that  were  now  to  transplant  themselves  into  an  horrid 
wilderness.  The  diversion  of  their  enterprize  from  the  first  state  and  way 
of  it,  caused  an  unhappy  division  among  those  that  should  have  encour- 
aged it;  and  many  of  them  hereupon  fell  oflP.  But  the  Removers  having 
already  sold  their  estates,  to  put  the  money  into  a  common  stock,  for  the 
welfare  of  the  ivhole  ;  and  their  stock  as  well  as  their  time  spending  so  fast  as 
to  threaten  them  with  an  army  of  straits,  if  they  delayed  any  longer ;  they 
nimbly  dispatcht  the  best  agreements  they  could,  and  came  away  furnished 
with  a  Resolution  for  a  large  Tract  of  Land  in  the  south-ivest  part  of 
New-England. 

§  4.  All  things  now  being  in  some  readiness,  and  a  couple  of  ships,  one 
called  The  Speedwell,  the  other  The  May-Floioer,  being  hired  for  their 
transportation,  they  solemnly  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting  and  prayer; 
wherein  their  Pastor  preached  unto  them  upon  Ezra  viii.  21 :  "I  proclaimed 
a  fast  there,  at  the  river  Ahava,  that  we  might  afiiict  our  selves  before 
our  God,  to  seek  of  him  a  right  way  for  us,  and  for  our  little  ones,  and  for 
all  our  substance." 

After  the  fervent  supplications  of  this  day,  accompanied  by  their  affec- 
tionate friends,  they  took  their  leave  of  the  pleasant  city,  where  they  had 
been  pilgrims  and  strangers  now  for  eleven  years,  Delft-Haven  was  the 
town  where  they  went  on  board  one  of  their  ships,  and  there  they  had 
such  a  mournful  parting  from  their  brethren,  as  even  drowned  the  Dutch 
spectators  themselves,  then  standing  on  the  shore,  in  tears.  Their  excellent 
pastor,  on  his  knees,  by  the  sea-side,  poured  out  their  mutual  petitions 
unto  God;  and  having  wept  in  one  another's  arms,  as  long  as  the  wind 
and  the  tide  would  permit  them,  they  bad  adieu.  So  sailing  to  Southamp- 
ton in  England,  they  there  found  the  other  of  their  ships  come  from  Lon- 
YoL,  1,-4 


50  MAGNA  LI  A    CHRIS  TI    AMERICANA; 

don,  with  the  rest  of  tlieir  friends  that  were  to  be  the  companions  of  tlie 
voyage.  Let  my  reader  place  the  chronology  of  this  business  on  July  2, 
1620.  And  know,  that  the  faithful  pastor  of  this  people  immediately  sent 
after  them  a  ^^cwtora/  letter;  a  letter  lilled  with  holy  counsels  unto  them, 
to  settle  their  ^eoce  with  God  in  their  own  consciences,  by  an  exact  repent- 
ance of  all  sin  whatsoever,  that  so  they  might  more  easily  bear  all  the  diffi- 
culties that  were  now  before  them;  and  then  to  maintain  a  good  jyeace  with 
one  another,  and  beware  of  giving  or  taking  offences;  and  avoid  all  discov- 
eries of  a  touchy  humour;  but  use  much  brotherly  forbearance^  [where  by  the 
way  he  had  this  remarkable  observation :  "  In  my  own  experience  few  or 
none  have  been  found  that  sooner  give  offence,  than  those  that  easily  take 
it;  neither  have  they  ever  proved  sound  and  profitable  members  of  societies 
who  have  nourished  this  touchy  humour;"]  as  also  to  take  heed  of  Si private 
spirit^  and  all  retiredness  of  mind  in  each  man,  for  his  oivn  proper  advantage; 
and  likewise  to  be  careful,  that  the  house  of  God,  which  they  were,  might 
not  be  shaken  with  unnecessary  novelties  or  oppositions;  which  Letter  after- 
wards produced  most  happy  fruits  among  them. 

§  5.  On  August  5,  1620,  they  set  sail  from  Southampton;  but  if  it  shall 
as  I  believe  it  will,  afflict  my  reader  to  be  told  what  heart-breaking  disas- 
ters befell  them,  in  the  very  beginning  of  their  undertaking,  let  him  glorifie 
God,  who  carried  them  so  well  through  their  greater  affliction. 

They  were  by  bad  weather  twice  beaten  back,  before  they  came  to  the 
Land's  end.  But  it  was  judged,  that  the  badness  of  the  weather  did  not 
retard  them  so  much  as  the  deceit  of  a  master,  who,  grown  sick  of  the 
voyage,  made  such  pretences  about  the  leakiness  of  his  vessel,  that  they 
were  forced  at  last  wholly  to  dismiss  that  lesser  ship  from  the  service. 
Being  now  all  stowed  into  one  ship,  on  the  sixth  of  September  they  put  to 
sea ;  but  they  met  with  such  terrible  storms,  that  the  principal  persons  on 
board  had  serious  deliberations  upon  returning  home  again;  however,  after 
long  beating  upon  the  Atlantick  ocean,  they  fell  in  with  the  land  at  Cape 
Cod,  about  the  ninth  of  November  following,  where  going  on  shore  they  fell 
upon  their  knees,  with  many  and  hearty  praises  unto  God,  who  had  been 
their  assurance,  when  they  were  afar  of  upon  the  sea,  and  was  to  be  further 
so,  now  that  they  were  come  to  the  eyids  of  the  earth. 

But  why  at  this  Cape?  Here  was  not  the  port  which  they  intended:  this 
was  not  the  land  for  which  they  had  provided.  There  was  indeed  a  most 
wonderful  ptrovidrnce  of  God,  over  a  pious  and  a  praj-ing  people,  in  this 
disappointment!  The  most  crooked  way  that  ever  was  gone,  even  that  of 
Israel's  peregrination  through  the  wilderness,  may  be  called  a  right  way, 
such  was  the  way  of  this  little  Israel,  now  going  into  a  wilderness. 

§  6.  Their  design  was  to  have  sat  down  some  Avhere  about  Hudson's 
Biver ;  but  some  of  their  neighbours  in  Holland  having  a  mind  themselves 
to  settle  a  plantation  there,  secretly  and  sinfully  contracted  with  the  master 
of  the  ship,  employed  for  the  transportation  of  these  our  English  exiles,  by 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  51 

a  more  northerly  course,  to  put  a  trick  upon  them.  'Twas  in  tlie  pursuance 
of  this  plot  that  not  only  the  goods^  but  also  the  lives  of  all  on  board  were 
now  hazarded,  by  the  ships  falling  among  the  shoals  of  Cape-Cod;  where 
they  were  so  entangled  among  dangerous  breakers^  thus  late  in  the  year, 
that  the  company^  got  at  last  into  the  Cape-IIarbour,  broke  off  iheix  intentions 
of  going  any  further.  And  yet,  behold  the  watchful  providence  of  God 
over  them  that  seek  him !  lYas,  false-dealing  proved  a  safe-dealing  for  the  good 
people  against  whom  it  was  used.  Had  they  been  carried  according  to 
their  desire  unto  Hudson's  Eiver,  the  Indians  in  those  parts  were  at  this 
time  so  many,  and  so  mighty,  and  so  sturdy,  that  in  probability  all  this 
little  feeble  number  of  Christians  had  been  massacred  by  these  bloody 
salvages,  as  not  long  after  some  others  were:  whereas  the  good  hand  of 
God  now  brought  them  to  a  country  wonderfully  prepared  for  their  enter- 
tainment, by  a  sweeping  mortality  that  had  lately  been  among  the  natives. 
"We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  0  God,  our  fathers  have  told  us,  what 
work  thou  didst  in  their  days,  in  the  times  of  old ;  how  thou  dravest  out 
the  heathen  with  thy  hand,  and  plantedst  them ;  how  thou  did'st  afflict  the 
people,  and  cast  them  out!"  The  Indians  in  these  parts  had  newly,  even 
about  a  year  or  two  before,  been  visited  with  such  a  prodigious  pestilence, 
as  carried  away  not  a  tenth^  but  nine  parts  of  ten,  (jea,  'tis  said,  nineteen  of 
twenty)  among  them :  so  that  the  woods  were  almost  cleared  of  those  per- 
nicious creatures,  to  make  room  for  a  better  growth.  It  is  remarkable,  that  a 
Frenchman  who,  not  long  before  these  transactions,  had  by  a  shipwreck 
been  made  a  captive  amongst  the  Indians  of  this  country,  did,  as  the  sur- 
vivers  reported,  just  before  he  dyed  in  their  hands,  tell  those  tawny  pagans, 
"that  God  being  angry  with  them  for  their  wickedness,  would  not  only 
destroy  them  all,  but  also  people  the  place  with  another  nation,  which 
would  not  live  after  their  brutish  manners."  Those  infidels  then  blasphe- 
mously replyed,  "God  could  not  kill  them;"  which  blasphemous  mistake 
was  confuted  by  an  horrible  and  unusual  plague,  whereby  they  were  con- 
sumed in  such  vast  multitudes,  that  our  first  planters  found  the  land  almost 
covered  with  their  unburied  carcases;  and  they  that  were  left  alive,  were 
smitten  into  awful  and  humble  regards  of  the  English,  by  the  terrors  which 
the  remembrance  of  the  Frenchman's  prophesie  had  imprinted  on  them. 

§  7.  Inexpressible  the  hardships  to  which  this  chosen  generation  was  now 
exposed!  Our  Saviour  once  directed  his  disciples  to  deprecate  a  flight  in 
the  lointer ;  but  these  disciples  of  our  Lord  were  now  arrived  at  a  very  cold 
country,  in  the  beginning  of  a  rough  and  bleak  winter;  the  sun  was  with- 
drawn into  Sagittarius,  whence  he  shot  the  penetrating  arrows  of  cold; 
feathered  with  nothing  but  snow,  and  pointed  with  hail;  and  the  days  left 
them  to  behold  the/ros^bitten  and  t6'ea^7ier-beaten  face  of  the  earth,  were 
grown  shorter  than  the  nights,  wherein  they  had  yet  more  trouble  to  get 
shelter  from  the  increasing  injuries  of  i\ie  frost  and  weather.  It  was  a  relief 
to  those  primitive  believers,  who  were  cast  on  shore  at  Malta,  That  the  har- 


52  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

barous  people  shoived  them  no  little  kindnesSj  because  of  the  present  rain^  and 
because  of  the  cold.  But  these  believers  in  our  primitive  times,  were  more 
afraid  of  the  barbarous  p'iople  among  wliom  they  were  now  cast,  than  they 
were  of  the  rain  or  cold;  these  barharians  were  at  the  first  so  far  from 
accommodating  them  with  bundles  ofsticJcs  to  warm  them,  that  they  let  fly 
other  sorts  oi sticks  (that  is  to  say,  arrows)  to  wound  them:  and  the  very 
looks  and  shouts  of  those  grim  salvages,  had  not  much  less  of  terrour  in 
them,  than  if  they  had  been  so  many  devils.  It  is  not  long  since  1  com- 
pared this  remove  of  our  fathers  to  that  of  Abraham,  whereas  I  must  now 
add,  that  if  our  father  Abraham,  called  out  of  Ur,  had  been  directed  unto 
the  Desarts  of  Arabia,  instead  of  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  the 
trial  of  his  faith  had  been  greater  than  it  was;  but  such  was  the  trial  of  the 
faith  in  these  holy  men,  who  followed  the  call  of  God  into  desarts  full  of 
dismal  circumstances.  All  this  they  chearfully  underwent,  in  hope  that 
they  should  settle  the  ivorship  and  ordei-  of  the  gospel,  and  the  Kingdom 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  these  regions,  and  that  thus  enlarging  the 
dominion,  they  should  thereby  so  merit  the  protection  of  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land, as  to  be  never  abandoned  unto  any  further  persecutions,  from  any 
party  of  their  fellow  subjects,  for  their  consciencious  regards  unto  the 
reformation.     Their  proposal  was, 

Exiguam  sedem  Sacris,  Liiusque  rngamus 
Innocuum,  et  cunctis  undamq;  auramq;  Patentem* 

§  8.  Finding  at  their  first  arrival,  that  what  other  powers  they  liad 
were  made  useless  by  the  undesigned  j^lace  of  their  arrival ;  they  did,  as 
the  light  of  nature  it  self  directed  them,  immediately  in  the  harbour,  sign 
an  instrument,  as  a  foundation  of  their  future  and  needful  government; 
wherein  declaring  themselves  the  loyal  subjects  of  the  Crown  of  England, 
they  did  combine  into  a  body  p>olitick,  and  solemnly  engage  submission  and 
obedience  to  the  laios,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions  and  officers,  that  from 
time  to  time  should  be  thought  most  convenient  for  the  general  good  of 
the  Colony.  This  was  done  on  Nov.  11th.  1620,  and  they  chose  one  Mr. 
John  Carver,  a  pious  and  prudent  man,  their  Grovernour. 

Hereupon  they  sent  ashore  to  look  a  convenient  seat  for  their  intended 
habitation:  and  while  the  carpenter  was  fitting  of  their  shallop,  sixteen 
men  tendered  themselves,  to  go,  by  land,  on  the  discovery.  Accordingly 
on  Nov.  16th,  1620,  they  made  a  dangerous  adventure;  following  five 
Indians,  whom  they  spied  flying  before  them,  into  the  woods  for  many 
miles;  from  whence,  after  two  or  three  days  ramble,  they  returned  with 
some  ears  of  Indian  Corn,  which  were  an  eshcol  for  their  compan}^;  but 
with  a  poor  and  small  encouragement,  as  unto  any  scituation.  When  the 
shallop  was  fitted,  about  thirty  more  went  in  it  upon  a  further  discovery; 
who  prospered  little  more,  than  only  to  find  a  little  Indian  Corn,  and 

•  Wo  ask  a  slirine  for  faith  and  simple  prayer — 
Freedom's  sweet  waters  and  untainted  air. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  53 

bring  to  the  company  some  occasions  of  doubtful  debate,  whether  they 
should  here  fix  their  stakes.  Yet  these  expeditions  on  discovery  had  this 
one  remarkable  smile  of  Heaven  upon  them ;  that  being  made  before  the 
snoio  covered  the  ground,  they  met  with  some  Indian  Corn ;  for  which 
'twas  their  purpose  honestly  to  pay  the  natives  on  demand ;  and  this  Corn 
served  them  for  seed  in  the  Spring  following,  which  else  they  had  not  been 
seasonably  furnished  withal.  So  that  it  proved,  in  effect,  their  deliver- 
ance from  the  terrible  famine. 

§  9.  The  month  of  November  being  spent  in  many  sujiplications  to 
Almighty  God,  and  consultations  one  with  another,  about  the  direction  of 
their  course;  at  last,  on  Dec.  6,  1620,  they  manned  the  shallop  with  about 
eighteen  or  twenty  hands,  and  went'out  upon  a  third  discovery.  So  bitterly 
cold  was  the  season,  that  the  spray  of  the  sea  lighting  on  their  cloaths, 
glazed  them  with  an  immediate  congelation ;  yet  they  kept  cruising  about 
the  bay  of  Cape-Cod,  and  that  night  they  got  safe  down  the  bottom  of 
the  bay.  There  they  landed,  and  there  they  tarried  that  night;  and 
unsuccessfully  ranging  about  all  the  next  day,  at  night  they  made  a  little 
barricado  of  boughs  and  logs,  wherein  the  most  weary  slept.  The  next 
morning,  after  prayers,  they  suddenly  were  surrounded  with  a  crue  of 
Indians,  who  let  fly  a  shower  of  arrows  among  them;  whereat  our  dis- 
tressed handful  of  English  happily  recovering  their  arms,  which  they  had 
laid  by  from  the  moisture  of  the  weather,  they  vigorously  discharged  their 
micskets  upon  the  Salvages,  who  astonished  at  the  strange  effects  of  such 
dead-doing  things,  as  powder  and  shot,  fled  apace  into  the  woods;  but  not 
one  of  ours  was  wounded  by  the  Indian  arrows  that  flew  like  hail  about  their 
ears,  and  pierced  through  sundry  of  their  coats;  for  which  they  returned 
their  solemn  thanks  unto  God  their  Saviour ;  and  they  called  the  place 
by  the  name  of.  The  First  Encounter.  From  hence  they  coasted  along, 
till  an  horrible  storm  arose,  which  tore  their  vessel  at  such  a  rate,  and  threw 
them  into  the  midst  of  such  dangerous  breakers^  it  was  reckoned  little  short 
of  miracle  that  they  escaped  alive.  In  the  end  they  got  under  the  lee  of 
a  small  Island,  where,  going  ashore,  they  kindled  fires  for  their  succour 
against  the  wet  and  cold;  it  was  the  morning  before  they  found  it  was  an 
Island,  whereupon  they  rendered  their  praises  to  Him  that  "hitherto  had 
helped  them;"  and  the  day  following,  which  was  the  Lord's  day^  the  diffi- 
culties now  upon  them  did  not  hinder  them  from  spending  it  in  the  devout 
and  pious  exercises  of  a  sacred  rest.  On  the  next  day  they  sounded  the 
harbour,  and  found  it  fit  for  shipping;  they  visited  the  main  land  also, 
and  found  it  accommodated  with  pleasant  fields  and  brooks;  whereof 
they  carried  an  encouraging  report  unto  their  friends  on  board.  So  they 
resolved  that  they  would  here  pitch  their  tents;  and  sailing  up  to  the  town 
of  Plymouth,  [as  with  an  hopeful  prolepsis^  my  reader  shall  now  call  it; 
for  otherwise,  by  the  Indians  'twas  called  Patuxet;]  on  the  twenty-fifth 
day  of  December  they  began  to  erect  the  first  House  that  ever  was  in  that 


54  MAG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

memorable  town ;  an  house  for  the  general  entertainment  of  their  persons 
and  estates:  and  yet  it  was  not  long  before  an  unhappy  accident  burnt 
unto  the  ground  their  house,  wherein  some  of  their  principal  persons  then 
lay  sick;  who  were  forced  nimbly  to  fly  out  of  the  fired  house,  or  else 
they  had  been  blown  up  with  the  powder  then  lodged  there.  After  this, 
they  soon  went  upon  the  building  of  more  little  cottages;  and  upon  the 
settling  of  good  laws,  for  the  better  governing  of  such  as  were  to  inhabit 
those  cottages.  They  then  resolved,  that  until  they  could  be  further 
strengthened  in  their  settlement,  by  the  authority  of  England,  they  would 
be  governed  by  rulers  chosen  from  among  themselves,  who  were  to  proceed 
according  to  the  laws  of  England,  as  near  as  they  could,  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  their  government ;  and  such  other  by-laws,  as  by  common  con- 
sent should  be  judged  necessary  for  the  circumstances  of  the  Plantation. 

§  10.  If  the  reader  would  know,  how  these  good  people  fared  the  rest 
of  the  melancholy  winter,  let  him  know,  that  besides  the  exercises  of 
Eeligion,  with  other  work  enough,  there  was  the  care  of  the  side  to  take 
up  no  little  part  of  their  time.  'Twas  a  most  heavy  trial  of  their  patience, 
whereto  they  were  called  the  first  winter  of  this  their'  pilgrimage^  and 
enough  to  convince  them  and  remind  them  that  they  were  but  Pilgrims. 
The  hardshijjs  which  they  encountered,  were  attended  with,  and  product- 
ive of  deadly  sicknesses;  which  in  two  or  three  months  carried  off  more 
than  half  their  company.  They  were  but  meanly  provided  against  these 
unhappy  sicknesses;  but  there  died  sometimes  two,  sometimes  three  in  a 
day,  till  scarce  Jifty  of  them  were  left  alive;  and  of  those  fffy,  sometimes 
there  were  scarce  j^ue  well  at  a  time  to  look  after  the  sick.  Yet  their  pro- 
found submission  to  the  will  of  God,  their  Christian  readiness  to  help  one 
another,  accompanied  with  a  joyful  assurance  of  another  and  better  world, 
carried  them  chearfully  through  the  sorrows  of  this  tnortality:  nor  was 
there  heard  among  them  a  continual  murmur  against  those  who  had  by 
unreasonable  impositions  driven  them  into  all  these  distresses.  And  there 
was  this  remarkable  providence  further  in  the  circumstances  of  this  mortality, 
that  if  a  disease  had  not  more  easily  fetcht  so  many  of  this  number  away 
to  Heaven,  z^  famine  would  probably  have  destroyed  them  all,  before  their 
expected  supplies  from  England  were  arrived.  But  Avhat  a  wonder  was 
it  that  all  the  bloody  salvages  far  and  near  did  not  cut  off  this  little  rem- 
nant! If  he  that  once  muzzled  the  lions  ready  to  devovir  the  man  of  desires, 
had  not  admirably,  I  had  almost  said,  miraculoiLsly  restrained  them,  these  had 
been  all  devoured!  but  this  people  of  God  were  come  into  a  wilderness  to 
worship  Him;  and  so  He  kept  their  enemies  from  such  attempts,  as  would 
otherwise  have  soon  annihilated  this  poor  handful  of  men,  thus  far  already 
diminished.  They  saw  no  Indians  all  the  winter  long,  but  such  as  at  the 
first  sight  always  ran  away;  yea,  they  quickly  found,  that  God  had  so 
turned  the  hearts  of  these  barbarians,  as  more  io  fear,  than  to  hate  his  people 
thus  cast  among  them.     This  blessed  people  was  as  a  little  flock  of  kids, 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  55 

while  there  were  many  nations  of  Indians  left  still  as  kennels  of  wolves 
in  every  corner  of  the  country.  And  yet  the  little  flock  suffered  no  damage 
by  those  rapid  wolves  1  We  may  and  should  say,  "This  is  the  Lord's 
doing;  'tis  marvellous  in  our  eyes." 

But  among  the  many  causes  to  be  assigned  for  it,  one  was  tlds.  It  was 
afterwards  by  them  confessed,  that  upon  the  arrival  of  the  English  in  these 
parts,  the  Indians  employed  their  sorcerers^  whom  they  call  jyoivaws,  like 
Balaam,  to  curse  them,  and  let  loose  their  demons  upon  them,  to  shipwreck 
them,  to  distract  them,  to  poison  them,  or  in  any  way  to  ruin  them.  All  the 
noted  powaws  in  the  country  spent  three  days  together  in  diabolical  con- 
jurations, to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the  devils  against  'the  settlement  of 
these  our  English ;  but  the  devils  at  length  acknowledged  unto  them,  that 
they  could  not  hinder  those  people  from  their  becoming  the  owners  and 
masters  of  the  country ;  whereupon  the  Indians  resolved  upon  a  good  cor- 
respondence with  our  new-comers;  and  God  convinced  them  that  there 
was  no  enchantment  or  divination  against  such  a  people. 

§  11,  The  doleful  winter  broke  up  sooner  than  was  usual.  But  our 
crippled  planters  were  not  more  comforted  with  the  early  advance  of  the 
Spring,  than  they  were  surprized  with  the  appearance  of  two  Indians,  who 
in  broken  English  bade  them,  welcome  Englishmen!  It  seems  that  one  of 
these  Indians  had  been  in  the  eastern  parts  of  New-England,  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  English  vessels  that  had  been  formerly  flshiufj  there; 
but  the  other  of  the  Indians,  and  he  from  whom  they  had  most  of  service, 
was  a  person  provided  by  the  very  singular  providence  of  God  for  that 
service.  A  most  wicked  ship-master  being  on  this  coast  a  few  years  before, 
had  wickedly  spirited  away  more  than  twenty  Indians;  whom  having 
enticed  them  aboard,  he  presently  stowed  them  under  hatches,  and  carried 
them  away  to  the  Streights,  where  he  sold  as  many  of  them  as  he  could 
for  Slaves,  This  avaritious  and  pernicious  felony  laid  the  foundation  of 
grievous  annoyances  to  all  the  English  endeavours  of  settlements,  espe- 
cially in  the  northern  parts  of  the  land  for  several  years  ensuing.  The 
Indians  would  never /or^ref  or  forgive  this  injury;  but  when  the  English 
afterwards  came  upon  this  coast,  in  their  fishing-voyages,  they  were  still 
assaulted  in  an  hostile  manner,  to  the  killing  and  wounding  of  many  poor 
men  by  the  angry  natives,  in  revenge  of  the  wrong  that  had  been  done 
them;  and  some  intended  Plantations  here  were  hereby  utterly  nipt  in 
the  bud.  But  our  good  God  so  ordered  it,  that  one  of  the  stoln  Indians, 
called  Squanto,  had  escaped  out  of  Spain  into  England;  where  he  lived 
with  one  Mr.  Slany,  from  whom  he  had  found  a  way  to  return  into  his 
own  country,  being  brought  back  by  one  Mr.  Dermer,  about  half  a  year 
before  our  honest  Plymotheans  were  cast  upon  this  continent.  This  Indian 
(with  the  other)  having  received  much  kindness  from  the  English,  who  he 
saw  generally  condemned  the  man  that  first  betrayed  him,  now  made  unto 
the  English  a  return  of  that  kindness:  and  being  by  his  acquaintance  with 


56  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

tlie  English  language,  fitted  for  a  conversation  with  them,  he  very  kindly 
informed  them  what  was  the  present  condition  of  the  Indians ;  instructed 
them  in  the  way  of  ordering  their  Corn ;  and  acquainted  them  with  many 
other  things,  which  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  understand.  But  Squanto 
did  for  them  a  yet  greater  benefit  than  all  this:  for  he  brought  Massasoit,  the 
chief  Sachim  or  Prince  of  the  Indians  within  many  miles,  with  some  scores 
of  his  attcnders,  to  make  our  people  a  kind  visit;  the  issue  of  which  visit 
was,  that  Massasoit  not  only  entred  into  a  firm  agreement  oi peace  with  the 
English,  but  also  they  declared  and  submitted  themselves  to  be  subjects 
of  the  King  of  England;  into  which  peace  and  subjection  many  other 
Sachims  quickly  after  came,  in  the  most  voluntary  manner  that  could  be 
expressed.  It  seems  this  unlucky  Squanto  having  told  his  countrymen 
how  easie  it  was  for  so  great  a  monarch  as  K.  James  to  destroy  them  all, 
if  they  should  hurt  any  of  his  people,  he  went  on  to  terrific  them  with  a 
ridiculous  rhodomantado,  which  they  believed,  that  this  people  kept  the 
p)hgue  in  a  cellar  (where  they  kept  their  powder),  and  could  at  their  plea- 
sure let  it  loose  to  make  such  havock  among  them,  as  the  distemper  had 
already  made  among  them  a  few  years  before.  Thus  was  the  tongue  of  a 
dog  made  useful  to  a  feeble  and  sickly  Lazarus!  Moreover,  our  English 
guns,  especially  the  great  ones,  made  a  formidable  report  among  these 
ignorant  Indians;  and  the  hopes  of  enjoying  some  defence  by  the  English, 
ao-ainst  the  potent  nation  of  Narraganset  Indians,  now  at  war  with  these, 
made  them  yet  more  to  court  our  friendship.  This  very  strange  disposi- 
tion of  things,  was  extreamly  advantageous  to  our  distressed  planters :  and 
who  sees  not  herein  the  special  providence  of  the  God  who  disposeth  allf 


\j    (LJL    u>Oj    X       (li     (aJ    tug  Jj    JL    X  o 

CONAMUR    TENUES    GRANDIA;* 

OR,  A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DIFFICULTIES,  THE  DELIVERANCES,  AND  OTHER 

OCCURRENCES,  THROUGH  WHICH  THE  PLANTATION  OF  NEW-PLYMOUTH 

ARRIVED  UNTO  THE  CONSISTENCY  OF  A  COLONY. 

§  1.  Setting  aside  the  just  and  great  grief  of  our  new  planters  for  the 
immature  death  of  their  excellent  govcrnour,  succeeded  by  the  Avorthy 
Mr.  Bradford,  early  in  the  Spring  after  their  first  arrival,  they  spent  their 
summer  somewhat  comfortably,  trading  with  the  Indians  to  the  northward 
of  their  Plantation;  in  which  trade  they  were  not  a  little  assisted  by 
Squanto,  who  within  a  year  or  two  dyed  among  the  English ;  but  before 

*  Wo  altumpt  great  things  with  dender  resources. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  57 

his  death,  desired  them  to  pray  for  him,  That  he  might  go  to  the  English- 
marcs  Ood  in  Heaven.  And  besides  the  assistance  of  Squanto,  they  had 
also  the  help  of  another  Indian,  called  Hobbamok,  who  continued  faithflil 
unto  the  English  interests  as  long  as  he  lived ;  though  he  sometimes  went 
in  danger  of  his  life  among  his  countrymen  for  that  fidelity.  So  they 
jogged  on  till  the  day  twelvemonth  after  their  first  arrival;  when  there  now 
arrived  unto  them  a  good  number  more  of  their  old  friends  from  Holland, 
for  the  strengthening  of  their  new  Plantation;  but  inasmuch  as  they 
brought  not  a  sufficient  stock  of  provisions  with  them,  they  rather  weak- 
ened it,  than  strengthened  it. 

If  Peter  Martyr  could  magnifie  the  Spaniards,  of  whom  he  reports. 
They  led  a  miserable  life  for  three  days  together  with  parched  grain  of  maize 
only,  and  that  not  unto  satiety ;  what  shall  I  say  of  our  Englishmen,  who 
would  have  thought  a  little  parched  Indian  Corn  a  m,ighty  feast?  But  they 
wanted  it,  not  only  three  days  together;  no,  for  two  or  three  months 
together,  they  had  no  kind  of  Corn  among  them:  such  was  the  scarcity, 
accompanied  with  the  disproportion  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  2^rovisio7is. 
However,  Peter  Martyr's  conclusion  may  be  ours:  With  their  miseries  this 
people  opened  a  way  to  those  new  lands,  and  afterwards  other  men  came  to 
inhabit  them  with  ease,  in  respect  of  the  calamities  which  those  men  have  suffered. 
They  were  indeed  very  often  upon  the  very  point  of  starving ;  but  in  their 
extremity  the  God  of  Heaven  always  furnished  them  with  some  sudden 
reliefs ;  either  by  causing  some  vessels  of  strangers  occasionally  to  look  in 
upon  them,  or  by  putting  them  into  a  way  to  catch  fish  in  some  convenient 
quantities,  or  by  some  other  surprizing  accidents ;  for  which  they  rendered 
unto  Heaven  the  solemn  thanks  of  their  souls.  They  kept  in  such  good 
working  case,  that  besides  their  progress  in  building,  and  planting,  and 
fishing,  they  formed  a  sort  of  a  fort,  wherein  they  kept  a  nightly  watch 
for  their  security  against  any  treachery  of  the  Indians,  being  thereunto 
awakened  by  an  horrible  massacre,  which  the  Indians  lately  made  upon 
several  hundreds  of  the  English  in  Virginia. 

§  2.  In  one  of  the  first  Summers  after  their  sitting  down  at  Plymouth, 
a  terrible  drought  threatened  the  ruin  of  all  their  summer's  husbandry. 
From  about  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle  of  July,  aq  extream  hot 
sun  beat  upon  their  fields,  without  any  rain,  so  that  all  their  corn  began  to 
wither  and  languish,  and  some  of  it  was  irrecoverably  parched  up.  In 
this  distress  they  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting  and  p)rayer,  to  deprecate  the 
calamity  that  might  bring  them  io fasting  through /a7?iinc;  in  the  morning 
of  which  day  there  was  no  sign  of  any  rain ;  but  before  the  evening  the 
sky  was  overcast  with  clouds,  which  went  not  away  without  such  easie, 
gentle,  and  yet  plentiful  showers,  as  revived  a  great  part  of  their  decayed 
corn,  for  a  comfortable  harvest.  The  Indians  themselves  took  notice  of 
this  answer  given  from  heaven  to  the  supplications  of  this  devout  people ; 
and  one  of  them  said,  "Now  I  see  that  the  Englishman's   Ood  is  a  good 


58  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

God;  for  he  liatli  heard  you,  and  sent  you  rain,  and  that  without  such 
tempest  and  thunder  as  we  use  to  have  with  our  rain ;  which  after  our 
PowawinQ  for  it,  breaks  down  the  corn ;  whereas  your  corn  stands  whole 
and  good  still ;  surely,  your  God  is  a  good  God,"  The  harvest  which  God 
thus  gave  to  this  pious  people,  caused  them  to  set  a])art  another  day  for 
solemn  Thanksgiving  to  the  glorious  Hearer  of  Prayers! 

§  3.  There  was  another  most  wonderful  preservation  vouchsafed  by 
God  unto  this  little  knot  of  Christians.  One  Mr,  Weston,  a  merchant  of 
good  note,  interested  at  first  in  the  Plymouth  design,  afterwards  deserted 
it;  and  in  the  year  1622  sent  over  two  ships,  with  about  sixty  men,  to 
begin  a  plantation  in  the  Massachuset-Bay.  These  beginners  being  well 
refreshed  at  Plymouth,  travelled  more  northward  unto  a  place  known 
since  by  the  name  of  Weymouth;  where  these  Westonians,  who  Avere 
Church  of  England-men^  did  not  approve  themselves  like  the  Plymotheans, 
a  pious,  honest,  industrious  people;  but  followed  such  bad  courses,  as  had 
like  to  have  brought  a  ruin  upon  their  neighbours,  as  well  as  themselves. 
Having  by  their  idleness  brought  themselves  to  penury,  they  stole  corn 
from  the  Indians,  and  many  other  ways  provoked  them;  although  the 
Governour  of  Plymouth  writ  them  his  very  sharp  disapprobation  of  their 
proceedings.  To  satisfie  the  exasperated  Salvages,  divers  of  the  thieves 
were  stockt  and  whipt,  and  one  of  them  at  last  put  to  death  by  this  mis- 
erable company ;  which  did  no  other  service  than  to  afford  an  occasion  for 
a  fable  to  the  roguish  Hudibras,  for  all  accommodation  was  now  too  late. 
The  Indians  fir  and  near  entred  into  a  conspiracy  to  cut  off  these  abusive 
English;  and  lest  the  inhabitants  of  Plymouth  should  revenge  that 
excision  of  their  countrymen,  they  resolved  upon  the  murther  of  them  also. 
In  pursuance  of  this  plot.  Captain  Standish,  the  commander  of  the  militia 
of  Plymouth,  lodging  on  a  night  with  two  or  three  men  in  an  Indian 
house,  the  Indians  proposed  that  they  might  begin  the  execution  of  their 
malice  by  the  assassination  of  the  Captain,  as  soon  as  he  should  be  fallen 
asleep.  However,  the  watchful  Providence  of  God  so  ordered  it,  that  the 
Captain  could  not  sleep  all  that  night ;  and  so  they  durst  not  meddle  with 
him.  Thus  was  the  beginning  of  the  plot  put  by:  but  the  whole  plot 
came  another  way  to  be  discovered  and  prevented,  Massasoit,  the  south- 
ern Sachim,  falling  sick,  the  Governour  of  Plj-mouth  desired  a  couple  of 
gentlemen,  whereof  one  was  that  good  man,  Mr.  Winslow,  to  visit  this 
poor  Sachim :  whom  after  their  long  journey  they  found  lying  at  the  point 
of  death  with  a  crue  of  hellish  Powaws,  using  their  ineffectual  spells  and 
howls  about  him  to  recover  him.  Upon  the  taking  of  some  English  phj^sick, 
he  presently  revived ;  and  thus  regaining  his  lost  health,  the  fees  he  jiaid 
his  English  doctor  were,  a  confession  of  the  plot  among  several  nations  of  the 
Indians,  to  destroy  the  English,  He  said,  that  they  had  in  vain  solicited 
him  to  enter  into  that  bloody  combination;  but  his  advice  was,  that  the 
Governour  of  Plymouth  should  immediately  take  off  the  princijxd  actors 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  59 

in  this  business,  wbereiipon  the  rest  being  terrifjed,  would  soon  desist. 
There  was  a  concurrence  of  many  things  to  confirm  the  truth  of  this 
information  ;  wherefore  Captain  Standish  took  eight  resolute  men  with  him 
to  the  Westoniau  Plantation ;  where,  pretending  to  trade  with  the  Indians, 
divers  of  the  conspirators  began  to  treat  him  in  a  manner  very  insolent. 
The  Captain,  and  his  little  army  of  eight  men,  (reader,  allow  them  for 
their  courage  to  be  called  so,)  with  a  prodigious  resolution,  presently  killed 
some  of  the  chief  among  these  Indians,  while  the  rest,  after  a  short  corn- 
bate,  ran  before  him  as  fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them ;  neverth('less, 
in  the  midst  of  the  skirmishes,  an  Indian  youth  ran  to  the  English,  desiring 
to  be  with  them;  and  declaring  that  the  Indians  waited  but  for  their  fin- 
ishing two  canoos,  to  have  surprized  the  ship  in  the  harbour,  and  have 
massacred  all  the  people;  which  had  been  finished,  if  the  Captain  had  not 
arrived  among  them  just  in  the  nick  of  time  when  he  did:  and  an  Indian 
spy  detained  at  Plymouth,  when  he  saw  the  Captain  return  from  this 
expedition,  with  the  head  of  a  famous  Indian  in  his  hand,  then  with  a  fallen 
and  frighted  countenance  acknowledged  the  whole  mischief  intended  by 
the  Indians  against  the  English.  Releasing  this  fellow,  they  sent  him  to 
the  Sacliim  of  the  Massachusets,  with  advice  of  what  he  must  look  for,  in 
case  he  committed  any  hostility  upon  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  England; 
whereof  there  was  this  effect,  that  not  only  that  Sachim  hereby  terrified, 
most  humbly  begged  for  peace,  and  pleaded  his  ignorance  of  his  men's 
intentions;  but  the  rest  of  the  Indians,  under  the  same  terror,  withdrew 
themselves  to  live  in  the  unhealthful  swamps,  which  proved  mortal  to 
many  of  them.  One  of  the  Westonians  was  endeavouring  to  carry  unto 
Plymouth  a  report  of  the  straits  and  fears  which  were  come  upon  them, 
and  this  man  losing  his  way,  saved  his  life;  taking  a  wrong  track,  he 
escaped  the  hands  of  the  two  Indians,  who  went  on  hunting  after  him; 
however  e're  he  reached  Plymouth,  care  had  been  already  taken  for  these 
wretched  Westonians  by  the  earlier  and  fuller  communications  of  Massa- 
soit.  So  was  the  peace  of  Plymouth  preserved,  and  so  the  Westonian 
plantation  broke  up,  went  off,  and  came  to  nothing;  although  'twas  much 
wished  by  the  holy  Robinson,  that  some  of  the  poor  heathen  had  been 
converted  before  any  of  them  had  been  slaughtered. 

§  4.  A  certain  gentleman  [if  nothing  in  the  following  story  contradict 
that  name']  was  employed  in  obtaining  from  the  Grand  Council  of  Ply- 
mouth and  England,  a  Patent  in  the  name  of  these  planters  for  a  con- 
venient quantity  of  the  country,  where  the  providence  of  God  had  now 
disposed  them.  This  man,  speaking  07ie  word  for  them,  spake  two  for  him- 
self: and  surreptitiously  procured  the  patent  in  his  own  name,  reserving 
for  himself  and  his  heirs  an  huge  tract  of  the  land ;  and  intending  the 
Plymotheans  to  hold  the  rest  as  tenants  under  him.  Hereupon  he  took 
on  board  many  passengers  with  their  goods ;  but  having  sailed  no  further 
than  the  Downs,  the  ship  sprang  a  leak ;  and  besides  this  disaster,  which 


60  MAGNALIA    ClIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

alone  was  enougli  to  have  stopt  the  voyage,  one  strand  of  their  cable  was 
accidentally  cut ;  by  which  means  it  broke  in  a  stress  of  wind ;  and  they 
were  in  extream  danger  of  being  wrecked  upon  the  sands.  Having  with 
much  cost  recruited  their  loss,  and  encreased  the  number  of  their  passengers, 
they  put  out  again  to  sea;  but  after  they  had  got  halfway,  one  of  the 
saddest  and  longest  storms  that  had  been  known  since  the  days  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  drove  them  home  to  England  again,  with  a  vessel  well  nigh 
torn  to  pieces,  though  the  lives  of  the  people,  which  were  above  an  hun* 
dred,  mercifully  preserved.  This  man,  by  all  his  tumbling  backward  and 
forward,  was  by  this  time  grown  so  sick  of  his  patent,  that  he  vomited  it 
up;  he  assigned  it  over  to  the  company,  but  they  afterwards  obtained 
another,  under  the  umbrage  whereof  they  could  now  more  effectually  carry 
on  the  affairs  of  their  new  colony.  The  passengers  went  over  afterwards 
in  another  vessel ;  and  quickly  after  that  another  vessel  of  passengers  also 
arrived  in  the  country:  namely,  in  the  year  1623.  Among  these  passen- 
gers were  divers  worthy  and  useful  men,  who  were  come  to  seek  the  welfare 
of  this  little  Israel;  though  at  their  coming  they  were  as  diversly  affected 
as  the  rebuilders  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem :  some  were  grieved  when 
they  saw  hoiu  had  the  circumstances  of  their  friends  were,  and  others  were 
glad  that  they  were  no  worse. 

§  5.  The  immature  death  of  Mr.  Eobinson  in  Holland,  with  man}^  ensu- 
ing disasters,  hindred  a  great  part  of  the  English  congregation  at  Ley  den 
from  coming  over  to  the  remnant  here  separated  from  their  brethren.  Hence 
it  was,  that  although  this  remnant  of  that  church  were  blessed  with  an 
elder  so  apt  to  teach,  that  he  attended  all  the  other  works  of  a  minister; 
yet  they  had  not  a  pastor  to  dispense  the  sacraments  among  them,  till  the 
year  1629,  when  one  Mr.  Ealph  Smith  undertook  the  pastoral  charge  of 
this  holy  flock.  But  long  before  that,  namely,  in  the  year  1624,  the 
adventurers  in  England,  with  whom  this  company  held  a  correspondence, 
did  send  over  unto  them  a  minister,  who  did  them  no  manner  of  good; 
but  by  his  treacherous  and  mischievous  tricks,  at  last  utterly  destroyed 
that  correspondence.  The  first  neat  cattle,  namely,  three  heifers  and  a 
bull,  that  ever  were  brought  into  this  land,  now  coming  with  him,  did  the 
land  certainly  better  service  than  was  ever  done  by  him,  who  sufficiently 
forgot  that  scriptural  emblem  of  a  minister,  the  ox  treading  out  the  corn. 
This  minister  at  his  first  arrival  did  caress  them  with  such  extream  showers 
of  affection  and  humility,  that  they  were  very  much  taken  with  him; 
nevertheless,  within  a  little  while,  he  iised  most  malignant  endeavours  to 
make  factions  among  them,  and  confound  all  their  civil  and  sacred  order. 
At  last  there  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  governour  his  letters  home  to  Eng- 
land, filled  with  wicked  and  lying  accusations  against  the  people ;  of  which 
things  being  shamefully  convicted,  the  authority  sentenced  him  to  be 
expelled  the  Plantation,  only  they  allowed  him  to  stay  six  months,  Avith 
secret  reservations  and  expectations  to  release  him  from  that  sentence,  if 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  Q1 

he  approved  himself  sound  in  the  repentance  whicli  he  now  expressed. 
Repentance^  I  say:  for  he  did  now  publickl_y  in  the  Church  confess  with 
tears,  that  the  censure  of  the  Church  tuas  less  than  he  deserved;  he  acknowl- 
edged, "That  he  had  slanderously  abused  the  good  people,  and  that  God 
might  justly  lay  innocent  blood  to  his  charge;  for  he  knew  not  what  hurt 
might  have  come  through  his  writings ;  for  the  interception  whereof  he  now 
blessed  God;  and  that  it  had  been  his  manner  to  pick  up  all  the  evil  that 
■was  ever  spoken  against  the  people ;  but  he  shut  his  ears  and  eyes  against 
all  the  good ;  and  that  if  God  should  make  him  a  vagabond  in  the  earth, 
he  were  just  in  doing  so ;  and  that  those  three  things,  pride^  vain-glory^  and 
self-love^  had  been  the  causes  of  his  miscarriages." — These  things  he  uttered 
so  pathetically,  that  they  again  permitted  him  to  preach  among  them ;  and 
some  were  so  perswaded  of  his  repentance,  that  they  professed  they  would 
fall  down  on  their  knees,  that  the  censure  passed  on  him  should  be  remitted. 
But,  Oh  the  deceitful  heart  of  man!  After  two  months  time,  he  so  notori- 
ously renewed  the  miscarriages  which  he  had  thus  bewailed,  that  his  own 
wife,  through  her  affliction  of  mind  at  his  hypocrisie,  could  not  forbear 
declaring  her  fears,  that  God  would  bring  some  heavy  judgment  upon 
their  family,  not  only  for  these,  but  some  former  wickednesses  by  him 
committed,  especially  as  to  fearful  breaches  of  the  Seventh  Commandment, 
which  he  had  with  an  oath  denied,  though  they  were  afterwards  evinced. 
Wherefore  upon  the  whole,  being  banished  from  hence,  because  his  resi- 
dence here  was  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  life  of  this  {nfant-pjlantation; 
he  went  into  Virginia,  where  he  shortly  after  ended  his  own  life.  Quickly 
after  these  difficulties,  the  company  of  adventurers  for  the  support  of  this 
Plantation,  became  rather  adversaries  to  it;  or  at  least,  a  Be  you  icarmed 
and  filled;  a  few  good  words  were  all  the  help  they  afforded  it;  they  broke 
to  pieces,  but  the  Ood  of  Heaven  still  supported  it. 

§  6.  Afler  these  many  difficulties  were  thus  a  little  surmounted,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  Colony  prosecuted  their  affairs  at  so  vigorous  and  suc- 
cessful a  rate,  that  they  not  only  fell  into  a  coaifortable  way,  both  of  plant- 
ing and  of  trading ;  but  also  in  a  few  years  there  was  a  notable  number  of 
towns  to  be  seen  settled  among  them,  and  very  considerable  Churches, 
walking,  so  far  as  they  had  attained,  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Gospel. 
Their  Churches  flourished  so  considerably,  that  in  the  year  1642,  there 
were  above  a  dozen  ministers,  and  some  of  those  ministers  were  stars  of  the 
first  magnitude,  shining  in  their  several  orhs  among  them.  And  as  they 
proceeded  in  the  evangelical  service  and  worship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
so  they  prospered  in  their  secular  concernments.  When  they  first  began  to 
divide  their  lands,  they  wisely  contrived  the  division  so,  that  they  might 
keep  close  together  for  their  mutual  defence;  and  then  their  condition  was 
very  like  that  of  the  Romans  in  the  time  of  Romulus,  when  every  man 
contented  himself  with  two  acres  of  land;  and,  as  Pliny  tells  us,  "It  was 
thought  a  great  reward  for  one  to  receive  a  pint  of  corn  from  the  people 


g2  MAGNALIA.    CIIKISTI    AMEEICANA; 

of  Rome,  which  corn  they  also  pounded  in  mortars."  But  since  then  their 
condition  is  marvellously  altered  and  amended;  great  farms  are  now  seen 
among  the  effects  of  this  good  people's  planting;  and  in  \\\q\t  fishing^  from 
the  ditching  of  cod^  and  other  lish  of  less  dimentions,  they  are  since  passed 
on  to  the  catching  of  ivhales,  whose  oil  is  become  a  stajjle-commoditg  of  the 
country;  ivhales,  I  say,  which  living  and  moving  islands,  do  now  find  a 
way  to  this  coast,  where,  notwithstanding  the  desperate  hazards  run  by  the 
whale-catchers  in  their  thin  whale-boats,  often  torn  to  pieces  by  the  stroaks 
of  those  enraged  monsters ;  yet  it  has  been  rarely  known  that  any  of  them 
have  miscarried.  And  within  a  few  days  of  my  writing  this  paragraph, 
a  coiv  and  a  calf  were  caught  at  Yarmouth  in  this  Colony ;  the  coiu  was 
fifty -five  foot  long,  the  hone  was  nine  or  ten  foot  wide ;  a  cart  upon  wheels 
might  have  gone  in  at  the  mouth  of  it;  the  calf  was  twenty  foot  long,  for 
unto  such  vast  calves  the  sea-monsters  draiv  forth  tlieir  breasts.  But  so  does 
the  good  God  here  give  his  people  to  suck  the  abundance  of  the  seas! 

§  7.  If  my  reader  would  have  the  religion  of  these  planters  more  exactly 
described  unto  him — after  I  have  told  him  that  many  hundreds  of  holy 
souls,  having  been  ripenediox  Heaven  under  the  ordinances  of  God  in  this 
Colony ;  and  having  left  an  example  of  wonderful  prayerfulness,  watchful- 
ness, thankfulness,  usefulness,  exact  conscientiousness,  piety,  charity,  wean- 
edness  from  the  things  of  this  world,  and  affection  to  the  things  that  are 
above,  are  now  at  rest  with  the  blessed  Jesus,  whose  names,  though  not 
recorded  in  this  book,  are  yet  entered  in  the  Book  of  life;  and  I  hope  there 
are  still  many  hundreds  of  their  children,  even  of  the  third  and  fourth 
generation,  resolving  to  "follow  them  as  they  followed  Christ" — I  must 
refer  him  to  an  account  given  thereof  by  the  right  worshipful  Edward 
Winslow,  Esq.,  who  was  for  some  time  the  Governour  of  the  Colony.  He 
gives  us  to  understand,  that  they  are  entirely  of  the  same  flxith  with  the 
reformed  Churches  in  Europe,  only  in  their  Church-government  they  are 
endeavourers  after  a  reformation  more  thorough  than  what  is  in  many  of 
them;  yet  without  any  uncharitable  separation  from  them.  He  gives 
instances  of  their  admitting  to  communion  among  them  the  communicants 
of  the  French,  the  Dutch,  the  Scotch  Churches,  merely  by  virtue  of  their 
being  so;  and  says,  "We  ever  placed  a  large  difference  between  those  that 
grounded  their  practice  on  the  Word  of  God,  though  differing  from  us  in  the 
exposition  and  understanding  of  it,  and  those  that  hated  such  reformers 
and  reformation,  and  went  on  in  anti-christian  opposition  to  it,  and  persecu- 
tion of  it:"  after  which,  he  adds,  " '  Tis  true,  we  profess  and  desire  to  practice 
a  separation  from  the  world,  and  the  works  of  the  world;  and  as  the 
Churches  of  Christ  are  all  saints  by  calling,  so  we  desire  to  see  the  Grace  of 
God  shining  forth  (at  least  seemingly,  leaving  secret  things  to  God)  in  all 
we  admit  into  Church  fellowship  with  us,  and  to  keep  off  such  as  openly 
wallow  in  the  mire  of  their  sins,  that  neither  the  holy  things  of  God,  nor 
the  communion  of  saints,  may  be  leavened  or  polluted  thereby.     And  if 


OE,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g3 

any  joining  to  us  formerly,  either  when  we  lived  at  Leyden  in  Holland, 
or  since  we  came  to  New-England,  have  with  the  manifestation  of  their 
faith,  and  profession  of  holiness,  held  forth  therewith  separation  from  the 
Church  of  England ;  I  have  divers  times,  both  in  the  one  place,  and  in  the 
other,  heard  either  Mr.  Eobinson  our  pastor,  or  Mr.  Brewster  our  elder, 
stop  them  forthwith,  shewing  them  that  we  required  no  such  thing  at  their 
hands;  but  only  to  hold  forth  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  holiness  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  submission  to  every  ordinance  and  appointment  of  God,"' — Thus 
he.  It  is  true  there  have  been  some  varieties  among  this  people,  but  still 
I  suppose  the  hody  of  them  do  with  integrity  espouse  and  maintain  the 
principles  upon  which  they  were  first  established ;  however,  I  must,  tvithout 
fear  of  offending,  express  Taj  fear  ^  that  the  leaven  of  that  rigid  thing  they 
call  Brownism,  has  prevailed  sometimes  a  little  of  the  furthest  in  the 
administrations  of  this  pious  people.  Yea,  there  was  an  hour  of  temj^tation^ 
wherein  the  fondness  of  the  people  for  the  propliecyings  of  the  hrethren^  as 
they  called  those  exercises ;  that  is  to  say,  the  'preachments  of  those  whom 
they  called  gifted  hrethren,  produced  those  dicouragements  unto  their  minis- 
ters, that  almost  all  the  ministers  left  the  Colony ;  apprehending  themselves 
driven  away  by  the  insupportable  neglect  and  contempt  with  which  the 
people  on  this  occasion  treated  them.  And  this  dark  hour  of  eclipse^  upon 
the  liglit  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  churches  of  the  Colony,  continued  until  their 
humiliation  and  reformation  before  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  who  hath 
since  then  blessed  them  with  a  succession  of  as  worthy  ministers  as  most 
in  the  land.  Moreover,  there  has  been  among  them  one  Church  that  have 
questioned  and  omitted  the  use  of  infant-baptism;  nevertheless,  there  being 
many  good  men  among  those  that  have  been  of  this  perswasion,  I  do  not 
know  that  they  have  been  persecuted  with  any  harder  means  than  those  of 
kind  conferences  to  reclaim  them.  There  have  been  also  some  unhappy 
sectaries,  viz:  Quakers  and  Seekers,  and  other  such  Energumens,^  [pardon 
me,  reader,  that  I  have  thought  them  so]  which  have  given  uggly  disturb- 
ances to  these  good-spirited  men  in  their  temple-work ;  but  they  have  not 
prevailed  unto  the  subversion  of  t\\Q  first  interest. 

Some  little  controversies  likewise  have  now  and  then  arisen  among  them 
in  the  administration  of  their  discipline;  but  Synods  then  regularly  called, 
have  usually  and  presently  put  into  joint  all  that  was  apprehended  out. 
Their  chief  hazard  and  symptom  of  degeneracy,  is  in  the  verification  of 
that  old  observation,  Religio  peperit  Divitias,  et  filia  devoravit  matron: 
"Religion  brought  forth  Prosperity,  and  the  daughter  destroyed  the  mother.^^ 
The  one  would  expect,  that  as  they  grew  in  their  estates,  they  would  grow 
in  the  payment  of  their  quit-rents  unto  the  God  who  gives  them  power  to  get 
wealth,  \)j  more  liberally  supporting  his  ministers  and  ordinances  among 
them ;  the  most  likely  way  to  save  them  from  the  most  miserable  apostacy ; 
the  neglect  whereof  in  some  former  years,  began  for  a  while  to  be  pun- 

*  Victims  of  demoniacal  possession. 


(54  MAGNALIA    CIIIIISTI    AMEKICANA; 

isbed  with  a  sore  famine  of  tlie  Word;  nevertheless,  there  is  danger  lest 
the  enchantments  of  this  world  make  them  to  forget  their  errand  into  the 
vjilderness:  and  some  woful  villages  in  the  skirts  of  the  Colony,  beginning 
to  live  without  the  means  of  grace  among  them,  are  still  more  ominous 
intimations  of  the  danger.  May  the  God  of  New-England  preserve  them 
from  so  great  a  death! 

§  8.  Going  now  to  take  my  leave  of  this  little  Colony,  that  I  may  con- 
verse for  a  while  with  her  younger  sisters,  which  yet  have  outstript  her  in 
growth  exceedingly,  and  so  will  now  draw  all  the  streams  of  her  affairs 
into  iJicir  channels,  I  shall  repeat  the  counsel  which  their  faithful  Eobin- 
son  gave  the  first  planters  of  the  Colony,  at  their  parting  from  him  in 
Holland.     Said  he,  [to  this  purpose,] 

"Brethren:  We  are  now  quickly  to  part  from  one  another;  and  whether  I  may  ever  live  to 
see  your  faces  on  earth  any  more,  the  God  of  Heaven  only  knows.  But  whether  the  Lord 
have  appointed  that  or  no,  I  charge  you  before  God,  and  before  his  blessed  angels,  that  you 
follow  vie  no  further  than  you  have  seen  mefolloio  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

"If  God  reveal  any  thing  to  you  by  any  other  instrument  of  his,  be  as  ready  to  receive 
it,  as  ever  you  were  to  receive  any  truth  by  Jtiy  ministry;  for  I  am  verily  perswaded,  I  am 
very  confident  the  Lord  hath  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his  holy  Word.  For  my 
part,  I  cannot  sufficiently  bewail  the  condition  of  the  reformed  Churches,  who  are  come  to 
a  period  in  reWg'ion;  and  will  go  at  present  no  further  than  the  instruments  of  their  first 
Reformation.  The  Lutherans  cannot  be  drawn  to  go  beyond  what  Luther  saw;  whatever 
part  of  his  will  our  good  God  has  imparted  and  revealed  unto  Calvin,  they  will  rather  die 
tlian  embrace  it.  And  the  Calvinists,  you  see,  stick  fast  where  they  were  left  by  that  great 
man  of  God,  who  yet  saw  not  all  things. 

'*  This  is  a  misery  much  to  be  lamented;  for  though  they  were  'burning  .and  sliining  lights' 
in  their  times,  yet  they  penetrated  not  into  the  '  whole  counsel  of  God ;'  but  were  they  now 
living,  they  would  be  as  willing  to  embrace  further  light,  as  th.it  which  thi'j  first  received. 
I  beseech  you  to  remember  it;  it  is  an  article  of  your  Church-covenant,  'That  you  will  be 
ready  to  receive  whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known  unto  you  from  the  wiitten  Word  of 
God.'  Remember  that,  and  every  other  article  of  your  most  sacred  covenant.  But  I  must 
herewith.al  exhort  you  to  take  heed  what  you  receive  as  truth;  examine  it,  consider  it,  com- 
pare it  with  the  other  Scriptures  of  truth,  before  you  do  receive  it.  For  it  is  not  possible 
the  Christian  world  should  come  so  lately  out  of  such  thick  anti-christian  darkness,  and  that 
perfetfioji  of  Inundedge  should  break  forth  at  once.  I  must  also  advise  you  to  abandon,  avoid 
and  shake  ofi'the  name  of  Brownist:  it  is  a  mere  nick-name,  and  a  brand  for  the  making  of 
Religion,  and  the  professors  of  religion,  odious  unto  tlie  Christian  world.  Unto  this  end,  I 
should  be  extreamly  glad,  if  some  godly  minister  would  go  with  you,  or  come  to  you,  before 
you  can  have  any  company.  For  there  will  be  no  difference  between  the  unconformable 
ministers  of  England  and  you,  when  you  come  to  the  practice  of  evangelical  ordinances  out 
of  the  kingdom.  And  I  would  wish  you  by  all  means  to  close  with  the  godly  people  of 
England;  study  union  with  them  in  all  things,  wherein  you  can  have  it  without  sin,  rather 
than  in  the  least  measure  to  affect  a  division  or  separation  from  them.  Neitlier  would  I 
have  you  lutii  to  take  another  pastor  besides  my  self;  in  as  much  as  a  flock  that  hath  two 
shepherds  is  not  thereby  endangered,  but  secured." 

So  adding  some  other  things  of  great  consequence,  he  concluded  most 
affectionately,  commending  his  departing  flock  unto  the  grace  of  God, 
•diich  now  I  also  do  the  offspring  of  that  holy  flock. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


65 


CHAPTER   I?, 

PAULO  MAJORA;*  OR,  THE  ESSAYS  AND  CAUSES 

WHICH  PRODUCED  THE  SECOND,  BUT  LARGEST  COLONY  OF  NEW-ENGLAND;  AND  THE  MANNER 
WHEREIN  THE  FIRST  CHURCH  OF  THIS  NEAV  COLONY  WAS  GATHERED. 

§  1.  Words  fall  of  emphasis,  are  those  which  my  reader  may  find  writ- 
ten by  a  learned  and  pious  minister  of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  I  hope 
I  may  without  offence  tender  to  the  reader  the  words  of  such  an  author. 

"  Some  among  us  (writes  he)  are  angry  with  Calvin  for  calling  humane  rites,  iolerabiles 
InepLias;]  they  will  not  at  the  great  day  be  such  unto  the  rigorous  imposers,  who  made  them 
the  terms  of  communion.  How  will  you  at  that  day  lift  up  your  faces  before  your  Master 
and  your  Judge,  when  he  shall  demand  of  you,  'what  is  become  of  those  his  lambs  which 
you  drove  into  the  wilderness  by  needless  impositions'?'" 

The  story  of  the  folks  thus  "driven  into  the  wilderness"  has  begun  to 
be  related :  and  we  would  relate  it  without  all  intemperate  expressions  of 
our  anger  against  our  drivers,  before  whom  the  people  must  needs  go,  as 
they  did :  it  becomes  not  an  historian,  and  it  less  becomes  a  Christian,  to  be 
passionate.  Nevertheless,  poetry  may  dare  to  do  something  at  the  descrip- 
tion of  that  which  drove  those  drivers ;  and  with  a  few  lines  fetched  from 
the  most  famous  epic  poem:]:  of  Dr.  Blackmore,  we  will  describe  the  fury. 


*        *        *    A  Fury  crawl'd  from  out  her  cell, 
The  bloodiest  Minister  of  Dcatli  and  hell; 
A  monstrous  shape,  a  foul  and  hideous  sight. 
Which  did  all  hell  with  her  dire  looks  affright. 
Huge  half-gorged  snakes  on  her  lean  shouldei-s  hung. 
And  Death's  dark  courts  with  their  loud  hissing  rung. 
Her  teeth  and  claws  were  iron,  and  her  breath, 
Like  subterranean  damps,  gave  present  death. 
Flames,  worse  than  hell's,  shot  from  her  bloody  eyes. 
And  "Fire!  and  sword!"  eternally  she  cries. 
No  certain  shape,  no  feature  regular. 
No  limbs  distinct  in  th'  odious  fiend  appear. 
Her  squalid,  bloated  belly  did  arise, 
SwoU'n  with  black  gore,  to  a  prodigious  size ; 


Distended  vastly  by  a  mighty  flood 

Of  slaughter'd  saints''  and  constant  martyrs''  blood. 

A  monster  so  deform'd,  so  fierce  as  this, 

It  self  a  hell,  ne'er  saw  the  dark  abyss ! 

Horror,  till  now  the  ugglicst  shape  esteem'd. 

So  much  outdone,  an  harmless  figure  seem'd. 

Envy,  and  Hate,  and  Malice  blush'd  to  see 

Tliemselves  eclipsed  by  such  deformity. 

Her  feaverish  heat  drinks  down  a  sea  of  bloody 

Not  of  the  impious,  but  the_/wst  and  ^ood; 

'Gainst  whom  she  burns  with  unextingiiish'd  rage. 

Nor  can  th'  exhausted  world  her  wrath  asswage. 


It  was  Persecution;  Su  fury  which  we  consider  not  as  possessing  the 
Church  of  England,  but  as  inspiring  a  party  which  have  unjustly  chal- 
lenged the  name  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  which,  whenever  the 
Church  of  England  shall  any  more  encourage,  her  fall  will  become  like 
that  of  the  house  which  our  Saviour  saw  built  upon  the  sand. 

§  2.  There  were  more  than  a  few  attempts  of  the  English  to  people  and 
improve  the  parts  of  New-England  which  were  to  the  northward  of  New- 
Plymouth  ;  but  the  designs  of  those  attempts  being  aimed  no  higher  than 


YoL.  I.— 5 


*  Events  somewhat  more  imposing. — Viroil,  Bucol.  iv.  1. 
t  Harmless  mummeries.  J  "  Kin/r  Arthur." 


gg  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

the  advancement  of  some  worldly  iidei-ests,  a  constant  series  of  disasters  has 
confounded  them,  until  there  was  a.  plantation  erected  upon  the  nobler 
designs  of  Christianity;  and  that  plantation,  though  it  has  had  more 
adversaries  than  perhaps  any  one  upon  earth;  yet,  "having  obtained  help 
from  God,  it  continues  to  this  day."  There  have  been  very  fine  settle- 
ments in  the  north-east  regions;  but  what  is  become  of  them?  I  have 
heard  that  one  of  our  ministers  once  preaching  to  a  congregation  there, 
urged  them  to  approve  themselves  a  religious  people  from  this  considera- 
tion, "that  otherwise  they  would  contradict  the  main  end  of  planting  this 
wilderness;"  Avhereupon  a  well-known  person,  then  in  the  assembly,  cryed 
out,  "Sir,  3'OU  are  mistaken:  you  think  you  are  preaching  to  the  people 
at  the  Bay;  our  main  end  was  to  catch  fshJ'  Truly  'twere  to  have  been 
wished,  that  something  more  excellent  had  been  the  maiyi  end  of  the  set- 
tlements in  that  brave  country,  which  we  have,  even  long  since  the  arrival 
of  that  more  pious  colony  at  the  Bay,  now  seen  dreadfully  unsettled,  no 
less  than  twice  at  least,  by  the  sword  of  the  heathen,  after  they  had  been 
replenished  with  many  hundreds  of  people,  who  had  thriven  to  many 
thousands  of  pounds;  and  had  all  the  force  of  the  Bay,  too,  to  assist  them 
in  the  maintaining  of  their  settlements.  But  the  same  or  the  like  inau- 
spicious things  attended  many  other  endeavours  to  make  plantations  upon 
such  a  maiji  end  in  several  other  parts  of  our  country,  before  the  arrival 
of  those  by  whom  the  Massachuset  colony  was  at  last  formed  upon  more 
glorious  aims;  all  proving,  like  the  habitations  of  the/ooZj^A,  "cursed  before 
they  had  taken  root."  Of  all  which  catastrojohe\s,  I  suppose  none  was  more 
sudden  than  that  of  Monsieur  Finch,  whom  in  a  ship  from  France,  truck- 
ing with  the  Massachuset-Natives ;  those  bloody  salvages,  coming  on  board 
without  any  other  arms,  but  knives  concealed  under  flaps,  immediately 
butchered  with  all  his  men,  and  set  the  ship  on  fire.  Yea,  so  many  latal- 
ities  attended  the  adventurers  in  their  essays,  that  they  began  to  suspect 
that  the  Indian  sorcerers  had  laid  the  place  under  some  fascination;  and 
that  the  English  could  not  prosper  upon  such  encJianted  ground,  so  that 
they  were  almost  afraid  of  adventuring  any  more. 

§  3.  Several  persons  in  the  west  of  England,  having  by  fishing- voyages 
to  Cape  Ann,  the  northern  promontory  of  the  Massachuset-Bay,  obtained 
some  acquaintance  with  those  parts ;  the  news  of  the  good  progress  made 
in  the  new  plantation  of  Plymouth,  inspired  the  renowned  Mr.  White, 
minister  of  Dorchester,  to  prosecute  the  settlement  of  such  another  plant- 
ation here  for  the  propagation  of  religion.  This  good  man  engaged  several 
gentlemen  about  the  year  1624,  in  this  noble  design;  and  they  employed 
a  most  religious,  prudent,  worthy  gentleman,  one  Mr.  Eoger  Couant,  in 
the  government  of  the  place,  and  of  their  afl'airs  upon  the  place ;  but 
through  many  discouragements,  the  design  for  a  while  almost  fell  unto  the 
ground.  That  great  man,  greatly  grieved  hereat,  wrote  over  to  this  Mr, 
Eoger  Conant,  that  if  he  and  three  honest  men  more  would  yet  stay  upon 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g7 

the  spot,  lie  would  procure  apatent  for  them,  and  send  tliem  over  friends, 
goods,  provisions,  and  what  was  necessary  to  assist  their  undertakings. 
Mr.  Conant,  then  looking  out  a  scituation  more  commodious  for  a  towii^ 
gave  his  three  disheartened  companions  to  understand,  that  he  did  believe 
God  would  make  this  land  a  receptacle  for  his  people;  and  that  if  they 
should  leave  him,  yet  he  would  not  stir;  for  he  was  confident  he  should 
not  long  want  company ;  which  confidence  of  his  caused  them  to  abandon 
the  thoughts  of  leaving  him.  Well,  it  was  not  long  before  the  Council 
of  Plymouth  in  England  had,  by  a  deed  bearing  date  March  19,  1627, 
sold  unto  some  knights  and  gentlemen  about  Dorchester,  viz:  Sir  Henry 
Eowsel,  Sir  John  Young,  Thomas  Southcott,  John  Humphrey,  John  Endi- 
cott,  and  Simon  Whetcomb,  and  their  heirs  and  assigns,  and  their  associ- 
ates for  ever,  that  part  of  New-England  which  lyes  between  a  great  river 
called  Merrimack,  and  a  certain  other  river  there  called  Charles'  Eiver,  in 
the  bottom  of  the  Massachuset-Bay.  But  shortly  after  this,  Mr.  White 
brought  the  aforesaid  honourable  persons  into  an  acquaintance  with  several 
other  persons  of  quality  about  London;  as,  namely.  Sir  Richard  Salton- 
stall,  Isaac  Johnson,  Samuel  Adderly,  John  Ven,  Matthew  Cradock, 
George  Harwood,  Increase  Nowel,  Richard  Perry,  Richard  Bellingham, 
Nathaniel  Wright,  Samuel  Vassal,  Theophilus  Eaton,  Thomas  Goff,  Thomas 
Adams,  John  Brown,  Samuel  Brown,  Thomas  Hutchings,  William  Vassal, 
William  Pinchon,  and  George  Foxcraft.  These  persons  being  associated 
unto  the  former,  and  having  bought  of  them  all  their  interest  in  New- 
England  aforesaid,  now  consulted  about  settling  a  plantation  in  that  coun- 
try, whither  such  as  were  then  called  Non-confonnists  might,  with  the  grace 
and  leave  of  the  King,  make  a  peaceable  secession^  and  enjoy  the  liberty 
and  the  exercise  of  their  own  perswasious  about  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Whereupon  petitioning  the  King  to  confirm  what  they  had 
thus  purchased  with  a  new  patent,  he  granted  them  one,  bearing  date  from 
the  year  1628,  which  gave  them  a  right  unto  the  soil,  holding  their  titles 
of  lands,  as  of  the  manner  of  East  Greenwich  in  Kent,  and  in  common 
soccage.  By  this  Charter  they  were  empowered  yearly  to  elect  their  own 
governour,  deput^'-governour  and  magistrates ;  as  also  to  make  such  laius 
as  they  should  think  suitable  for  the  plantation:  but  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  their  dependance  upon  England,  they  might  not  make  any  laws  repug- 
nant unto  those  of  the  kingdom;  and  the  fifth  part  of  all  the  oar  of  gold 
or  silver  found  in  the  territory,  belonged  unto  the  crown.  So,  soon  after 
Mr.  Cradock  being  by  the  company  chosen  governour,  they  sent  over  Mr. 
Endicott  in  the  year  1628,  to  carry  on  the  plantation,  which  the  Dorches- 
ter-agents had  lookt  out  for  them,  which  was  at  a  place  called  Nahvimkeick. 
Of  w^hich  place  I  have  somewhere  met  with  an  odd  observation,  that  the 
name  of  it  was  rather  Hebrew  than  Indian;  for  D-]nj,  Nahiim,  signifies 
comfort,  and  pin,  Keik,  signifies  an  haven ;  and  our  English  not  only  found 
it  an  Haven  of  Comfort,  but  happened  also  to  put  an  Hebrew  name  upon 


g3  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

it;  for  they  called  it  Salem,  for  the  peace  which  they  had  and  hoped  in  it; 
and  so  it  is  called  unto  this  day. 

§  4.  An  entrance  being  thus  made  upon  the  design  of  planting  a  coun- 
try of  English  and  Reformed  Churches;  they  that  were  concerned  for  the 
plantation,  made  their  application  to  two  non-formists  ministers,  that  they 
would  go  over  to  serve  the  Cause  of  God  and  of  Religion  in  the  beginning 
of  those  Churches.  The  one  of  these  was  Mr.  Higginson,  a  minister  in 
Leicestershire,  silenced  for  his  non-conformity ;  the  other  was  Mr.  Skelton, 
a  minister  of  Lincolnshire,  suffering  also  for  his  non-conformity ;  both  of 
which  were  men  eminent  for  learning  and  virtue,  and  who,  thus  driven  out 
of  their  native  country,  sought  their  graves  on  the  American-Strand," 
whereon  the  Epitaph  might  be  inscribed  that  was  on  Scipio's:  Ingrata 
Patria,  ne  Mortui  quidem  habebis  Ossa.*  These  ministers  came  over  to  Salem 
in  the  summer  of  the  year  1629,  and  with  these  there  came  over  a  consider- 
able number  of  excellent  Christians,  who  no  sooner  arrived,  but  they  set 
themselves  about  the  Church-work,  which  was  their  errand  hither. 

'Tis  true,  there  were  two  other  Clergy-men,  who  came  over  about  the 
same  time;  nevertheless,  there  has  been  very  little  account  given  of  their 
circumstances ;  except  what  a  certain  little  Narrative-writer  has  offered  us, 
by  saying,  "there  were  two  that  began  to  hew  stones  in  the  mountains,  for 
the  building  of  the  temple  here;  but  when  they  saw  all  sorts  of  stones 
would  not  fit  in  the  building,  the  one  betook  himself  to  the  seas  again  and 
the  other  to  till  the  land;"  for  which  cause,  burying  all  further  mention 
of  them  among  the  rubbish,  in  the  foundation  of  the  Colony,  we  will  pro- 
ceed with  our  story ;  which  is  now  to  tell  us,  that  the  passage  of  these  our 
pilgrims  was  attended  with  many  smiles  of  Heaven  upon  them.  They  were 
blessed  with  a  company  of  honest  seamen;  with  whom  the  ministers  and 
passengers  constantly  served  God,  morning  and  evening;  reading,  ex- 
pounding and  applying  the  word  of  God,  singing  of  his  praise,  and  seeking 
of  his  peace ;  to  which  exercises  they  added  on  the  Lord's  day  two  sermons, 
and  a  catechising:  and  sometimes  they  set  apart  an  whole  day  for  fasting 
and  prayer,  to  obtain  from  Ileaven  a  good  success  in  their  voyage,  espe- 
cially when  the  weather  was  much  against  them,  whereto  they  had  very 
remarkable  answers;  but  the  seamen  said,  "that  they  believed  these  were 
the  first  5ea-fasts  that  ev_er  were  k^t  iii_  the  world."  At  length,  Per  varios 
Casus,  per  Tot  Discrimina  Perum,-]-  they  landed  at  the  haven  of  rest  pro- 
vided for  them. 

§  5.  The  persecuted  servants  of  God,  under  the  English  Hierarchy,  had 
been  in  a  sea  of  ice  mingled  ivithfire;  though  the  fire  scalded  them,  yet  such 
cakes  of  ice  were  over  their  heads,  that  there  was  no  getting  out;  but  the 
ice  was  n'ow  broken,  by  the  American  offers  of  a  retreat  for  the  pure  wor- 
shippers of  the  Lord  into  a  wilderness. 

•  "Ungrateful  country  of  my  birth!  thou  shalt  not  possess  even  my  lifeless  bones." 
t  Through  perils,  toil,  and  rough  adventure  passed. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g9 

The  report  of  the  charter  granted  unto  the  governour  and  company  of  the 
Massachuset-Bay,  and  the  entertainment  and  encouragement  which  planters 
began  to  find  in  that  Bay,  came  with  a — Patrias  age,  desere  iSedes*  and 
caused  many  very  deserving  persons  to  transplant  themselves  and  their 
families  into  New-England.  Gentlemen  of  ancient  and  worshipful  families, 
and  ministers  of  the  gospel,  then  of  great  fame  at  home,  and  merchants, 
husbandmen,  artificers,  to  the  number  of  some  thousands,  did  for  twelve 
years  together  carry  on  this  transplantation.  It  was  indeed  a  hanishment 
rather  than  a  removal,  which  was  undergone  by  this  glorious  generation, 
and  you  may  be  sure  sufficiently  afflictive  to  men  of  estate,  breeding  and 
conversation.  As  the  hazard  which  they  ran  in  this  undertaking  was  of 
such  extraordinariness,  that  nothing  less  than  a  strange  and  strong  impression 
from  Heaven  could  have  thereunto  moved  the  hearts  of  such  as  were  in 
it:  so  the  expense  with  which  they  carried  on  the  undertaking  was  truly 
extraordinary.  By  computation,  the  passage  of  the  persons  that  peopled 
New-England,  cost  at  least  ninety-five  thousand  pound ;  the  transportation 
of  their  first  small  stock  of  cattle,  great  and  small,  cost  no  less  than  twelve 
thousand  pound,  besides  the  price  of  the  cattle  themselves ;  the  provisions 
laid  in  for  subsistence,  till  tillage  might  produce  more,  cost  forty-five  thou- 
sand pounds;  the  materials  for  their  first  cottages  cost  eighteen  thousand 
pounds;  their  arms,  ammunition  and  great  artillery,  cost  twenty-two  thou- 
'sand  pounds;  besides  which  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  pounds, 
the  adventurers  laid  out  in  England  what  was  not  inconsiderable.  About 
an  hundred  and  ninety-eight  ships  were  employed  in  passing  the  perils  of 
the  seas,  in  the  accomplishmenrof  this  renowned  settlement ;  whereof,  by 
the  way,  but  one  miscarried  in  those  perils. 

Briefly,  the  God  of  Heaven  served  as  it  were  a  summons  upon  the  spirits 
of  his  people  in  the  English  nation;  stirring  up  the  spirits  of  thousands 
which  never  saw  \h.e  faces  of  each  other,  with  a  most  unanimous  inclination 
to  leave  all  the  pleasant  accommodations  of  their  native  country,  and  go  over 
a  terrible  ocean,  into  a  more  terrible  desert,  for  the  pure  enjoyment  of  all  his 
ordinances.  It  is  now  reasonable  that  before  we  pass  any  further,  the  reasons 
of  this  undertaking  should  be  more  exactly  made  known  unto  posterity, 
especially  unto  the  posterity  of  those  that  were  the  undertakers,  lest  they 
come  at  length  to  forget  and  neglect  the  true  interest  of  New-England. 
Wherefore  I  shall  now  transcribe  some  of  them  from  a  manuscript,  wherein 
they  were  then  tendred  unto  consideration. 

GENERAL   CONSIDERATIONS   FOR  THE    PLANTATION  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

"  First,  It  will  be  a  service  unto  the  Church,  of  great  consequence,  to  carry  the  Gospel 
into  those  parts  of  the  world,  and  raise  a  bulwark  against  the  kingdom  of  anti-christ,  which 
the  Jesuites  labour  to  rear  up  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

"  Secondly,  All  other  Churches  of  Europe  have  been  brought  under  desolations;  and  it  may 

•  A  call  to  leave  their  country  and  their  home. 


70  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

be  feared  that  the  like  judgments  are  coming  upon  ?/s ;  and  who  knows  but  God  hath  jirovided 
tliis  phice  to  be  u  refuge  for  many,  whom  he  means  to  save  out  of  the  General  Destruction. 

"  Thirdly,  The  land  grows  weary  of  her  inhabitants,  insomuch  that  man,  which  is  the 
most  precious  of  all  creatures,  is  heie  more  vile  and  base  than  the  earth  he  treads  upoti; 
ciiildrcn,  neighbours  and  friends,  especially  the  poor,  are  counted  the  greatest  burdens,  w  liicii 
if  things  were  right  would  be  the  ohiefest  earthly  blessings. 

"  Fourthly,  We  are  grown  to  that  intemperance  in  all  excess  of  riot,  as  no  mean  estate 
almost  will  sutlice  a  man  to  keep  sail  with  his  equals,  and  he  that  fails  in  it,  must  live  in 
scorn  and  contempt:  hence  it  comes  to  pass,  that  all  arts  and  trades  are  carried  in  that  deceit- 
ful manner,  and  unrigiiteous  course,  as  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  good,  upright  man  to 
maintain  his  constant  charge,  and  live  comfortably  in  them. 

^^  Fifthly,  The  schools  of  learning  and  religion  are  so  corrupted,  as  (besides  the  unsuiv 
portable  charge  of  education)  most  children,  even  the  best,  wittiest,  and  of  the  fairest  hope's, 
are  perverted,  corrupted,  and  utterly  overthrown,  by  the  multitude  of  evil  examples  and 
licentious  behaviours  in  these  seminaries, 

"  SiiChly,  The  ivhole  earth  is  the  Lord's  garden,  and  he  hath  given  it  to  the  sons  of  Adam, 
to  be  tilled  and  improved  by  them:  why  then  should  we  stand  starving  here  for  places  of 
habitation,  and  in  the  mean  time  suffer  whole  countries,  as  profitable  for  the  use  of  man,  to 
Ive  waste  without  any  improvement  ? 

"Seventhly,  What  can  be  a  better  or  nobler  work,  and  more  worthy  of  a  Christian,  tlian 
to  erect  and  support  a  reformed  particular  Church  in  its  infancy,  and  unite  our  forces  with 
such  a  company  of  faithful  people,  as  by  a  timely  assistance  may  grow  stronger  and  pros- 
per; but  for  want  of  it,  may  be  put  to  great  hazards,  if  not  be  wholly  ruined? 

"  Eighthly,  If  any  such  as  are  known  to  be  godly,  and  live  in  wealth  and  prosperity  here, 
shall  forsake  all  this  to  join  with  this  reformed  church,  and  with  it  run  the  hazard  of  an  hard 
and  mean  condition,  it  will  be  an  example  of  great  use,  both  for  the  removing  of  scandal, 
and  to  give  more  life  unto  iho,  faith  of  God's  people  in  their  prayers  for  the  plantation,  and 
also  to  encourage  others  to  join  the  more  willingly  in  it." 

§  6.  Mr.  Higginson,  and  Mr.  Skelton,  and  other  good  people  that  arrived 
at  Salem,  in  the  year  1629,  resolved,  like  their  father  Abraham,  to  begin 
their  plantation  with  "calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord."     The  great  Mr. 
Hildersham  had  advised  our  first  planters  to  agree  fully  upon  their  form 
of  church  government,  before  their  coming  into  New-England;  but  they 
had  indeed  agreed  little  further  than  in  this  general  principle,  "that  the 
j  reformation  of  the  church  was  to  be  endeavoured  according  to  the  written 
!  word  ofjGrocl."     ^Accordingly  ours,  now  arrived  at  Salem,  consulted  with 
'  their  brethren  at  Plyijiputh,  what  steps  to  take  for  the  more  exact  acquaint- 
ing of  themselves  ivitli^  and  conforming  themselves  to,  that  loritten  word; 
.,and  the  Plymotheans,  to  their  great  satisfaction,  laid  before  them  what 
'■wa7rant,  they  judged,  that  they  had  in  the  laius  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
'for  every  particular  in  their  Church-order. 

Whereupon  having  the  concurrence  and  countenance  of  their  deputy- 
governour,  the  worshipful  Jolin_  Endicott,  Esq.,  and  the  approving  pres- 
ence of  the  messengers  from  the  church  of  Plymouth,  they  set  apart  the 
sixth  day  of  August,  after  then-  arrival,  for  fasting  and  prayer,  for  the  set- 
tling of  a  Church  State  among  them,  and  for  their  making  a  Confession  of 
their  Faith,  and  entering  into  an  holy  Covenant,  whereby  that  Church  State 
was  formed. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  71 

Mr.  Higginson  then  became  the  teacher,  and  Mr.  Skelton  the  pastor,  of 
the  church  thus  constituted  at  Salem;  and  they  lived  very  j^eaceably  in 
Salem  together,  till  the  death  of  Mr.  Higginson,  which  was  about  a  twelve- 
month after,  and  then  of  Mr.  Skelton,  who  did  not  long  survive  him. 
Now,  the  Covenant  whereto  these  Christians  engaged  themselves,  which 
was  about  seven  years  after  solemnly  renewed  among  them,  I  shall  here 
lay  before  all  the  Churches  of  God,  as  it  was  then  expressed  and  inforced : 

"  We  covenant  with  our  Lord,  and  one  with  another  ;  and  we  do  bind  our  selves 
in  the  presence  of  God,  to  walk  together  in  all  his  ways,  according  as  he  is  pleased 
to  reveal  himself  unto  us  in  his  blessed  word  of  truth;  and  do  explicitly,  in  the 
name  and  fear  of  God,  profess  and  protest  to  walk  as  followeth,  through  the  power 
and  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  We  avouch  the  Lord  to  be  our  God,  and  our  selves  to  be  his  people,  in  the  truth 
and  simplicity  of  our  spirits. 

"  We  give  our  selvts  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  loord  of  his  grace  for  the 
teaching,  ruling  and  sanctifying  of  us  in  matters  of  worship  and  conversation,  resolv- 
ing to  cleave  unto  him  alone  for  life  and  glory,  and  to  reject  all  contrary  ways, 
canons,  and  constitutions  of  men  in  his  worship. 

"  We  promise  to  walk  loith  our  brethren,  with  all  loatchfalness  and  tenderness, 
avoiding  jealousies  and  suspicions,  back-bitings,  censurings,  provokings,  secret 
risings  of  spirit  against  them ;  but  in  all  offences  to  follow  the  rule  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  and  to  bear  and  forbear,  give  and  forgive,  as  he  hath  taught  us. 

'■'■In  public  or  private,  ive  will  ivillingly  do  nothing  to  the  offence  of  the  church; 
but  willing  to  take  advice  for  our  selves  and  ours,  as  occasion  shall  be  presented. 

"  We  will  not  in  the  congregation  be  forward  either  to  show  our  own  gifts  and 
parts  in  speaking  or  scrupling,  or  there  discover  the  weakness  or  failings  of  our 
brethren  ;  but  attend  an  orderly  call  thereunto,  knowing  how  much  the  Lord  may  be 
dishonoured,  and  his  gospel,  and  the  profession  of  it,  slighted  by  our  distempers  arid 
weaknesses  in  public. 

"  We  bind  our  selves  to  study  the  advancement  of  the  gospel  in  all  truth  and 
peace  ;  both  in  regard  of  those  thai  are  withiji  or  without ;  no  tvay  slighting  our 
sister  churches,  but  using  their  counsel,  as  need  shall  be  ;  not  laying  a  stumDnng- 
block  before  any,  no,  not  the  Indians,  whose  good  we  desire  to  "promote  ;  and  so  to 
converse,  as  we  may  avoid  the  very  appearance  of  evil. 

"  We  do  hereby  promise  to  carry  our  selves  in  all  lawful  obedience  to  those  that 
are  over  us,  in  Church  or  Commonwealth,  knowing  hoiv  well  pleasing  it  will  be  to 
the  Lord,  that  they  should  have  encouragement  in  their  places,  by  our  not  grieving 
their  spirits  through  our  irregularities. 

"  We  resolve  to  approve  our  selves  to  the  Lord  in  our  particular  callings;  shun- 
ning idleness  as  the  bane  of  any  state ;  nor  will  we  deal  hardly  or  oppressingly 
with  any,  wherein  we  are  the  Lord's  stewards. 

'■'■Promising  also  unto  our  best  ability  to  teach  our  children  and  servants  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  of  His  Will,  that  they  may  serve  Him  also  ;  and  all  this 
not  by  any  strength  of  our  own,  but  by  the  Lord  Christ :  whose  blood  we  desire  may 
sprinkle  this  our  Covenant  made  in  his  name." 


72  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

By  this  instrument  was  the  Covenant  of  Grace  explained,  received,  and 
recognized,  by  the^rs^  Church  in  this  Colony,  and  applied  unto  the  evan- 
gelical designs  of  a  Church-estate  before  the  Lord :  this  instrument  they 
afterwards  often  read  over,  and  renewed  the  consent  of  their  souls  unto 
every  article  in  it ;  especially  when  their  days  of  humiliation  invited  them 
io  lay  hold  on  particular  opportunities  for  doing  so. — So  you  have  seen 
the  nativity  of  the  first  Church  in  the  Massachuset-colony. 

§  7.  As  for  the  circumstances  of  admisdon  into  this  Church,  they  left  it 
very  much  unto  the  discretion  and  faithfulness  of  their  elders,  together 
with  the  condition  of  the  persons  to  be  admitted.  Some  were  admitted 
by  expressing  their  consent  unto  their  confi^ssion  and  covenant;  some  were 
admitted  after  their  first  answering  to  questions  about  Religion,  propounded 
unto  them;  some  were  admitted,  when  they  had  presented  in  writing  such 
things  as  might  give  satisfaction  unto  the  people  of  God  concerning  them; 
and  some  that  were  admitted,  orally  addressed  the  people  of  God  in  such 
terms,  as  they  thought  proper  to  ask  their  communion  with;  which  diver- 
sity was  perhaps  more  heautiful  than  would  have  been  a  more  punctilious 
uniformity ;  but  none  were  admitted  without  regard  unto  a  blameless  and 
holy  conversation.  They  did  all  agree  with  their  brethren  of  Plymouth 
in  this  point,  "That  the  children  of  the  faithfid  were  Church-members, 
with  their  parents ;  and  that  their  baptism  was  a  seal  of  their  being  so ; " 
only  before  their  admission  to  fellowship  in  a  particidar  Church,  it  was 
judged  necessary  that,  being  free  from  scandal,  they  should  be  examined 
by  the  elders  of  the  Church,  upon  whose  approbation  of  their  fitness,  they 
should  publickly  and  personally  own  the  covenant;  so  they  were  to  be 
received  unto  the  table  of  the  Lord:  and  accordingly  the  eldest  son  of 
Mr,  Higginson,  being  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  laudably  answering 
all  the  characters  expected  in  a  communicant,  was  then  so  received. 

§  8.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  some  of  the  passengers,  who  came  over 
with  those  of  our  first  Salemites,  observing  that  the  ministers  did  not  use 
the  "Book  of  Common-Prayer  "  in  their  administrations;  that  they  admin- 
istered the  haptism  and  the  supper  of  the  Lord,  without  any  unscriptural 
ceremonies ;  that  they  resolved  upon  using  discipline  in  the  congregation 
against  scandalous  offenders,  according  to  the  word  of  God ;  and  that  some 
scandalous  persons  had  been  denied  admission  into  the  communion  of  the 
Church ;  they  began  (Frankford  fashion)  to  raise  a  deal  of  trouble  here- 
upon. Ilerodiana  Malitia^  nascentem  persequi  Religionem  !*  Of  these  there 
were  especially  two  brothers;  the  one  a  lawyer,  the  other  a  merchant, 
both  men  of  parts,  estate  and  figure  in  the  place.  These  gathered  a  com- 
pany together,  separate  from  the  publick  assembly ;  and  there^  the  Com^on- 
Prayer- Worship  was  after  a  sort  upheld  among  such  as  would  resort  unto 
them.  The  governour  perceiving  a  disturbance  to  arise  among  the  people 
on  this  occasion,  sent  for  the  brothers;   who  accused  the  ministers,  as 

•  Herod-like  malice,  bent  on  crushing  the  infant  Church. 


JOHN  ^Y^NTHRO^. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  73 

departing  from  the  orders  of  the  Church  of  England;  adding,  "That  they 
were  Separatists,  and  would  be  shortly  Anabaptists;"  but  for  themselves, 
"They  would  hold  unto  the  orders  of  the  Church  of  England."  The 
answer  of  the  ministers  to  these  accusations,  was,  "  That  they  were  neither 
Separatists  nor  Anabaptists ;  that  they  did  not  separate  from  the  Church 
of  England,  nor  from  the  ordinances  of  God  there,  but  only  from  the  cor- 
ruptions and  disorders  of  that  Church:  that  they  came  away  from  the 
Common-Prayer  and  Ceremonies,  and  had  suffered  much  for  their  non- 
conformity in  their  native  land;  and  therefore  being  in  a  place  where 
they  might  have  their  liberty,  they  neither  could  nor  would  use  them; 
inasmuch  as  they  judged  the  imposition  of  these  things  to  be  a  sinful  vio- 
lation of  the  worship  of  God." — The  governour,  the  council,  the  people, 
generally  approved  of  the  answer  thus  given  by  the  ministers ;  but  these 
persons  returned  into  England  with  very  furious  threatnings  against  the 
Church  thus  established ;  however  the  threatned  folks  have  lived  so  long, 
that  the  Church  has  out-lived  the  grand  climacterical  year  of  humane  age ; 
it  is  now  flourishing,  more  than  sixty-three  years  after  its  first  gathering, 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  a  most  reverend  and  ancient  person,  even  Mr. 
John  Higginson,  the  so7i  of  that  excellent  man  who  laid  the  foundations 
of  that  society. 


CHAPTER  ?, 

PEREGRINI    DEO    CUR  J;* 

OR,  THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  NEW  COLONY;  WITH  SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PERSONS,  THE 
METHODS,  AND  THE  TROUBLES,  BY  WHICH  IT  CAME  TO  SOMETHING. 

§  1.  The  Governour  and  Company  of  the  Massachuset-Bay,  then  in 
London,  did  in  the  year  1629,  after  exact  and  mature  debates,  conclude, 
that  it  was  most  convenient  for  the  government,  with  the  charter  of  the 
plantation,  to  be  transferred  into  the  plantation  it  self;  and  an  order  of 
court  being  drawn  up  for  that  end,  there  was  then  chosen  a  new  govern- 
our, and  a  new  deputy-governour,  that  were  willing  to  remove  themselves 
with  their  families  thither  on  the  first  occasion.  The  governour  was  John 
"Winthrop,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  of  that  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  those  mani- 
fold accomplishments,  that  after-generations  must  reckon  him  no  less  a 
glory,  than  he  was  a  patriot  of  the  country.  The  deputy-governour  was 
Thomas  Dudley,  Esq.,  a  gentleman,  whose  natural  and  acquired  abilities, 
joined  with  his  excellent  moral  qualities,  entitled  him  to  all  the  great 

•  strangers  are  peculiar  objects  of  God's  care. 


^^  MAGNALTA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

respects  with  which  his  country  on  all  opportunities  treated  him.     Several 
most  worthy  lU'^si'stants  were  at  the  same  time  chosen  to  be  in  this  trans- 
])0itation;  moreover,  several  other  gentlemen  of  prime  note,  and  several 
famous  ministers  of  the  gospel,  now  likewise  embarked  themselves  with 
these  honourable  adventurers;  who  equipped  a  fleet  consisting  of  ten  or 
eleven  shijis,  whereof  the  admiral  was,  The  Arabella  (so  called  in  honour 
of  the  right  honourable  the  Lady  Arabella  Johnson,  at  this  time  on  board), 
a  ship  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  tuns;  and  in  some  of  the  said  ships  there 
wore  two  hundred  passengers ;  all  of  which  arrived  before  the  middle  of 
July,  in  the  year  1630,  safe  in  the  harbours  of  New-England.     There  was 
a  time  when  the  British  sea  was  by  Clements,  and  the  other  ancients, 
called  ^xsavTog  d-n-spavro?,  the  unpassoble  ocean.     What  theti  was  to  be  thought 
of  tlie  vast  Atlantick  sea,  on  the  westward  of  Britain?     But  this  ocean 
must  now  be  passed !     An  heart  of  stone  must  have  dissolved  into  tears 
at  the  affectionate /areM;eZ  which  the  governour  and  other  eminent  persons 
took  of  their  friends,  at  f\.  feast  which  the  governour  made  for  them,  a  little 
before  their  going  olV;  however,  they  were  acted  by  principles  that  could 
carry  them  through  tears  and  oceans;  yea,  through  oceans  of  tears:  princi- 
ples that  enabled  them  to  leave,  Dulcia  Limina,  atque  amabilem  Larem^ 
gitei/i  et  parentisin  memoria,  atque  ijisius  (to  use  Stupius'  words)  Infamice 
Budimenta  Confrmant*'    Some  very  late  geographers  do  assure  us,  that 
the  breadth  of  the  Atlantick  sea  is  commonly  over-reckoned  by  six,  by 
eijht,  by  ten  degrees.     But  let  that  sea  be  as  narrow  as  they  please,  I  can 
assure  the  reader  the  passing  of  it  was  no  little  trial  unto  those  worthy 
people  that  were  now  to  pass  it. 

§  2.  But  the  most  notable  circumstance  in  their  farewel,  was  their  com- 
posing and  publishing  of  what  they  called,  "The  humble  request  of  his 
Majesties  loyal  subjects,  the  Governour  and  Company  lately  gone  for  New- 
England,  to  the  rest  of  their  brethren  in  and  of  the  Church  of  England; 
for  the  obtaining  of  their  prayers,  and  the  removal  of  suspicions  and  mis- 
constructions of  their  intentions."  In  this  address  of  theirs,  notwithstand- 
ing the  trouble  they  had  undergone  for  desiring  to  see  the  Church  of 
England  reformed  of  several  things,  Avhich  they  thought  its  deformities, 
yet  thoy  now  called  the  Church  of  England  their  clear  another;  acknowl- 
edging tliat  such  /<o/pe  and  part  as  they  had  obtained  in  the  common  salvation 
they  had  suched  from  her  breasts ;  therewithal  entreating  their  many  reverend 
fadiers  and  hreOiren  to  recommend  them  unto  the  mercies  of  God,  in  their 
constant  prayers,  as  a  Church  now  springing  out  of  their  own  bowels. 
"You  are  not  ignorant  (said  they)  that  the  Spirit  of  God  stirred  up  the 
Apostle  Paul,  to  make  a  continual  mention  of  the  Church  at  Philippi  which 
was  a  colony  from  Rome;  let  the  same  spirit,  we  beseech  you,  put  you  in 
mind,  that  arc  the  Lord's  remembrancers,  to  pray  for  us,  without  ceasing, 

•  Their  »\vt<<'t  nnllve  nhorpfi  nnd  cherished  flrcsides;  cherished  the  tiKire  for  the  sake  of  their  parents'  memories 
and  the  early  lowtons  there  imbibed  in  the  verj-  principles  which  now  make  them  objects  of  persecution. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  75 

who  are  the  weak  colony  from  your  selves."  And  after  such  prayers,  they 
concluded,  "What  goodness  you  shall  extend  unto  us,  in  this  or  any  other 
Christian  kindness,  we  your  brethren  in  Christ  shall  labour  to  repay,  in 
what  duty  we  are  or  shall  be  able  to  perform ;  promising  so  far  as  God 
shall  enable  us,  to  give  him  no  rest  on  your  behalfs ;  wishing  our  heads 
and  hearts  may  be  fountains  of  tears  for  your  everlasting  welfare,  when  we 
shall  be  in  our  poor  cottages  in  the  wilderness,  overshadowed  with  the  spirit 
of  supplication,  through  the  manifold  necessities  and  tribulations,  which 
may  not  altogether  unexpectedly,  nor  we  hope  unprofitably,  befall  us." 

§  3.  Eeader,  If  ever  the  charity  of  a  right  Christian,  and  enlarged  soul, 
were  examplarily  seen  in  its  proper  expansions^  'twas  in  the  address  which 
thou  hast  now  been  reading;  but  if  it  now  puzzle  the  reader  to  reconcile 
these  passages  with  XYiq  principles  declared,  X\xq p)ractices  followed,  and  ihe  per- 
secutions undergone,  by  these  American  Eeformers,  let  him  know,  that  there 
was  more  than  one  distinction^  whereof  these  excellent  persons  were  not 
ignorant.  First,  they  were  able  to  distinguish  between  the  Church  of 
England,  as  it  contained  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful^  scattered  throughout 
the  kingdoms,  though  of  different  perswasions  about  some  rites  and  modes 
in  religion ;  many  thousands  of  whom  our  Nor- Angels  knew  could  comply 
with  many  things,  to  which  our  consciences^  otherwise  enlightened  and  per- 
swaded,  could  not  yield  such  a  compliance  and  the  Church  of  England, 
as  it  was  confined  unto  a  certain  constitution  by  canons^  which  pronounced 
Ip)so  Facto^'^  excommunicate  all  those  who  should  affirm  that  the  worship 
contained  in  the  "Book  of  Common-Prayer  and  administrations  of  sacra- 
ments," is  unlawful,  or  that  any  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  are  erroneous,  or 
that  any  of  the  ceremonies  commanded  by  the  authority  of  the  church  might 
not  be  approved,  used  and  subscribed ;  and  which  will  have  to  be  accursed, 
all  those  who  maintain  that  there  are  in  the  realm  -any  other  meetings, 
assemblies  or  congregations  of  the  King's  born  subjects,  than  such  as  by 
the  laws  of  the  land  are  allowed,  which  may  rightly  challenge  to  them- 
selves the  name  of  true  and  laivful  Churches ;  and  by  which  all  those  that 
refuse  to  kneel  at  the  reception  of  the  sacrament,  and  to  be  present  at  pub- 
lick  prayers,  according  to  the  orders  of  the  church,  about  which  there  are 
prescribed  many  formalities  of  responses^  with  bowing  at  the  name  of  Jesus, 
are  to  be  denied  the  communion;  and  all  who  dare  not  submit  their  children 
to  be  baptized  by  the  undertaking  of  god-fathers,  and  receive  the  cross  as  a 
dedicating  badge  of  Christianity,  must  not  have  baptism  for  their  children: 
besides  an  et-ccetera  of  how  many  more  impositions!  Again,  they  were 
able  to  distinguish  between  the  Church  of  England,  as  it  kept  the  true 
doctrine  of  the  Protestant  religion,  with  a  disposition  to  pursue  the  reforma- 
tion begun  in  the  former  century,  among  whom  we  may  reckon  such  men 
as  the  famous  assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster,  who  all  but  eight  or  nine, 
and  the  Scots    had  before  then  lived  in  conformity;  and  the  Church  of 

•  By  their  very  act. 


~Q  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

England,  as  limiting  that  name  unto  a  certain  faction,  who,  together  with 
a  (H.-riphne  very  much  tinscriptund,  vigorously  prosecuted  the  tnjMriite  plot 
ol"  Anniiiianisni  and  conciliation  with  Kome,  in  the  church,  and  unbounded 
prerogative  in  the  state ;  who  set  themselves  to  cripple  as  fast  as  they  could 
the  more  learned,  godly,  painful  ministers  of  the  land,  and  silence  and  ruin 
such  as  could  not  read  a  hook  for  sports  on  the  Lord's  days;  or  did  but  use 
ajjraijer  of  their  own  conceiving,  before  or  after  sermon ;  or  did  but  preach 
in  an  afternoon,  as  well  as  in  a  morning,  or  on  a  lecture,  or  on  a  market,  or 
in  aniwise  discountenance  old  superstitions,  or  7iew  extravagancies;  and 
who  at  last  threw  the  nation  into  the  lamentable  confusions  of  a  civil  war. 
By  the  light  of  this  distinction,  we  may  easily  perceive  what  Church  of 
England  it  was,  that  our  New-England  exiles  called,  their  Mother;  thought 
their  mother  had  been  so  harsh  to  them,  as  to  turn  them  out  of  doors,  yet 
they  highly  honoured  her;  believing  that  it  was  not  so  much  their  another, 
but  some  of  their  angry  brethren,  abusing  the  name  of  their  mother,  who 
so  harshly  treated  them ;  and  all  the  harm  they  wished  her,  was  to  see  her 
put  oif  those  ///  trimmings,  which  at  her  first  coming  out  of  the  popish 
Babylon,  she  had  not  fully  so  laid  aside.  If  any  of  those  envious  brethren 
do  now  call  these  dissenters,  as  not  very  long  since  a  great  prelate  in  a 
sermon  did,  die  bastards  of  the  Church  of  England,  I  will  not  make  the 
return  which  was  made  upon  it  by  a  person  of  quality  then  present;  but 
instead  thereof  humbly  demand,  who  are  the  trwr  sons  to  the  Church  of 
England;  they  that  hold  all  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity  embraced  by 
that  Church,  only  questioning  and  forbearing  a  few  disciplinary  points, 
which  are  confessed  indifferent  by  the  greatest  zealots  for  them;  or  they 
that  have  made  Britain  more  unhabitable  that  the  Torrid  Zone?  for  the 
poor  non-conformists,  by  their  hot  pressing  of  those  indifferencies,  as  if  they 
had  been  the  only  necessaries,  in  the  mean  time  utterly  subverting  ihe  faith 
in  the  important  points  o^ ptredestination,  free-will,  justification,  perseverance, 
and  some  other  things,  which  that  Church  requires  all  her  children  to  give 
their  assent  and  consent  unto?  If  the  former,  then,  say  I,  the  planters  of 
New-England  were  truer  sons  to  the  Church  of  England,  than  that  part  of 
the  church  which,  then  by  their  misemploying  their  heavy  church-keys, 
banished  them  into  this  plantation.  And,  indeed,  the  more  genuine  among 
the  most  conformable  so7is  of  die  church,  did  then  accordingly  wish  all  pros- 
perity to  their  New-English  brethren ;  in  the  number  of  whom  I  would 
particularly  reckon  that  faithful  man,  Mr.  Edward  Symons,  minister  of 
liayn  in  Essex;  who  in  a  Discourse  printed  Anno  1637,  does  thus  express 
himself:  "^fany  now  promise  to  themselves  nothing  but  successive  happi- 
ness at  New-England;  which  for  a  time,  through  God's  mercy,  they  may 
enjoy;  and  I  pray  God,  they  may  a  long  time,  but  in  this  world  there  is 
no  hapi)iness  per})etual."  Nor  would  I  on  this  occasion  leave  unquoted 
some  notable  words  of  the  learned,  witty  and  famous  Dr.  Fuller,  in  his 
comment  on  Ruth,  page  16:  "Concerning  our  brethren  which  of  late  left 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  77 

this  kingdom  to  advance  a  plantation  in  New-England,  I  think  the  counsel 
best  that  King  Joash  prescribed  unto  Amaziah,  'Tarry  at  homeV  yet  as 
for  those  that  are  already  gone,  far  be  it  from  us  to  conceive  them  to  be 
such  to  whom  we  may  not  say,  God  speed:  but  let  us  pity  them,  and  pray 
for  them.  I  conclude  of  the  two  Englands,  what  our  Saviour  saith  of  the 
two  wines :  '  No  man  having  tasted  of  the  old,  presently  desireth  the  new ; 
for  he  saith,  the  old  is  better.' " 

§  4.  Being  happily  arrived  at  New-England,  our  new  planters  found  the 
difficulties  of  a  rough  and  hard  wilderness  presently  assaulting  them :  of 
which  the  worst  was  the  sickliness  which  many  of  them  had  contracted  by 
their  other  difficulties.  Of  those  who  soon  dyed  after  their  first  arrival 
not  the  least  considerable  was  the  Lady  Arabella,  who  left  an  earthly  par- 
adise in  the  family  of  an  Earldom,  to  encounter  the  sorrows  of  a  wilderness, 
for  the  entertainments  of  a  pure  ivorshp  in  the  house  of  God;  and  then 
immediately  left  that  wilderness  for  the  Heavenly  paradise,  whereto  the 
compassionate  Jesus,  of  whom  she  was  a  follower,  called  her.  We  have 
read  concerning  a  noble  woman  of  Bohemia,  who  forsook  her  friends,  her 
plate,  her  house,  and  all;  and  because  the  gates  of  the  city  were  guarded 
crept  through  the  common-sewer,  that  she  might  enjoy  the  institutions  of 
our  Lord  at  another  place  where  they  might  be  had.  The  spirit  which 
acted  that  noble  woman,  we  may  suppose  carried  this  blessed  lady  thus  to 
and  through  the  hardships  of  an  American  desart.  But  as  for  her  virtu- 
ous husband,  Isaac  Johnson,  Esq., 

*  *         *         *         »         He  try'd 

To  live  without  her,  lik'd  it  not,  and  dy'd. 

His  mourning  for  the  death  of  his  honourable  consort  was  too  bitter  to  be 
extended  a  year;  about  a  month  after  her  death  his  ensued,  unto  the 
extream  loss  of  the  whole  plantation.  But  at  the  end  of  this  perfect  and 
upright  man,  there  was  not  ovAj  peace  but  joy ;  and  his  joy  particularly 
expressed  it  self  "that  God  hath  kept  his  eyes  open  so  long  as  to  see  one 
church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gathered  in  these  ends  of  the  earth,  before 
his  own  going  away  to  Heaven."  The  mortality  thus  threatning  of  this 
new  Plantation  so  enlivened  the  devotions  of  this  good  people,  that  they 
set  themselves  by  fasting  and  prayer  to  obtain  from  God  the  removal  of 
it ;  and  their  brethren  at  Plymouth  also  attended  the  like  duties  on  their 
behalf:  the  issue  whereof  was,  that  in  a  little  time  they  not  only  had  liealth 
restored,  but  they  likewise  enjoyed  the  special  directions  and  assistance 
of  God  in  the  further  prosecution  of  their  undertakings. 

§  5.  But  there  were  two  terrible  distresses  more,  besides  that  of  sichiess, 
whereto  this  people  were  exposed  in  the  beginning  of  their  settlement: 
though  a  most  seasonable  and  almost  unexpected  mercy  from  Heaven  still 
rescued  them  out  of  those  distresses.  One  thing  that  sometimes  extrearnly 
exercised  them,  was  a  scarcity  of  provisions ;  in  which  'twas  wonderful  to 


78  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

see  their  dependance  upon  God,  and  God's  mindfulness  of  them.  When  the 
parcliing  droughts  of  the  summer  divers  times  thrcatncd  them  with  an 
utter  and  a  total  consumption  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  it  was  their  man- 
ner, witli  heart-mdtimj,  and  I  may  say,  Ileaven-meltinj  devotions,  to  fast 
and  pray  before  God;  and  on  the  very  days  when  they  poured  out  the 
water  of  their  tears  before  him,  he  would  shoiver  down  the  water  of  his  rain 
upon  their  fields;  wJiile  they  ivere  yet  spealcing^  he  tcoidd  hear  them;  inso- 
much that  the  salvages  themselves  would  on  that  occasion  admire  the 
Englishman's  God !  But  the  Englishmen  themselves  would  celebrate  their 
davs  of  Thanksgiving  to  him.  When  their  stock  was  likewise  wasted  so 
far,which  divers  times  it  was,  that  they  were  come  to  the  last  meal  in  the 
barrel,  just  then,  unlooked  for,  arrived  several  ships  from  other  parts  of 
the  world  loaden  with  supplies;  among  which,  one  was  by  the  lord-depuly 
of  Ireland  sent  hither,  although  he  did  not  know  the  necessities  of  the 
country  to  which  he  sent  her;  and  if  he  had  known  them,  would  have 
been  thought  as  unlikely  as  any  man  living  to  have  helpt  them :  in  these 
extremities,  'twas  marvellous  to  see  how  heljf'id  these  good  people  were  to 
one  another,  following  the  example  of  their  most  liberal  governour  Win- 
throp,  who  made  an  equal  distribution  of  what  he  had  in  his  own  stores 
among  the  poor,  tal-inr/  no  thought  for  to-morrow!  And  how  content  they 
were;  when  an  honest  man,  as  I  have  heard,  inviting  his  friends  to  a  dish 
oi clams ^  at  the  table  gave  thanks  to  Heaven,  who  "had  given  them  to 
suck  the  abundance  of  the  seas,  and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sands!" 

Another  thing  that  gave  them  no  little  exercise,  was  the  fear  of  the 
Indians,  by  Avhom  they  were  sometimes  alarmed.  But  this  fear  was  won- 
derfully prevented,  not  only  by  intestine  wars  happening  then  to  fall  out 
among  those  barbarians,  but  chiefly  by  the  small-pox,  which  proved  a 
great  plague  unto  them,  and  particularly  to  one  of  the  Princes  in  the  Mas- 
sachuset-Bay,  who  yet  seemed  hopefully  to  be  diristianized  before  he  dyed. 
This  distemper  getting  in,  I  know  not  how,  among  them,  swept  them 
away  with  a  most  prodigious  desolation,  insomuch  that  although  the  Eng- 
lish gave  them  all  the  assistances  of  humanity  in  their  calamities,  yet  there 
was,  it  may  be,  not  one  in  ten  among  them  left  alive;  oii\\ose  few  that  lived, 
many  also  fled  from  the  infection,  leaving  the  country  a  meer  Golgotha  of 
unburied  carcases ;  and  as  for  the  rest,  the  English  treated  them  with  all 
the  civility  imaginable;  among  the  instances  of  which  civility,  let  this  be 
reckoned  for  one,  that  notwithstanding  the  patent  which  they  had  for  the 
country,  they  fairly  purchased  of  the  natives  the  several  tracts  of  land 
which  they  afterwards  possessed. 

%  6.  The  people  in  the  fleet  that  arrived  at  New-England,  in  the  year 
1630,  left  the  fleet  almost,  as  the  family  of  Noah  did  the  ark,  having  a 
whole  world  before  them  to  be  peopled.  Salem  was  already  supplied  with 
a  competent  number  of  inhabitants;  and  therefore  the  governour,  with 
most  of  the  gentlemen  that  accompanied  him  in  his  voyage,  took  tlieir 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  79 

first  opportunity  to  prosecute  further  settlements  about  the  bottom  of  the 
Massachuset-Bay :  but  where-ever  they  sat  down,  they  were  so  mindful  of 
their  errand  into  the  wilderness,  that  still  one  of  their  first  tvorhs  Avas  to 
gather  a  church  into  the  covenant  and  order  of  the  gospel.  First,  there  was 
a  church  thus  gathered  at  Charles-town,  on  the  north  side  of  Charles's 
river;  where,  keeping  a  solemn  fast  on  August  27,  1630,  to  implore  the 
conduct  and  blessing  of  Heaven  on  their  ecclesiastical  proceedings,  they 
chose  Mr.  Wilson,  a  most  holy  and  zealous  man,  formerly  a  minister  of 
Sudbury,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  to  be  their  teacher ;  and  although  he 
now  submitted  unto  an  ordination,  with  an  imposition  of  such  hands  as 
were  by  the  church  invited  so  to  pronounce  the  benediction  of  Heaven 
upon  him;  yet  it  was  done  with  a  jyrotestation  by  all,  that  it  should  be 
only  as  a  sign  of  his  election  to  the  charge  of  his  new  flock,  without  any 
intention  that  he  should  thereby  renounce  the  ministry  he  had  received 
in  England.  After  the  gathering  of  the  church  at  Charles-town,  there 
quickly  followed  another  at  the  town  of  Dorchester. 

And  after  Dorchester  there  followed  another  at  the  town  of  Boston, 
which  issued  out  of  Charles-town;  one  Mr.  James  took  the  care  of  the 
Church  at  Charles-town,  and  Mr.  Wilson  went  over  to  Boston,  where  they 
that  formerly  belonged  unto  Charles-town,  with  universal  approbation 
became  a  distinct  Church  of  themselves.  To  Boston  soon  succeeded  a  church 
at  Eoxbury ;  to  Roxbury,  one  at  Lyn ;  to  Lyn,  one  at  Watertown ;  so  that 
in  one  or  two  years'  time  there  were  to  be  seen  seven  Churches  in  this 
neighbourhood,  atl  of  them  attending  to  what  the  spirit  in  the  Scripture 
said  unto  them;  all  of  them  golden  candlesticks,  illustrated  with  a  very  sensi- 
ble presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  among  them. 

§  7.  It  was  for  a  matter  of  twelve  years  together,  that  persons  of  all 
ranks,  well  affected  unto  Church-reformation,  kept  sometimes  dropping,  and 
sometimes /oc^i??^^  into  New-England,  though  some  that  were  toming  into 
New-England  were  not  suffered  so  to  do.  The  persecutors  of  those  Puri- 
tans, as  they  were  called,  who  were  now  retiring  into  that  cold  country  from 
the  heat  of  their  persecution,  did  all  that  was  possible  to  hinder  as  many  as 
was  possible  from  enjoying  of  that  retirement.  There  were  many  counter- 
mands given  to  the  passage  of  people  that  were  now  steering  of  this  western 
course;  and  there  was  a  sort  of  uproar  made  among  no  small  part  of  the 
nation,  that  this  people  should  not  be  let  go.  Among  those  bound  for  New- 
England,  that  were  so  stopt,  there  were  especially  three  famous  persons, 
whom  I  suppose  their  adversaries  would  not  have  so  studiously  detained  at 
home,  if  they  had  foreseen  events ;  those  were  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  Mr. 
Hambden,  and  Sir  Arthur  Haselrig ;  nevertheless,  this  is  not  the  only 
instance  of  persecuting  church-mens  not  having  the  spirit  of  prophesy.  But 
many  others  were  diverted  from  an  intended  voyage  hither  by  the  pure 
providence  of  God,  which  had  provided  other  improvements  for  them ;  and 
of  this  take  one  instance  instead  of  many.     Before  the  woeful  wars  which 


30  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEPwICANA; 

broke  forth  in  the  three  kingdoms,  there  were  divers  gentlemen  in  Scotland, 
who,  being  uneasie  under  the  ecclesiastical  burdens  of  the  times,  wrote  unto 
New-England  their  enquiries,  Whether  they  might  be  there  suffered  freely 
to  exercise  their  Presbyterian  church-government?  And  it  was  freely 
answered,  "  That  they  might."  Hereupon  they  sent  over  an  agent,  who 
pitched  upon  a  tract  of  land  near  the  mouth  of  Merrimack  river,  whither 
they  intended  them  to  transplant  themselves :  but  although  they  had  so  far 
proceeded  in  their  voyage,  as  to  be  half-seas  through;  the  manifold  crosses 
they  met  withal,  made  them  give  over  their  intentions;  and  the  providence 
of  God  so  ordered  it,  that  some  of  those  very  gentlemen  were  afterwards  the 
revivers  of  that  well-known  solemn  league  and  covenant  which  had  so  great 
an  influence  upon  the  following  circumstances  of  the  nations.  However, 
the  number  of  those  who  did  actually  arrive  at  New-England  before  the 
year  16^0,  have  been  computed  about  four  thousand;  since  which  time  far 
more  have  gone  out  of  the  country  than  have  come  to  it ;  and  yet  the  God 
of  Heaven  so  smiled  upon  the  Plantation,  while  under  an  easie  and  equal 
government,  the  designs  of  Christianity  in  well-formed  churches  have  been 
carried  on,  that  no  history  can  parallel  it.  That  saying  of  Eutropius  about 
Home,  which  hath  been  sometimes  applied  unto  the  church,  is  capable  of 
some  application  to  this  little  part  of  the  church:  Nee  Minor  ah  Exordia^ 
nee  major  Incrementis  idlaJ^  Never  was  any  plantation  brought  unto  such  a 
considerableness,  in  a  space  of  time  so  inconsiderable !  an  hoivling  ivilderness 
in  a  few  years  became  o.  pleasant  land,  accommodated  with  the  necessaries — 
yea,  and  the  conveniences  of  humane  life ;  the  gosj^el  has  carried  with  it  a 
fulness  of  all  other  hlessings;  and  (albeit,  that  mankind  generally,  as  far  as  we 
have  any  means  of  enquiry,  have  increased  in  one  and  the  same  given  pro- 
portion, and  so  no  more  than  doubled  themselves  in  about  three  hundred  and 
sixty  years,  in  all  the  past  ages  of  the  world,  since  the  fixing  of  the  present 
period  of  humane  life)  the  four  thousand  first  planters,  in  less  than  fifty 
years,  notwithstanding  all  transportations  and  mortalities,  increased  into, 
they  say,  more  than  an  hundred  thousand. 


CHAPTER   ?L 

aUI   TRANS    MARE   CURRUNT;t 

OR,  THE  ADDTTIOX  OF  SEVERAL  OTHER  COLONIES  TO  THE  FORMER;  WITH  SOME  OTHER 
CONSLUERABLES  IN  THE  CONDITION  OF  THESE  LATER  COLONIES. 

§  1.  It  was  not  long  before  the  Massachuset  Colony  was  become  like  an 
hive  overstocked  with  bees;  and  many  of  the  new  inhabitants  entertained 
thoughts  of  siuarming  into  plantations  extended  further  i^ito  the  country, 

•  Never  was  any  thing  more  mean  in  inception  or  more  mighty  in  progress,         +  "Those  who  cross  the  sea. 


OE,    THE    niSTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g^ 

The  colony  might  fetch  its  own  description  from  the  dispensations  of  the 
great  God,  unto  his  ancient  Israel,  and  say,  "0,  God  of  Hosts,  thou  hast 
brought  a  vine  out  of  England;  thou  hast  cast  out  the  heathen  and  planted 
it ;  thou  preparedst  room  before  it,  and  didst  cause  it  to  take  deep  root,  and 
it  filled  the  land ;  the  bills  were  covered  with  the  shadow  of  it,  and  the 
boughs  thereof  were  like  the  goodly  cedars ;  she  sent  out  her  boughs  unto 
the  sea."  But  still  there  was  one  stroak  wanting  for  the  complete  accom- 
modations of  the  description;  to  wit,  "She  sent  forth  her  branches  unto 
the  river;"  and  this  therefore  is  to  be  next  attended.  The  fame  of  Con- 
necticut river,  a  long,  fresh,  rich  river,  (as  indeed  the  name  Connecticut  is 
Indian  for  a  long  river,)  had  made  a  little  Nilus,'^  of  it  in  the  expectations 
of  the  good  people  about  the  Massachuset-bay :  whereupon  many  of  the 
planters  belonging  especially  to  the  towns  of  Cambridge,  Dorchester, 
Watertown  and  Koxbury,  took  up  resolutions  to  travel  an  hundred  miles 
westward  from  those  towns,  for  a  further  settlement  upon  this  famous 
river.  When  the  learned  Fernandius  had  been  in  the  Indies,  lie  did  in  his 
preface  to  his  Commentaries  afterwards  published,  give  this  account  of  it: 
Deo  sic  volente^  2^''''^'^^^  ^''*  remotissimos  usque  Lidos,  tarn  non  avidus  lucis  et 
glorice,  ut  earn  vere  dixerim,  ultro  elegerira  mei  ipsius  adhuc  viventis  verissimam 
SepuUuram.-f  Eeader,  come  with  me  now  to  behold  some  worthy,  and 
learned,  and  genteel  persons  going  to  be  buried  alive  on  the  banks  of  Con- 
necticut, having  been  first  slain  by  the  ecclesiastical  impositions  and  per- 
secutions of  Europe. 

§  2.  It  was  in  the  year  1635,  that  this  design  was  first  formed;  and  the 
disposition  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  with  his  people  now  in 
Cambridge,  to  engage  in  the  design,  was  that  which  gave  most  life  unto 
it.  They  then  sent  their  agents  to  view  the  country,  who  returned  with, 
so  advantageous  a  report,  that  the  next  year  there  was  a  great  remove  of 
good  people  thither:  on  this  remove,  they  that  went  from  Cambridge 
became  a  church  upon  a  spot  of  ground  now  called  Hartford;  they  that 
went  from  Dorchester,  became  a  church  at  Windsor ;  they  that  went  from 
Watertown,  sat  down  at  Wethersfield ;  and  they  that  left  Koxbury  were 
inchurched  higher  up  the  river  at  Springfield,  a  place  which  was  after- 
wards found  within  tlie  line  of  the  Massachuset-charter.  Indeed,  i]xQ  first 
winter  after  their  going  thither,  proved  an  hard  one;  and  the  grievous 
disappointments  which  befel  them,  through  the  unseasonable  freezing  of 
the  river,  whereby  their  vessel  of  provisons  was  detained  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  threescore  miles  below  them,  caused  them  to  encounter  with 
very  disastrous  difficulties.  Divers  of  them  were  hereby  obliged  in  the 
depth  of  winter  to  travel  back  into  the  Bay;  and  some  of  them  were 
frozen  to  death  in  the  journey. 

However,  such  was  their  courage,  that  they  prosecuted  their  Plantation- 

•  Nile. 

+  By  God's  permission,  I  penetrated  into  the  remotest  parts  of  India,  actuated  less  by  curiosity  or  ambition, 
thau  by  a  desire  to  say,  with  truth,  that  I  had  voluntarily  sought  out  a  spot  whero  I  was  in  reality  buiied  alive. 

Vol.  I.— 6 


g2  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

work  with  speedy  and  blessed  suecesses;  and  when  bloody  salvages  in 
their  neighbourhood,  known  by  the  name  of  Pequots,  had  like  to  have 
nipt  the  plantation  in  the  bud,  by  a  cruel  war,  within  a  year  or  two  after 
their  settlement,  the  marvellous  providence  of  God  immediately  extin- 
guished that  war,  by  prospering  the  New-English  arms,  unto  the  utter 
subduing  of  the  quarrelsome  nation,  and  affrightning  of  all  the  other  natives. 
§  3.  It  was  with  the  countenance  and  assistance  of  their  brethren  in 
the  Massachuset-bay,  that  the  first  Planters  of  Connecticut  made  their 
essays  thus  to  discover  and  cultivate  the  remoter  parts  of  this  mighty 
wilderness;  and  accordingly  several  gentlemen  went  furnished  with  some 
kind  of  commission  from  the  government  of  the  Massachuset-bay,  for  to 
maintain  some  kind  of  government  among  the  inhabitants,  till  there  could 
be  a  more  orderly  settlement.     But  the  inhabitants  quickly  perceiving 
themselves  to  be  without  the  line  of  the  Massachuset-charter,  entered  into 
a  combination  among  themselves,  whereby  with   mutual  consent  they 
became  a  hody-politick^  and  framed  a  body  of  necessary  laws  and  orders, 
to  the  execution  whereof  they  chose  all  necessary  officers,  very  much, 
though  not  altogether,  after  the  form  of  the  colony  from  whence  they 
issued.     So  they  jogged  on  for  many  years;  and  whereas,  before  the  year 
1644,  that  worthy  gentleman,  George  Fenwick  Esq.,  did,  on  the  behalf  of 
several  persons  of  quality,  begin  a  plantation  about  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  which  was  called  Say-brook,  in  remembrance  of  those  right  hon- 
ourable persons,  the  Lord  Say  and  the  Lord  Brook,  who  laid  a  claim  to 
the  land  thereabouts,  by  virtue  of  a  patent  granted  by  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick; the  inhabitants  of  Connecticut  that  year  purchased  of  Mr.  Fenwick 
this  tract  of  land.     But  the  confusions  then  embarrassing  the  affairs  of 
the   English   nation,   hindred   our  Connect icotians  from   seeking  of  any 
further  settlement,  until  the  restoration  of  K.  Charles  II.,  when  they  made 
their  application  to  the  King  for  a  charter,  by  the  agency  of  their  hon- 
ourable governour,  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  the  most  accomplished  son  of 
that  excellent  person  who  had  been  so  considerable  in  the  foundations 
of  the  Massachuset-colony.     This  renowned  virtuoso  had  justly  been  the 
darling  of  New-England,  if  they  had  only  considered  his  eminent  quali- 
ties, as  he  was  a  Christian^  a  gentleman,  and  a  philosopher^  well  worthy  to 
be,  as  he  was,  a  member  of  the  Royal- Society ;  but  it  must  needs  further 
endear  his  memory  to  his  country,  that  God  made  him  the  instrument  of 
obtaining  for  them,  as  he  did  from  the  King  of  England,  as  amply  privi- 
ledged  a  charter  as  was  ever  enjoyed  perhaps  by  any  people  under  the 
cope  of  heaven.     Under  the  protection  and  encouragement  of  this  charter 
they  flourished  many  years;  and  many  towns  being  successively  erected 
among  them,  their  churches  had  "rest,  and  walked  in  the  fear  of  God, 
and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

§  4.  The  church-order  observed  in  the  churches  of  Connecticut,  has  been 
the  same  that  is  observed  by  their  sisters  in  the  Massachuset-bay ;  and  in 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  go 

this  order  they  lived  exceeding  peaceably  all  the  eleven  years  that  Mr. 
Hooker  lived  among  them.  Nevertheless  there  arose  at  length  some 
unhappy  contests  in  one  town  of  the  colony,  which  grew  into  an  alienation 
that  could  not  be  cured  without  such  a  parting,  and  yet,  indeed,  hardly  so 
kind  a  parting,  as  that  whereto  once  Abraham  and  Lot  were  driven. 
However,  these  little,  idle,  angry  controversies,  proved  occasions  o^  enlarge- 
ments to  the  church  of  God ;  for  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  chose  a  cotta/^e 
in  a  wilderness,  before  the  most  beautiful  and  furnished  edifice,  overheated 
with  the  fire  of  contention,  removed  peaceably  higher  up  the  river,  where 
a  whole  county  of  holy  churches  has  been  added  unto  the  number  of  our 
congregations. 

*§  5.  But  there  was  one  thing  that  made  this  colony  to  become  very 
considerable ;  which  thing  remains  now  to  be  considered.  The  well-known 
Mr.  Davenport,  and  Mr,  Eaton,  and  several  eminent  persons  that  came 
over  to  the  Massachuset-bay  among  some  of  the  first  planters,  were  strongly 
urged,  that  they  would  have  settled  in  this  Bay;  but  hearing  of  another 
Bay  to  the  south-west  of  Connecticut,  which  might  be  more  capable  to 
entertain  those  that  were  to  follow  them,  they  desired  that  their  friends 
at  Connecticut  would  purchase  of  the  native  proprietors  for  them,  all  the 
land  that  lay  between  themselves  and  Hudson's  River,  which  was  in  part 
effected.  Accordingly  removing  thither  in  the  year  1637,  they  seated 
themselves  in  a  pleasant  Bay,  where  they  spread  themselves  along  the  sea- 
coast,  and  one  might  have  been  suddenly  as  it  were  surprized  with  the  sight 
of  such  notable  towns,  as  first  New-Haven;  then  Guilford;  then  Milford; 
then  Stamford ;  and  then  Brainford,  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  wor- 
shipped in  churches  of  an  evangelical  constitution;  and  from  thence,  if 
the  enquirer  make  a  salley  over  to  Long-Island,  he  might  there  also  have 
seen  the  churches  of  our  Lord  beginning  to  take  root  in  the  eastern  parts 
of  that  island.  All  this  while  ih.\B  fourth  colony  wanted  the  legal  hasis  of 
a  charter  to  build  upon ;  but  they  did  by  mutual  agreement  form  them- 
selves, into  a  hodij-polidck  as  like  as  they  judged  fit  unto  the  other  colonies 
in  their  neighbourhood;  and  as  for  there  chiirch-orden-,  it  was  generally 
secundum  usum  Massachusettensem.^ 

§  6.  Behold,  a  fourth  colony  of  New-English  Christians,  in  a  manner 
stolen  into  the  world,  and  a  colony,  indeed,  constellated  with  many  stars  of 
the  first  magnitude.  The  colony  was  under  the  conduct  of  as  holy,  and  as 
prudent,  and  as  genteel  persons  as  most  that  ever  visited  these  nooks  of 
America ;  and  yet  these  too  were  tryed  with  very  humbling  circumstances. 

Being  Londoners,  or  merchants  and  men  of  traffick  and  business,  their 
design  was  in  a  manner  wholly  to  apply  themselves  unto  trade;  but  the 
design  failing,  they  found  their  great  estates  sink  so  fast,  that  they  must 
quickly  do  something.  Whereupon  in  the  year  1646,  gathering  together 
almost  all  the  strength  which  was  left  them,  they  built  one  ship  more, 

*  After  the  Massachusetts  model. 


84  MAGNA  LI  A    CREISTI    AMERICANA; 

which  they  fraighted  for  England  with  the  best  part  of  their  tradable 
estates;  and  sundry  of  their  eminent  persons  embarked  themselves  in  her 
for  the  voyage.  But,  alas!  the  ship  was  never  after  heard  of:  she  foun- 
dred  in  the  sea;  and  in  her  were  lost,  not  only  the  hopes  of  their  future 
trade,  but  also  the  lives  of  several  excellent  persons,  as  well  as  divers 
manuscripts  of  some  great  men  in  the  country,  sent  over  for  the  service  of 
the  church,  which  were  now  buried  in  the  ocean.  The  fuller  story  of  that 
grievous  matter,  let  the  reader  with  a  just  astonishment  accept  from  the 
pen  of  the  reverend  person  who  is  now  the  j^astor  of  New-Haven.  I  wrote 
unto  him  for  it,  and  was  thus  answered : 

"Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  desires,  I  now  give  you  the  relation 

of  that  AFrARiTiON  of  a  ship  in  the  air,  which  I  have  received  from  the  most  credible 
judicious,  and  curious  surviving  observers  of  it. 

"In  the  year  1647,  besides  much  other  lading,  a  fiir  more  rich  treasure  of  passengers,  (five 
or  six  of  which  were  persons  of  chief  note  and  worth  in  New-Haven)  put  themselves  on 
board  a  new  ship,  built  at  Rhode-Island,  of  about  150  tuns;  but  so  walty,  that  the  master 
(Lamberton)  often  said  she  would  prove  their  grave.  In  tlie  montii  of  January,  cutting 
their  way  through  much  ice,  on  which  they  were  accompanied  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Daven- 
port,  besides  many  other  friends,  with  many  fears,  as  well  as  prayers  and  tears,  they  set 
sail.  Mr.  Davenport  in  prayer,  with  an  observable  emphasis,  used  these  words:  'Lord,  if 
it  be  thy  pleasure  to  bury  these  our  friends  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  tiiey  are  thine:  save 
them.'  The  spring  following,  no  tidings  of  these  friends  arrived  with  the  ships  from 
England:  New-Haven's  heart  began  to  fail  her:  this  put  the  godly  people  on  much  prayer, 
both  publiclc  and  private,  '  that  the  Lord  would  (if  it  was  his  pleasure)  let  them  hear  what 
he  had  done  with  their  dear  friends,  and  prepare  them  with  a  suitable  submission  to  his 
Holy  Will.'  In  June  next  ensuing,  a  great  thunder-storm  arose  out  of  the  north-west 
after  wliich  (the  hemisphere  being  serene)  about  an  hour  before  sun-set,  a  Ship  of  like 
dimensions  with  the  aforesaid,  with  her  canvas  and  colours  abroad  (though  the  wind  north- 
ernly)  appeared  in  the  air  coming  up  from  our  harbour's  mouth,  which  lyes  southward  from 
the  town,  seemingly  with  her  sails  filled  under  a  fresh  gale,  holding  her  course  north,  and 
continuing  under  observation,  sailing  against  the  wind  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour. 

"Many  were  drawn  to  behold  this  great  work  of  God;  yea,  the  very  children  cryed  out, 
'Tliere's  a  brave  sliip!'  At  length,  crowding  up  as  far  as  there  is  usually  water  sufficient  for 
such  a  vessel,  and  so  near  some  of  the  spectators,  as  that  tlu>y  imagined  a  man  miglit  hurl 
a  stone  on  board  lier,  her  mnin-iop  seemed  to  be  blown  off,  but  left  hanging  in  the  shrouds; 
then  her  rm'zze/i-^op ;  then  all  her  mas/jw^  seemed  blown  away  by  the  board:  quickly  after 
the  hulk  brought  unto  a  careen,  she  overset,  and  so  vanished  into  a  smoaky  cloud,  wliicii  in 
some  time  dissipated,  leaving,  as  everywhere  else,  a  clear  air.  The  admiring  spectators 
could  distinguisii  the  several  colours  of  each  part,  the  principal  rigging,  and  such  propor- 
tions, as  caused  not  only  tiie  generality  of  persons  to  say,  'Tiiis  was  the  mould  of  their 
ship,  and  thus  was  her  tragick  end,'  but  Mr.  Davenport  also  in  publiek  declared  to  this 
effect,  'That  God  had  condescended,  for  tiie  quieting  of  their  afflicted  spirits,  this  extraordi- 
nary account  of  his  sovereign  disposal  of  tliose  for  whom  so  many  fervent  prayers  were 
made  continually.'     Thus  I  am  Sir,  "Your  humble  servant, 

"James  Pierpont." 

Eeader,  there  being  yet  living  so  many  credible  gentlemen,  that  were 
eye-witnesses  of  this  ivonderful  thing,  I  venture  to  publish  it  for  a  thing  as 
undoubted  as  'tis  wonderful. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


85 


But  let  us  now  proceed  with  our  story.  Our  colony  of  New-Haven 
apprehended  themselves  disadvantageously  seated  for  the  affairs  of  hus- 
bandry; and  therefore  upon  these  disasters  they  made  many  attempts  of 
removing  into  some  other  parts  of  the  world.  One  while  they  were  invited 
unto  Delaware-bay,  another  while  they  were  invited  unto  Jamaica;  they 
had  offers  made  them  from  Ireland  also,  after  the  wars  there  were  over; 
and  they  entred  into  some  treaties  about  the  city  of  Galloway,  which  they 
were  to  have  had  as  a  small  province  to  themselves.  But  the  God  of 
Heaven  still  strangely  disappointed  all  these  attempts ;  and  whereas  they 
were  concerned  how  their  posterity  should  be  able  to  live,  if  they  must 
make  husbandry  their  main  shift  for  their  living ;  that  posterity  of  theirs, 
by  the  good  providence  of  God,  instead  of  coming  to  beggary  and  misery, 
have  thriven  wonderfully:  the  colony  is  improved  with  many  wealthy 
husbandmen,  and  is  become  no  small  part  of  the  best  granary  for  all  New- 
England.  And  the  same  good  Providence  has  all  along  so  preserved  them 
from  annoyance  by  the  Indians,  that  although  at  their  first  setting  down 
there  were  few  towns  but  what  wisely  perswaded  a  body  of  Indians  to 
dwell  near  them:  whereby  such  kindnesses  passed  between  them  that 
they  always  dwelt  peaceably  together;  nevertheless  there  are  few  of  those 
towns  but  what  have  seen  their  body  of  Indians  utterly  extirpated  by 
nothing  but  mortality  wasting  them. 

§  7.  But  what  is  now  become  of  New-Haven  colony?  I  must  answer, 
It  is  not:  and  yet  it  has  been  growing  ever  since  it  first  ivas.  But  when 
Connecticut-colony  petitioned  the  restored  King  for  a  Charter,  they  pro- 
cured New-Haven  colony  to  be  annexed  unto  them  in  the  same  charter; 
and  this,  not  without  having  first  the  private  concurrence  of  some  leading 
men  in  the  colony ;  though  the  minds  of  others  were  so  uneasie  about  the 
coalition,  that  it  cost  some  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  Charter  for  the 
colony,  like  Jephtha's  daughter  to  bewail  her  condition,  before  it  could  be 
quietly  complied  withal.  Nevertheless  they  have  lived  ever  since,  one 
colony^  very  happily  together,  and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  has  remarka- 
bly dwelt  among  them:  however,  these  children  of  God  have  not  been 
without  their  chastisements,  especially  in  the  malignant  fevers  and  agues, 
which  have  often  proved  very  mortal  in  most  or  all  of  their  plantations. 

§  8.  "While  the  south-west  parts  of  New-England  were  thus  filled  with 
new  colonies,  the  north-east  parts  of  the  country  were  not  forgotten.  There 
were  ample  regions  beyond  the  line  of  the  Massachuset-patent,  where  new 
settlements  were  attempted,  not  only  by  such  as  designed  a  Jishi7ig-tTSide 
at  sea,  or  a  Bever-trade  on  shore ;  not  only  by  some  that  were  uneasie 
under  the  Massachuset-governmeut  in  a  day  of  temptation,  which  came 
upon  the  first  planters;  but  also  by  some  very  serious  Christians,  who 
propounded  the  enlargement  and  enjoyment  of  our  Lord's  evangelical 
interests  in  those  territories.  The  effect  of  these  excursions  were,  that  sev- 
eral well-constituted  churches  were  gathered  in  the  province  of  East- 


36  MAGNALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

Ilampshire,  besides  one  or  two  in  the  province  of  Mam,  whereto  were 
added  a  large  number  of  other  congregations,  wherein  weekly  prayers  and 
sermons  were  made,  although  the  inhabitants  belonging  to  those  congrega- 
tions, proceeded  not  so  far  as  to  all  the  ordinances  of  a  more  compleat 
Church-State  among  them.  That  which  contributed  more  than  a  little  t6 
the  growth  of  Christianity  in  those  parts  of  New-England,  was  the  appli- 
cation, which  the  people  being  tired  with  many  quarrelsome  circumstances 
about  their  government,  made  unto  the  general  court  of  the  Massachuset- 
bay,  to  be  taken  under  their  protection;  which  petition  of  theirs  being 
answered  by  that  general  court,  surely  after  a  more  charitable  and 
accountable  manner,  than  such  authors  as  Ogilby  in  his  America  have 
represented  it,  [Vos  magis  Historicis,  Lectores,  Credite  veris/']'^  there  followed 
many  successful  endeavours  to  spread  the  effects  and  orders  of  the  gospel 
along  that  coast. 

But  thus  was  the  settlement  of  New-England  brought  about;  these 
were  the  beginnings,  these  the  foundations  of  those  colonies,  which  have 
not  only  enlarged  the  English  empire  in  some  regards  more  than  any  other 
outgoings  of  our  nation,  but  also  afforded  a  singular  prospect  of  churches 
erected  in  an  American  corner  of  the  world,  on  purpose  to  express  and 
pursue  the  Protestant  Eeformation. 


CHAPTER  ?IL 

HECATOMPOlIS;t   OR,  A  FIELD  WHICH  THE  LORD  HATH  BLESSED. 

A    MAP    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 

It  is  proper  that  I  should  now  give  the  reader  an  Ecclesiastical  Map  of 
the  country,  thus  undertaken.  Know,  then,  that  although  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  the  blasting  strokes  of  Heaven  upon  the  secular  affairs  of  this 
country  have  been  such,  as  rather  to  abate  than  enlarge  the  growth  of  it; 
yet  there  are  to  be  seen  in  it,  at  this  present  year  1696,  these  Colonies, 
Counties,  and  Congregations. 

IT  The  Numbers  and  Places  of  the  Christian  Covgregatiojis/noio  ivorsh'ppivg  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  several  Colonies  of  New.England,  and  the  Names  of 
the  Ministers  at  this  time  employed  in  the  service  of  those  Congregations. 

Notandum,  Wh^re  the  name  of  any  minister  hath  II.  C.  added  unto  it  in  our  catalogue,  it  is  to  be 
understood  that  Harvard-Colledge  was  the  mother  in  whose  arms  that  minister  was  educated. 

I.  In  Plymouth  colony  there  are  three  counties;  and  the  several  con 
gregations  therein  are  thus  accomodated: 

*  Readers,  rather  tnut  truthful  historians  than  such.  -f  A  city  of  sacrifice. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


87 


PLYMOUTH    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Bridgcwater^ 

Duzbury, 

JHarshfielili 


Mr.  James  K(;ith. 
«    Ichabod  VV'iswul,  H.  C. 
"    Edward  Thompson,  11.  C. 


JMiddleburij, 
Piymvutki 


Mr. 


"   John  Cotton,  H.  C. 
Scituate,  which  hath  two  churches,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Gushing, 
H.  C.  and  Mr.  Deodate  Lawson. 
BARNSTABLE    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Barnstable, 
Eastham, 
Faimvuth,  Harwich 
and  Manamoyet, 

Bristol, 

Dartmouth, 

Freetown, 

Martha's  Vineyard, 
Jfantucket, 


Mr.  Jonathan  Russel,  H.  C. 
"    Samuel  Treat,  H.  C, 

I    "    Nathaniel  Stone,  H.  C. 


Rochester, 
Sandwich, 
Yarmouth, 


BRISTOL    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Mr.  John  ^parhawk,  H.  C. 
Pbrishino  without  vision. 
Mr. 


Little-Compton, 

Swansy, 

Tanton, 


Mr.  Arnold. 

"    Rowland  Cotton.  H.  0. 
"    John  Cotton,  H.  C. 


Mr.  Eliphelet  Adams,  H.  C. 


Samuel  Danforth,  H.  C. 
Hereto  an  ecclesiastical  reckoning  may  annex  the  Islands  of— 
Mr.  Ralph  Thatcher,  Mr.  Deuham,  besides  Indian  churches  and  pastors. 
Indian  Pastors.  |     J\rewport,  in  Rhode-Island,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Clap,  H.  C. 

II.  In  Massachuset  colony  are  four  counties,  and  the  several  congrega- 
tions in  them  are  so  supplied: 

THE    COUNTY    OF    SUFFOLK    MINISTERS, 
r  Of  the  Old  church,  Mr.  James  Allen,  Mr.  Benj.  Wadsworth,  H.  C. 
Boston,   <  Of  the  JVorth  church,  Mr.  Increase  Mather,  President  of  the  CoUedge,  and  his  son  Cotton  Mather,  H.  C. 
(  Of  the  South  church,  Mr.  Samuel  Wilward,  H.  C. 
Besides  these,  there  is  in  the  town  a  small  congregation  that  worship  God  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of 

England  ;  served  generally  by  a  change  of  persons,  occasionally  visiting  these  parts  of  the  world. 
And  another  small  congregation  of  Antipedo-Baptists,  wherein  Mr.  Emblin  is  the  settled  minister. 
And  a  French  congregation  of  Protestant  Refugees,  under  the  pastoral  cares  of  Monsieur  Daille. 

Mr.  Grindal  Rawson,  H.  C. 
"    Peter  Thacher,  II.  C. 
«    Nehemiah  Walter,  H.  C. 
«    Samuel  Torrey,  H.  C. 
«    Josiah  Dwight,  II.  C. 
«    Samuel  Man,  H.  C. 


Mr.  Nehemiah  Hobart,  H.  C. 


Braintrec, 

Mr. 

Moses  Fisk,  H.  C. 

Mendon, 

De  Iham, 

" 

Joseph  Belcher,  H.  C. 

Milton, 

Dorchester, 

t( 

John  Danforth,  H.  C. 

Roxbury, 

Hingham, 

» 

John  Norton,  H.  C. 

Weymouth, 

Hull, 

« 

Zechariah  Whitman,  H.  C. 

Woodetock, 

Medfield, 

u 

Joseph  Baxter,  H.  C. 

fVrentham, 

THE    COUNTY    OF    Mil 

3DLESEX    MINISTE 

Billerica, 

Mr. 

Samuel  Whiteing,  H.  C. 

JVewtown, 

Cambridge, 

it 

William  Brattle,  H.  C. 

Oxford, 

Charles-town, 

" 

Charles  Morton. 

Reading, 

Chelmsford, 

(( 

Thomas  Clark,  H.  C. 

Sherborn, 

Concord, 

u 

Joseph  Eastabrook,  II.  C. 

Stow, 

Dunstable, 

«( 

Thomas  Weld,  H.  C. 

Sudbury, 

Groton, 

t( 

Gershom  Hobart,  H.  C. 

Watertown, 

Lancaster, 

i.1 

John  Whiteing,  II.  C. 

Malborough, 

" 

William  Brinsmead,  H.  C. 

Woburh, 

Maiden, 

" 

Michael  Wigglesworth,  H.  C. 

Worcester, 

Medford, 

ti 

Simon  Bradstreet,  H.  C. 

THE    COUNTY    OF 

ESSEX    MINISTERS 

Ameshury, 

Mr 

[Barnard,  H.  C. 

Manchester, 

JIndorer, 

« 

Francis  Dean,  and  Mr.  Thomas 

Marblehead, 

Beverly, 
Borford, 

a 

John  Hale,  II.  C. 

JsTetobury, 

Bradford, 

u 

Zechariah  Symmes,  H.  C. 

Rowly, 

Gloccster, 

" 

John  Emerson,  H.  C. 

Salem, 

Haveril, 

u 

Benjamin  Rolfe,  H.  C. 

And  village, 

Ipswich, 

(( 

Wm.  Hubbard  and  John  Rog- 

Salsbury, 

And  village. 

11 

John  Wise,  H.  C.       [ers,  H.  C. 

Topsfield, 

Lyn, 

» 

Jeremiah  Shepai-d,  H.  C. 

Wenham, 

THE    COUNTY    OF    HA 

MFSHIRE    MINISTE 

Deerfield, 

Mr 

.  John  Williams,  H.  C. 

J^Torthampton, 

Endfield, 

it 



Springfield, 

Hatfeld, 

11 

William  Williams,  H.  C. 

Southfield, 

Hadley, 

u 



Wcstfield, 

«    Jonathan  Pierpont,  H.  C, 
«    Daniel  Gookin,  H.  C. 


"    James  Sheiinan. 
East,  Mr.  Henry  Gibs,  11.  O. 
West,  Mr.  Samuel  Angler,  H.  C. 
Mr.  Jabez  Fox,  H.  C. 


Mr.  John  Emerson,  H.  C. 

"    Samuel  Cheevcr,  H.  C. 

East,  Mr. Tappin,  H.  C. 

Wkst,  Mr.  Samuel  Belcher,  H.  0. 
Mr.  Edward  Payson,  H.  C. 

"    John  Higginson,  and  Nicholas 

«    Saml.  Paris,  H.  C.  [Noye3,H.C. 

«    Caleb  Gushing,  H.  G. 

"    Joseph  Gapen,  H.  C. 

«    Joseph  Gerish,  H.  C. 


Mr.  Solomon  Stoddard,  H.  C, 
«    Daniel  Brewer,  H.  C. 
«    Benjamin  Ruggles,  H.  C. 
«'    Edwaid  Taylor,  H.  C. 


88 


MAGNALIA    ClIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


To   which,   if  we   add   the  Congregations   in    Piscataqua. 


Dover, 

Mr.  Joliii  Pike,  H.  C. 

Exeter, 

"    John  Clark,  H.  C. 

Hampton, 

"    John  Cotton,  H.  C. 

Newcastle, 

"    Sumuel  Mooiley,  H.  C. 

Portsmouth, 

"    Joshua  Moodey,  H.  C. 

,1nd  in  the  Province  of  Maine. 

Isle  of  Sholes,       •       Mr. 

Kittenj,  " 

Hells,  York,  " Hancock,  H.  C. 


III.  In  Connecticut  colony  there  are  four  counties,  and  the  several  con- 
gregations therein  are  illuminated  by  these  preachers  of  the  gospel : 


HARTFORD    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


farminfrton, 
Olastenbury, 
Hadham, 
Hartford,  old  church, 

Do.      new    do. 
JUiddietown, 


Mr.  Samuel  Hooker,  H.  0. 
"    Timothy  Stevens,  H.  C. 
"    Jeremiah  Hobart,  H.C. 
"    Timothy  Woodbridge,  H.  C. 
"    Thomas  Buckingham,  H.  C. 
«    Noadiah  Russel,  H.  C. 


SimsbuT^, 

fVutcrbury, 

JVethersJield, 

Windsor, 

Jind  Farme, 

Windham, 


NEW  LONDON    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Killingxtorth, 

Lebanon, 

I  Anne, 

JfetB  London, 

Norwich, 


Brainford, 

Derby, 

Ouilford, 


Danbury, 

Fairfield, 
Fairfield  village, 
Greenwich, 
JVorwalk, 


Mr.  Abraham  Pierson,  H.  C. 

"    Mosos  Noyse,  H.  C. 

"    Gordon  Saltonstal,  H.  C. 

"    James  Fitch. 


Pescamsili, 
Preston, 
Saybrook, 
iitonington, 


NEW-HAVEN    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Mr.  Samuel  Rtisse),  H.  C. 
"    John  James,  H.  C. 
«    Thomas  Ruggles,  H.  C. 


Milford, 

J^cw-Haveni 

Wallingford, 


Mr.  Dudly  Woodbridge,  H.  C. 
"    Jeremiah  Peck,  H.  C. 
"    Steven  Mix,  H.  C. 
«    Samuel  Mather,  H.  0. 
"    Timothy  Edwards,  H.  C. 
"    Samuel  Whiting. 


Mr.  Joseph  Mors,  H.  0. 
"    Samuel  Tread,  H.  0. 
"    Thomas  Buckingham. 
"    James  Noyse,  H.  C. 


Mr.  Samuel  Andrews,  H.  C. 
"    James  Pierpont,  H.  C. 
"    Samuel  Street,  H.  0. 


FAIRFIELD    COUNTY    MINISTERS. 


Mr.  Seth  Shove,  H.  0. 
"    Joseph  Web,  H.  C. 
"    Charles  Chauncey,  H.  C. 
*'    Joseph  Morgan. 
«    Steven  Buckingham,  H.  C. 


Rye, 

Stamford, 
Stratford, 
Woodbury, 


Mr. 


Bowers,  H.  C. 


John  Davenport,  II.  C. 
Israel  Chauncey,  II.  0. 
Zacboriah  Walker,  H.  C. 


REMARKS    UPON    THE     CATALOGUE     OF    PLANTATIONS. 

§  1.  There  are  few  towns  to  be  now  seen  in  our  list  but  what  were 
existing  in  this  land  before  the  dreadful  Indian  war,  which  befel  us  twenty 
years  ago ;  and  there  are  few  towns  broken  up  within  the  then  Massachu- 
set-line  by  that  war,  but  what  have  revived  out  of  their  ashes.  Never- 
theless, the  many  calamities  which  have  ever  since  been  wasting  of  the 
country,  have  so  nipt  the  growth  of  it,  that  its  later  progress  hath  held  no 
proportion  with  what  was  from  the  beginning;  but  yet  with  such  variety,  that 
while  the  trained  companies  of  some  towns  are  no  bigger  than  they  were 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  others  are  as  big  again. 

§  2.  The  calamities  that  have  carried  off  the  inhabitants  of  our  several 
towns  have  not  been  all  of  one  sort;  nor  have  all  our  towns  had  an  equal 
share  in  any  sort.  Pestilential  sicknesses  have  made  fearful  havock  in  divers 
places,  where  the  sound  perhaps  have  not  been  enough  to  tend  the  sick; 
while  others  have  not  had  one  touch  from  that  angel  of  death.  And  the 
sword  hath  cut  off  scores  in  sundry  places,  when  others,  it  may  be,  have  not 
lost  a  man  by  that  avenger. 

§  3.  'Tis  no  unusual,  though  no  universal  experiment  among  us,  that 
while  an  excellent,  laborious,  illuminating  ministry  has  been  continued  in 


OE,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  39 

a  town,  the  place  lias  thriven  to  admiration:  bat  ever  since  that  marl's  time, 
they  have  gone  down  the  wind  in  all  their  interests.  The  gospel  has 
evidently  been  the  making  of  oar  towns,  and  the  blessings  of  the  upper  have 
been  accompanied  with  the  blessings  of  the  nether-springs.  Memorable  also 
is  the  remark  of  Slingsby  Bethel,  Esq.,  in  his  most  judicious  book  of  The 
Interest  of  Europe:  "Were  not  the  cold  climate  of  New-England  supplied 
by  good  laws  and  discipline,  the  barrenness  of  that  country  would  never 
have  brought  people  to  it,  nor  have  advanced  it  in  consideration  and  for- 
midableness  above  the  other  English  plantations,  exceeding  it  much  in 
fertility,  and  other  inviting  qualities." 

§  4.  Well  may  New-England  lay  claim  to  the  name  it  wears,  and  to  a 
room  in  the  tenderest  affections  of  its  mother,  the  happy  Island!  for  as 
there  are  few  of  our  towns  but  what  have  their  namesakes  in  England,  so 
the  reason  why  most  of  our  towns  are  called  what  they  are,  is  because  the 
chief  of  the  first  inhabitants  would  thus  bear  up  the  names  of  the  particular 
places  there  from  whence  they  came. 

§  5.  I  have  heard  an  aged  saint,  near  his  death,  cheerfully  thus  express 
himself:  "Well,  I  am  going  to  heaven,  and  I  will  there  tell  the  faithful, 
who  are  gone  long  since  from  New-England  thither,  that  though  they  who 
gathered  our  churches  are  all  dead  and  gone,  yet  the  churches  are  still 
alive,  with  as  numerous  flock  of  Christians  as  ever  were  among  them." 
Concerning  the  most  of  the  churches  in  our  catalogue,  the  report  thus 
carried  unto  heaven,  I  must  now  also  send  through  the  earth;  but  if  with 
as  numerous,  we  could  in  every  respect  say,  as  gracious,  what  joy  unto  all 
the  saints,  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  might  be  from  thence  occasioned ! 


THE  BOSTONIAN  EBENEZER. 

SOME  HISTORICAL  REMARKS  ON  THE  STATE  OF  BOSTON, 

THE  CHIEF  TOWN  OF  NEW-ENGLMD,  MD  OF  THE  EXGLISII  AMERICA. 

WITH 

SOME    AGREEABLE    METHODS 

FOR  PRESERVING   AND  PROMOTING  THE   GOOD   STATE   OF  THAT,  AS  WELL   AS   ANY   OTHER 
TOWN   IN  THE   LIKE  CIRCUMSTANCES. 

HUMBLY    OFFERED   BY    A    NATIVE    OF   BOSTON. 

THE  NAME  OF  THE  CITY  FROM  THAT  DAY  SHALL  BE,  "THE  LORD  IS  THERE."— £zeA.  xlviii.  35. 

"  Urbs   JUetropo/is,  ut   sit   maximcE   Auctoritatis,  constituatur  prmcipuum  pietatis   Exemplum   ct   SarrariumJ'* 

Aphor.  Polit. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  BOSTOJi  RELATED  AND  IMPROVED. 

AT  BOSTON  LECTDEE,  7  D.  2  M.,  169S. 

Remarkable  and  memorable  was  the  time,  when  an  army  of  terrible 
destroyers  was  coming  against  one  of  the  chief  towns  in  the  land  of  Israel. 
God  rescued  the  town  from  the  irresistible  fury  and  approach  of  those 
destro^'ers,  by  an  immediate  hand  of  heaven  upon  them.  Upon  that 
miraculous  rescue  of  the  town,  and  of  the  whole  country,  whose  fate  was 
much  enwrapped  in  it,  there  followed  that  action  of  the  Prophet  Samuel 
which  is  this  day  to  be,  with  some  imitation,  repeated  in  the  midst  of  thee, 
O  Boston,  thou  helped  of  the  Lord. 

Then  Samuel  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  up,  and  called  the  name  of  it  Eben-ezer,  saymg, 
Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  us. — 1  Sam.  vii.   12. 

The  thankful  servants  of  God  have  used  sometimes  to  erect  monuments 
of  stone,  as  durable  tokens  of  their  thankfulness  to  God  for  mercies 
received  in  the  places  thus  distinguished.  Jacob  c^id  so;  Joshua  did  so; 
and  Samuel  did  so;  but  they  so  did  it,  as  to  keep  clear  of  the  transgression 
forbidden  in  Lev.  xxvi.  1 :  "Ye  shall  not  set  up  an  image  of  stone  in  your 
land,  for  to  bow  down  unto  it." 

The  Stone  erected  by  Samuel,  with  the  name  of  Ebenezer,  Avhich  is  as 
much  as  to  say,  a  stone  of  help;  I  know  not  whether  any  thing  might  be 
writ  upon  it,  but  I  am  sure  there  is  one  thing  to  be  now  read  upon  it,  by 

•  A  metropolitan  city,  in  order  to  command  the  widest  influence,  should  become  a  special  exemplar  and 
depository  of  piety. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  Ql 

our  selves,  in  the  text  where  we  find  it:  namely,  thus  much,  "That  a 
people  whom  the  God  of  Heaven  hath  remarkably  helped  in  their  dis- 
tresses, ought  greatly  and  gratefully  to  acknowledge  what  help  of  heaven 
they  have  received." 

Now  'tis  not  my  design  to  lay  the  scene  of  my  discourse  as  far  off  as 
Bcthcar,  the  place  where  Samuel  set  up  his  Ebenezer.  I  am  immediately 
to  transfer  it  into  the  heart  of  Boston,  a  place  where  the  remarkable  help 
received  from  Heaven  by  the  people,  does  loudly  call  for  an  Ebenezer. 
And  I  do  not  ask  you  to  change  the  name  of  the  town  into  that  of  Help- 
stone,  as  there  is  a  town  in  England  of  that  name,  which  may  seem  the 
English  of  Ebenezer;  but  my  Sermon  shall  be  this  day,  your  Ebenezer, 
if  you  will  with  a  favourable  and  a  profitable  attention  entertain  it.  May 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  accept  me,  and  assist  me  now  to  glorifie  him  in  the 
town  where  I  drew  my  first  sinful  breath ;  a  town  whereto  I  am  under 
great  obligations  for  the  precious  opportunities  to  glorifie  him,  which  I 
have  quietly  and  publickly  enjoyed  therein  for  near  eighteen  years 
together.  "0,  my  Lord  God,  remember  me,  I  pray  thee,  and  strengthen 
me  this  once,  to  speak  from  thee  unto  thy  people!" 

And  now,  sirs,  that  I  may  set  up  an  Ebenezer  among  you,  there  are 
these  things  to  be  inculcated. 

I.  Let  us  thankfully,  and  agreeably,  and  particularly  acknowledge  tvhat 
HELP  we  have  received  from  the  God  of  Heaven,  in  the  years  that  have 
rouled  over  us.  While  the  blessed  Apostle  Paul  was,  as  it  should  seem, 
yet  short  of  being  threescore  years  old,  how  affectionately  did  he  set  up 
an  Ebenezer,  with  an  acknowledgment  in  Acts  xxvi.  22:  "Having 
obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  to  this  day!"  Our  town  is  now  three- 
score and  eight  years  old;  and  certainly  'tis  time  for  us,  with  all  possible 
affection,  to  set  up  our  Ebenezer,  saying,  "Having  obtained  help  from 
God,  the  town  is  continued  imtil  almost  the  age  of  man  is  passed  over  it!" 
The  town  hath  indeed  three  elder  sisters  in  this  colony,  but  it  hath  won- 
derfully outgrown  them  all;  and  her  mother.  Old  Boston,  in  England 
also ;  yea,  within  a  few  years  after  the  first  settlement,  it  greiv  to  be  The 
Metropolis  of  the  whole  English  America.  Little  was  this  expected 
by  them  that  first  settled  the  town,  when  for  a  while  Boston  was  proverb- 
ially called  Lost-toion,  for  the  mean  and  sad  circumstances  of  it.  But,  0 
Boston !  it  is  because  thou  hast  obtained  help  from  God,  even  from  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  for  the  sake  of  his  gospel,  preached  and  once  prized 
here,  undertook  thy  patronage.  When  the  world  and  the  church  of  God 
had  seen  twenty-six  generations,  a  psalm  was  composed,  wherein  that 
note  occurs  with  twenty-six  repetitions:  "His  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 
Truly  there  has  not  one  year  passed  over  this  town,  Ah  JJrhe  Condita,^ 
upon  the  story  whereof  we  might  not  make  that  note  our  Ebenezer:  "His 
mercy  endureth  for  ever."     It  has  been  a  town  of  great  experiences. 

*  Since  the  city  was  founded. 


92  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRIST  I    AMEKICANA; 

There  have  been  several  years  wherein  the  terrible  famine  hath  terribly 
stared  the  town  in  the  face ;  we  have  been  brought  sometimes  unto  the 
last  meal  in  the  barrel;  we  have  cried  out  with  the  disciples,  "We  have 
not  loaves  enougli  to  feed  a  tenth  part  of  us!"  but  the  feared  famine  has 
always  been  kept  off;  always  we  have  had  seasonable  and  sufficient  sup- 
plies after  a  surprizing  manner  sent  in  unto  us:  let  the  three  last  years  in 
this  thing  most  eminently  proclaim  the  goodness  of  our  heavenly  Shep- 
herd and  Feeder.  This  has  been  the  help  of  our  God;  because  "his  mercy 
cndureth  for  ever!"  The  angels  of  death  have  often  shot  the  arrows  of 
death  into  the  midst  of  the  town ;  the  small-pox  has  especially  four  times 
been  a  great  plague  vipon  us:  how  often  have  there  been  bills  desiring 
prayers  for  more  than  an  hundred  sick  on  one  day  in  one  of  our  assem- 
blies? in  one  twelve-month,  about  one  thousand  of  our  neighbours  have 
one  way  or  other  been  carried  unto  their  long  home :  and  yet  we  are,  after 
all,  many  more  than  seven  thousand  souls  of  us  at  this  hour  living  on  the 
spot.  Why  is  not  a  "Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,"  written  on  the  doors 
of  our  abandoned  habitations?  This  hath  been  the  help  of  our  God, 
because  "  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever."  Never  was  any  town  under  the 
cope  of  heaven  more  liable  to  be  laid  in  ashes,  either  through  the  care- 
lessness or  through  the  wickedness  of  them  that  sleep  in  it.  That  such 
a  combustible  heap  of  contiguous  houses  yet  stands,  it  may  be  called  a 
standing  miracle;  it  is  not  because  "the  watchman  keeps  the  city;  perhaps 
there  may  be  too  much  cause  of  reflection  in  that  thing,  and  of  inspection 
too;  no,  "it  is  from  thy  watchful  protection,  0  thou  keeper  of  Boston, 
who  neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps."  Ten  times  has  the  fire  made  notable 
ruins  among  us,  and  our  good  servant  been  almost  our  master ;  but  the 
ruins  have  mostly  and  quickly  been  rebuilt.  I  suppose  that  many  more 
than  a  thousand  houses  are  to  be  seen  on  this  little  piece  of  ground,  all 
filled  with  the  undeserved  favours  of  God.  Whence  this  preservation? 
This  hath  been  the  help  of  our  God;  because  "his  mercy  endureth  for 
ever!"  But  if  ever  this  town  saw  a  year  of  salvations,  transcendently 
such  was  the  last  year  unto  us.  A  formidable  French  squadron  hath  not 
shot  one  bomb  into  the  midst  of  thee,  0  thou  munition  of  rocks/  our  streets 
have  not  run  with  blood  and  gore,  and  horrible  devouring  flames  have 
not  raged  upon  our  substance:  those  are  ignorant,  and  unthinl-ing,  and 
unthankful  men,  who  do  not  own  that  we  have  narrowly  escaped  as  dread- 
ful things  as  Carthagena,  or  Newfoundland,  have  suffered.  I  am  sure 
our  more  considerate  friends  beyond-sea  were  very  suspicious,  and  well 
nigh  despairing,  that  victorious  enemies  had  swallowed  up  the  town.  But 
"thy  soul  is  escaped,  O  Boston,  as  a  bird  out  of  the  snare  of  the  fowlers." 
Or,  if  you  will  be  insensible  of  this,  ye  vain  men,  yet  be  sensible  that  an 
English  squadron  hath  not  brought  among  us  the  tremendous  pestilence, 
under  which  a  neighbouring  plantation  hath  undergone  prodigious  desola- 
tions.    Boston,  'tis  a  marvellous  thing  a  plague  has  not  laid  thee  desolate ! 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


93 


Our  deliverance  from  our  friends  has  been  as  full  of  astonishing  mercy, 
as  our  deliverance  from  out  foes.  We  read  of  a  certain  city  in  Isa.  xix. 
18,  called,  "The  city  of  Destruction."  Why  so?  some  say,  because  deliv- 
ered from  destruction.  If  that  be  so,  then  hast  thou  been  a  city  of 
destruction:  or  I  will  rather  say,  a  city  of  salvation:  and  this  by  the  help 
of  God;  because  "his  mercy  endureth  for  ever."  Shall  I  go  on?  I  will. 
We  have  not  had  the  bread  of  adversity  and  the  ivaier  of  affliction,  like 
many  other  places.  But  yet  all  this  while  "our  eyes  have  seen  our 
teachers."  Here  are  several  " golden  candlesticks "  in  the  town.  " Shining 
and  burning  lights"  have  illuminated  them.  There  are  gone  to  shine  in 
an  higher  orb  seven  divines  that  were  once  the  stars  of  this  town,  in  the 
pastoral  charge  of  it;  besides  many  others,  that  for  some  years  gave  us 
transient  influences.  Churches  flourishing  with  much  love,  and  peace,  and 
many  "comforts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  have  hitherto  been  our  greatest  glory. 
I  wish  that  some  sad  eclipse  do  not  come  ere  long  upon  this  glory/  The 
dispensations  of  the  gospel  were  never  enjoyed  by  any  town  with  more 
liberty  and  purity  for  so  long  a  while  together.  Our  opportunities  to  draw 
near  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  ordinances,  cannot  be  paralleled. 
Boston,  thou  hast  been  lifted  up  to  heaven;  there  is  not  a  town  upon  earth 
which,  on  some  accounts,  has  more  to  answer  for.  Such,  0  such  has  been 
our  helj)  from  our  God,  because  "his  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 

II.  Let  us  acknowledge  whose  Jielj)  it  is  that  we  have  received,  and 
not  "give  the  glory  of  our  God  unto  another."  Poorly  helped  had  we  been, 
I  may  tell  you,  if  we  had  none  but -humane  help  all  this  while  to  depend 
upon.  The  favours  of  our  superiors  we  deny  not;  we  forget  not  the 
instruments  of  our  help.  Nevertheless,  this  little  outcast  Zion  shal],  with 
my  consent,  engrave  the  name  of  no  man  upon  her  Ebenezer!  It  was 
well  confessed  in  Psal.  cviii.  12,  "Vain  is  the  help  of  man!"  It  was  Avell 
counselled  in  Psal.  cxlvi.  3,  "  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  son 
of  man,  in  whom  there  is  no  help." 

Wherefore,  first,  let  God  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  have  the  glory  of 
bestowing  on  us  all  the  help  that  Ave  have  had.  When  the  Spirit  of  God 
came  upon  a  servant  of  his,  he  cried  out  unto  David,  in  1  Chron.  xii.  18, 
"Thy  God  helpeth  thee."  This  is  the  voice  of  God  from  heaven  to  Boston 
this  day,  "Th}'  God  hath  helped  thee:  thou  hast  by  thy  sin  destroyed  thy 
self,  but  in  thy  God  hath  been  thy  help."  A  great  man  once  building  an 
edifice,  caused  an  inscription  of  this  importance  to  be  written  on  the  gates 
of  it:  "Such  a  place  planted  me,  such  a  place  watered  me,  and  Caesar  gave 
the  increase."  One  that  passed  by,  with  a  witt}^  sarcasm,  wrote  under  it. 
Hie  Deus  nihil  fecit;  i.  e.  "God,  it  seems,  did  nothing  for  this  man."  But 
the  inscription  upon  our  Ebenezer,  owning  what  help  this  town  hath  had, 
shall  say,  "Our  God  hath  dmie  all  that  is  done!"  Say  then,  0  helped 
Boston,  say  as  in  Psal.  cxxi.  2,  "My  help  is  from  the  Lord  which  made 
heaven  and  earth."     Say  as  in  Psal.  xciv.  17,  "Unless  the  Lord  had  been 


94;  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

my  help,  my  soul  had  quickly  dwelt  in  silence."  And  boldly  say,  '"Tis 
only  because  the  Lord  has  been  my  helper,  that  earth  and  hell  have 
never  done  all  that  they  would  unto  me." 

Let  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  praised  as  our  blessed  helper!  that  stone 
which  the  foolish  builders  have  refused,  Oh!  set  up  that  stone;  even  that 
high  rock:  set  him  on  high  in  our  praises,  and  say,  that  ^Uhai  is  our  Eben- 
ezer."  'Tis  our  Lord  Jesus  Curist,  who  in  his  infinite  compassions  for  the 
town  hath  said,  as  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  5,  "I  looked,  and  there  was  none  to  help; 
therefore  my  own  arm  hath  brought  salvation  unto  it."  It  is  foretold  con- 
cerning the  idolatrous  Eoman  Catholicks,  that  together  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  they  shall  worship  other  Mcmzzim;  that  is  to  say,  other  protectors. 
Accordingly,  all  their  towns  ordinarily  have  singled  out  their  protectors 
among  the  saints  of  heaven;  such  a  saint  is  entitled  unto  the 2)at}-onage  of 
such  a  town  among  them,  and  such  a  saint  for  another :  old  Boston,  by 
name,  was  but  Saint  Botolph's  town.  Whereas  thou,  O  Boston,  shalt  have 
but  owe  protector  in  heaven,  and  that  is  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Oh  !  rejoice 
in  him  alone,  and  say,  "the  Lord  is  my  fortress  and  my  deliverer!"  There 
was  a  song  once  made  for  a  town,  which  in  its  distresses  had  been  helped 
wonderously;  and  the  first  clause  in  that  song,  (\^ou  have  it  in  Isa.  xxvi. 
1,)  may  be  so  rendered:  "We  have  a  strong  town ;  salvation  [or  Jesus  the 
Lord,  whose  name  hath  salvation  in  it]  will  appoint  walls  and  bulwarks." 
Truly  what  help  we  have  had  we  will  sing,  "'Tis  our  Jesus  that  hath 
appointed  them."  The  old  pagan  towns  were  sometimes  mighty  solicitous 
to  conceal  the  name  of  the  particular  god  that  they  counted  their  protector, 
Ke  ah  hostihus  Evocafus,  alio  commi'jraret.'^  But  I  shall  be  far  from  doing 
my  town  any  damage  by  publishing  the  name  of  its  protector;  no,  let  all 
mankind  know,  that  the  name  of  our  protector  is  Jesus  Christ:  for 
"among  the  gods  there  is  none  like  unto  thee,  0,  Lord:  nor  is  any  help 
like  unto  thine:  and  there  is  no  rock  like  to  our  God." 

Yea,  when  we  ascribe  the  name  of  helper  unto  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
let  us  also  acknowledge  that  the  name  is  not  sufficiently  expressive,  emphat- 
ical  and  significant.  Lactantius  of  old  blamed  the  heathen  for  giving  the 
highest  of  their  gods  no  higher  a  title  than  that  of  Jupiter,  or  Juvans  pater, 
i.  e.  an  helping  father ;  and  he  says,  Non  intellyjit  Divina  Benefcia,  qui  se  a 
Deo  tantummodo  Juvari  putai:  (the  kindnesses  of  God  are  not  understood 
by  that  man  who  makes  no  more  than  an  helper  of  him.)  Such  indeed  is 
the  penury  of  our  language,  that  we  cannot  coin  a  more  expressive  name. 
Nevertheless,  when  we  say,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  been  our  helper, 
let  us  intend  more  than  we  express;   "Lord,  thou  hast  been  all  unto  us." 

Secondly,  Let  the  sacrifice  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  most  explicitely 
have  the  glory  of  ])urchasing  for  us  all  our  help.  What  was  it  that  pro- 
cured an  Ebenezer  for  the  people  of  God?  We  read  in  2  Sam.  vii.  9, 
"Samuel  took  a  sucking  lamb,  and  offered  it  a  burnt-offering  wholly  unto 

*  Lest,  b^uiled  by  the  prayers  and  offerings  of  the  enemy,  lie  should  lake  up  a  residence  ebewhere. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


95 


the  I^ord;  and  Samuel  cried  unto  the  Lord  for  Israel,  and  the  Lord  heard 
him."  Shall  I  tell  you?  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  that  lamb  of  God ;  and 
he  has  been  a  lamb  slain  as  a  sacrifice ;  and  he  is  a  sacrifice  pleadable  not 
only  forepersons,  but  also  for  peoi^les  that  belong  unto  him.  To  teach  us 
this  evangelical  and  comfortable  mystery^  there  was  a  sacrifice  for  the 
whole  congregation  prescribed  in  the  Mosaic  Pasdagogy.  'Tis  notorious 
that  the  sins  of  this  town  have  been  many  sins,  and  mighty  sins;  the  "cry 
thereof  hath  gone  up  to  heaven."  If  the  Almighty  God  should  from 
heaven  rain  down  upon  the  town  an  horrible  tempest  of  thuderbolts,  as  he 
did  upon  the  cities  "which  he  overthrew  in  his  anger,  and  repented  not," 
it  would  be  no  more  than  our  unrepented  sins  deserve.  How  comes  it 
then  to  pass  that  we  have  had  so  much  help  from  Heaven  after  all?  Truly 
the  sacrifice  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  been  pleaded  for  Boston,  and 
therefore  say,  therefore  it  is  that  the  town  is  not  made  a  sacrifice  to  the  ven- 
geance of  God.  God  sent  help  to  the  town  that  was  the  very  heart  and 
life  of  the  land  that  he  had  a  pity  for:  but  why  so?  He  said  in  Isa.  xxxvii. 
85,  "I  will  defend  this  town,  to  save  it  for  my  servant  David's  sake."  Has 
this  town  been  defended?  It  has  been  for  the  sake  of  the  beloved  Jesus: 
therefore  has  the  daughter  of  Boston  shaken  her  head  at  you,  0  ye  calami- 
ties that  have  been  impending  over  her  head.  0,  helped  and  happy  town ! 
thou  hast  had  those  believers  in  the  midst  of  thee,  that  have  pleaded  this 
with  the  great  God:  "Ah!  Lord,  thou  hast  been  more  honoured  by  the 
sufferings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  than  thou  couldst  be  honoured  by 
overwhelming  this  town  with  all  the  plagues  of  thy  just  indignation.  Tf 
thou  wilt  spare,  and  feed,  and  keep,  and  help  this  poor  town,  the  sufferings 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  owned  as  the  prize  of  all  our  help'."  'Tis 
't}iis  that  hath  procured  us  all  our  help :  'tis  this  that  must  have  all  oar  praise. 
Thirdl}^,  Let  the  Lord  be  in  a  special  manner  glorified  for  the  ministry 
of  his  good  angels,  in  that  help  that  has  been  ministered  unto  us.  A  Jacob, 
lying  on  a  stone^  saw  the  angels  of  God  helping  him.  We  are  setting  up 
an  Ebenezer;  but  when  we  lay  our  heads  and  our  thoughts  upon  the  stone, 
let  us  then  see,  the  angels  of  God  have  helped  us.  When  Macedonia  was 
to  have  some  help  from  God,  an  angel,  whom  the  apostle  in  Acts  xvi.  9, 
saw  habited  like  a  man  of  Macedonia^  was  a  mean  of  its  being  brought  unto 
them.  There  is  abundant  cause  to  think  that  every  town  in  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  worshipped,  hath  an  angel  to  watch  over  it.  The 
primitive  Christians  were  perswaded  from  the  scriptures  of  truth  to  make 
no  doubt  of  this.  Quod  per  Civitates  distributm  sunt  Angelorum  proefecturoi!^ 
When  the  capital  town  of  Judea  was  rescued  from  an  invasion,  we  read  in 
2  Kings  xix.  35,  "The  angel  of  the  Lord  went  out,  and  smote  the  camp 
of  the  Assyrians."  It  should  seem  there  was  an  angel  which  did  reside 
in,  and  preside  over  the  town,  who  went  out  for  that  amazing  exploit. 
And  is  it  not  likely,  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  out  for  to  smite 

•  That  angel-guarda  were  stationed  along  the  various  cities  where  they  dwelt. 


9(3  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

the  fleet  of  the  Assyrians  -with  a  sickness,  which  the  last  summer  hindered 
their  invading  of  this  town?  Tlie  angel  of  Boston  was  concerned  for  it! 
Why  have  not  the  destro3^ers  broke  in  upon  us,  to  prey  upon  us  with  sore 
destruction  ?  'Tis  because  we  have  had  a  wall  of  fire  about  us ;  that  is  to 
say,  a  guard  of  angels;  those  flames  of  fire  have  been  as  a  wall  unto  us. 
It  was  an  angel  that  helped  a  Daniel  when  the  lions  would  else  have 
swallowed  him  up.  It  was  an  angel  that  helped  a  Lot  out  of  the  fires 
that  were  coming  to  consume  his  habitation.  It  was  an  angel  that  helped 
an  Elias  to  meat  when  he  wanted  it.  They  were  angels  that  helped  tho 
whole  people  of  God  in  the  wilderness  to  their  daily  bread ;  their  manna 
was  angel's  food :  and  is  it  nothing  that  such  angels  have  done  for  this 
town,  think  you?  Oh!  think  not  so.  Indeed,  if  we  should  go  to  thank 
the  angels  for  doing  these  things,  they  would  zealously  say,  "See  thou 
do  it  not ! "  But  if  we  thank  their  Lord  and  ours  for  his  employing  them 
to  do  these  things,  it  will  exceedingly  gratifie  them.  "Wherefore,  "Bless  ye 
the  Lord,  ye  his  angels ;  and  bless  the  Lord,  0  my  toiu7i,  for  those  his  angels" 
III.  Let  the  help  which  we  have  hitherto  had  from  our  God,  encourage 
us  to  hope  in  him  for  more  help  hereafter  as  the  matter  may  require. 
The  help  that  God  had  given  to  his  people  of  old  was  commemorated,  as 
with  monumental  pillars,  conveying  down  the  remembrance  of  it  unto 
their  children.  And  what  for?  We  are  told  in  Psal.  Ixxviii.  7,  "That 
they  might  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God."  I 
am  not  willing  to  say  how  much  this  town  may  be  threatned,  even  with 
an  utter  exthpation.  But  this  I  will  say,  the  motto  upon  all  our  Ebenezers 
is,  Hope  in  God!  Hope  in  God!  The  use  of  the  former  help  that  we 
have  hid  from  God,  should  be  an  hope  for  future  help  from  him,  that  is 
"a  present  help  in  the  time  of  trouble."  As  in  the  three  first  verses  of 
the  eighty-fifth  Psalm,  six  times  over  there  occurs,  "Thou  hast,"  "Thou 
hast,"  all  to  usher  in  this,  "Therefore  thou  wilt  still  do  so,"  O  let  our 
faith  proceed  in  that  way  of  arguing  in  2  Cor.  i.  10,  "The  Lord  hath 
delivered,  and  he  doth  deliver,  and  in  him  we  trust  that  he  Avill  still 
deliver."  We  are  to-day  writing,  "Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  us;" 
let  us  write  under  it,  "And  we  hope  the  Lord  has  more  help  for  us  in  the 
time  of  need!"  It  may  be  some  are  purposing  suddenly  and  hastily  to 
leave  the  town  through  their  fears  of  the  straits  that  may  come  upon  it. 
But  I  Avould  not  have  you  be  too  sudden  and  hasty  in  your  purposes,  as 
too  many  have  been  unto  their  after-sorrow.  There  was  a  time  Avhen  people 
were  so  discouraged  about  a  subsistence  in  the  principal  town  of  the  Jews, 
that  they  talked  of  plucking  up  stakes,  and  flying  away;  but  the  minister 
of  God  came  to  them,  (and  so  do  I  to  you  this  da}^ !)  saying,  in  Isa.  xxx. 
7,  "I  cried  concerning  this,  their  strength  is  to  sit  still!"  Boston  was  no 
sooner  come  to  some  consistence  threescore  years  ago,  but  the  people  found 
themselves  plunged  into  a  sad  non-phis  what  way  to  take  for  a  subsistence. 
G'jd  then  immediately  put  them  into  a  way,  and  "hitherto  the  Lord  has 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  97 

helped  us!"  The  town  is  at  this  day  full  of  widows  and  orphans,  and  a 
multitude  of  them  are  very  helpless  creatures.  I  am  astonished  how  they 
live !  In  that  church  whereof  I  am  the  servant,  I  have  counted  the  wid- 
ows make  about  a  sixth  part  of  our  communicants,  and  no  doubt  in  the 
whole  town  the  proportion  differs  not  very  much.  Now  stand  still,  my 
friends,  and  behold  the  help  of  God!  Were  any  of  these  ever  starved 
yet?  No:  these  widows  are  every  one  in  some  sort  provided  for.  And 
let  me  tell  you,  ye  handmaids  of  the  Lord,  you  shall  be  still  provided  for ! 
The  Lord,  whose  family  you  belong  unto,  will  conveniently  and  wonder- 
fully provide  for  you;  if  you  say,  and  Oh!  say  of  him,  "The  Lord  is  my 
helper;  I  will  not  fear!" 

What  shall  I  say?  When  Moses  was  ready  to  faint  in  his  prayers  for 
his  people,  we  read  in  Exod.  xvii.  12,  "They  took  a  stone,  and  put  it 
under  him."  Christians,  there  are  some  of  you  who  abound  in  prayers, 
that  the  help  of  God  may  be  granted  unto  the  town;  the  town  is  much 
upheld  by  those  prayers  of  yours.  Now,  that  you  may  not  faint  in  your 
prayers,  I  bring  you  a  stone:  the  stone,  'tis  our  Ebenezer;  or,  the  relation 
of  the  Jielp  that  hitherto  the  Lord  hath  given  us. 

IV.  Let  all  that  bear  public  office  in  the  town  contribute  all  the  help 
they  can,  that  may  continue  the  help  of  God  unto  us.  Austin,  in  his  Con- 
fessions, gives  thanks  to  God,  that  when  he  was  a  helpless  infant,  he  had 
a  nurse  to  help  him,  and  one  that  was  both  able  and  willing  to  help  him. 
Infant-Boston,  thou  hast  those  whom  the  Bible  calls  nursing -fathers.  Oh, 
be  not  froward,  as  thou  art  in  thy  treating  of  thy  nurses ;  but  give  thanks 
to  God  for  them.  I  forget  my  self;  'tis  with  the  fathers  themselves  that 
I  am  concerned. 

When  it  was  demanded  of  Demosthenes,  what  it  was  that  so  long  pre- 
served Athens  in  a  flourishing  state,  he  made  this  answer:  "The  orators 
are  men  of  learning  and  wisdom,  the  magistrates  do  justice,  the  citizens 
love  quiet,  and  the  laws  are  kept  among  them  all."  May  Boston  flourish 
in  such  bappy  order! 

And  first,  you  may  assure  yourselves  that  the  ministers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  among  you  will  be  joyful  to  approve  themselves,  as  the  Book 
of  God  has  called  them,  "The  helpers  of  your  joy."  O,  our  dear  flocks, 
we  owe  you  our  all;  all  our  love,  all  our  strength,  all  our  time;  we  watch 
for  you  as  those  that  must  give  an  account;  and  I  am  very  much  mistaken 
if  we  are  not  willing  to  die  for  you,  too,  if  called  unto  it.  If  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  should  say  to  us,  "My  servant,  if  you'll  die  to-night,  you  shall 
have  this  reward:  the  people  that  you  preach  to  shall  be  all  converted 
unto  me!"  I  think  we  should  with  triumphing  souls  reply,  "Ah!  Lord, 
then  I'll  die  with  all  my  heart."  Sirs,  we  should  go  away  "rejoycing  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  I  am  satisfied  that  the  most  furious 
and  foul-mouthed  reviler  that  God  may  give  any  of  us  to  be  buffeted 
withal,  if  he  will  but  come  to  sober  thoughts,  he  will  say,  That  there  is 
Vol  L-7 


98  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

not  any  one  man  in  the  town,  but  the  ministers  wish  that  man  as  well  as 
they  do  their  own  souls,  and  would  gladly  serve  that  man  by  day  or  by 
night,  in  any  thing  that  it  were  possible  to  do  for  him.  Wherefore,  O  our 
beloved  people,  I  beseech  you  leave  off,  leave  ofif  to  throw  stones  at  your 
Ebenezers.  Instead  of  that,  pray  for  us,  and  "strive  together  with  us  in 
your  prayers  to  God  for  us."  Then  with  the  help  of  Christ  we'll  promise 
you  we  will  set  our  selves  to  observe  what  special  truths  may  be  most 
needful  to  be  inculcated  upon  you,  and  we  will  inculcate  them.  We  will 
set  our  selves  to  observe  the  temptations  that  beset  you,  the  ajjiictions  that 
assault  you,  and  the  duties  that  are  incumbent  on  you ;  and  we  will  accom- 
modate our  selves  unto  them.  We  will  set  our  selves  to  observe  what 
souls  among  you  do  call  for  our  more  particular  addresses,  and  we  will 
address  them  flxithfully,  and  even  travel  in  hirth  for  them.  Nor  will  we 
give  over  praying,  and  fasting,  and  crying  to  our  great  Lord  for  ydu 
until  we  die.  Whatever  other  helpers  the  town  enjoys,  they  shall  have 
that  convenience  in  Ezra  v.  2,  "With  them  were  the  prophets  of  God, 
helping  them."  Well,  then,  let  the  rest  of  our  worthy  helpers  lend  an 
helping  hand  for  the  promoting  of  those  things  wherein  the  weal  of  the 
town  is  Avrapped  up !  When  the  Jews  thought  that  a  defiling  thing  was 
breaking  in  among  them,  in  Acts  xxi.  28,  "They  cried  out,  Men  of  Israel, 
help!"  Truly  there  is  cause  to  make  that  cry,  "Men  of  Boston,  help  I" 
for  ignorance,  and  prophaneness,  and  bad  living,  and  the  worst  things  in 
the  world,  are  breaking  in  upon  us. 

And  now  will  the  Justices  of  the  town  set  themselves  to  consider, 
How  they  may  help  to  suppress  all  growing  vices  among  us? 

Will  the  Constables  of  the  town  set  themselves  to  consider,  How  they 
may  help  to  prevent  all  evil  orders  among  us? 

There  are  some  who  have  the  eye  of  the  town  so  much  upon  them,  that 
the  very  name  of  Towns-men  is  that  by  which  they  are  distinguished. 
Sirs,  will  you  also  consider  how  to  help  the  affairs  of  the  town,  so  as  that 
all  things  may  go  well  among  us? 

Moreover,  may  not  School-masters  do  much  to  instil  principles  of 
religion  and  civility,  as  well  as  other  points  of  good  education,  into  the 
children  of  the  town  ?  Only  let  the  town  well  encourage  its  well-deserv- 
ing school-masters. 

There  are  some  officers ;  but  concerning  all,  there  are  these  two  things 
to  be  desired:  First,  it  is  to  be  desired  that  such  officers  as  are  chosen  among 
us,  may  be  chosen  in  the  fear  of  God.  May  none  but  pious  and  prudent 
men,  and  such  as  love  the  town,  be  chosen  to  serve  it.  And,  secondly,  it 
is  to  be  desired  that  officers  of  several  sorts  would  often  come  together  for 
consultation.  Each  of  the  sorts  by  themselves,  may  they  often  come  together 
to  consult,  "What  shall  we  do  to  serve  the  town  in  those  interests  which 
are  committed  unto  our  charge?"  Oh!  what  a  deplorable  thing  will  it  be 
for  persons  to  be  entrusted  with  talents,  (your  opportunities  to  serve  the 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  gg 

town  are  so  many  talents!)  and  they  never  seriously  consider,  "What  good 
shall  I  do  with  my  talents  in  the  place  where  God  hath  stationed  me?" 

And  will  the  Representatives  of  the  town  be  considered  among  the 
rest,  as  entrusted  with  some  singular  advantages  for  our  help?  The  Lord 
give  you  understanding  in  all  things! 

V.  God  help  the  town  to  manifest  all  that  piety,  which  a  town  so  helped 
of  him  is  obliged  unto!  When  the  people  of  God  had  been  carried  by 
his  help  through  their  difficulties,  they  set  up  stones  to  keep  in  mind  how 
he  had  helped  them ;  and  something  was  written  on  the  stones :  but  what 
was  written?  see  Josh.  viii.  32,  "Joshua  wrote  upon  the  stones  a  copy  of 
the  law."  Truly  upon  those  Ebenezers  which  we  set  up,  we  should  write 
the  law  of  our  God,  and  recognize  the  obligations  which  the  help  of  our 
God  has  laid  upon  us  to  keep  it. 

We  are  a  very  unpardonable  town,  if,  after  all  the  help  which  our  God 
has  given  us,  we  do  not  ingenuously  enquire,  "What  shall  we  render  to 
the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits?"  Render!  Oh!  let  us  our  selves  thus  answer- 
the  enquiry:  "Lord,  we  will  render  all  possible  and  filial  obedience  unto 
thee,  because  hitherto  thou  hast  helped  us:  only  do  thou  also  help  us  to 
render  that  obedience!"  Mark  what  I  say:  if  there  be  so  much  as  one 
2)rai/erkss  house  in  such  a  town  as  this,  'tis  inexcusable !  How  inexcusable 
then  will  be  all  flagitious  outrages  ?  There  was  a  town  ('twas  the  town 
of  Sodom!)  that  had  been  wonderfully  saved  out  of  the  hands  of  their 
enemies.  But  after  the  help  that  God  sent  unto  them,  the  town  went  on 
to  sin  against  God  in  very  prodigious  instances.  At  last  a  provoked  God 
sent  a  fire  upon  the  town  that  made  it  an  eternal  desolation.  Ah,  Boston, 
beware,  beware,  lest  the  sins  of  Sodom  get  footing  in  thee!  And  what 
were  the  sins  of  Sodom?  We  find  in  Ezek.  xvi.  49,  "Behold,  this  was 
the  iniquity  of  Sodom ;  pride,  fulness  of  bread,  and  abundance  of  idleness 
was  in  her;  neither  did  she  strengthen  the  hand  of  the  poor  and  the 
needy;"  there  was  much  oppression  there.  If  you  know  of  any  scandal- 
ous disorders  in  the  town,  do  all  you  can  to  suppress  them,  and  redress 
them;  and  let  not  those  that  send  their  sons  hither  from  other  parts  of  the 
world,  for  to  be  improved  in  virtue,  have  cause  to  complain,  "That  after 
they  came  to  Boston,  they  lost  what  little  virtue  was  before  budding  in 
them;  that  in  Boston  they  grew  more  debauched  and  more  malignant 
than  ever  they  were  before!"  It  was  noted  concerning  the  famous  town 
of  Port-Royal  in  Jamaica,  which  you  know  was  the  other  day  swallowed 
up  in  a  stupendous  earthquake,  that  just  before  the  earthquake  the  people 
were  violently  and  scandalously  set  upon  going  to  Fortune-tdkrs  upon  all 
occasions:  much  notice  was  taken  of  this  impiety  generally  prevailing 
among  the  people :  but  none  of  those  wretched  Fortune-tellers  could  foresee 
or  forestal  the  direful  catastrophe.  I  have  heard  that  there  are  Fortune- 
tellers in  this  town  sometimes  consulted  by  some  of  the  sinful  inhabitants. 
I  wish  the  town  could  be  made  too  hot  for  these  dangerous  transgressors. 


IQQ  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

I  am  sure  the  preservation  of  the  town  from  horrendous  earthquakes,  is 
one  thing  that  bespeaks  our  Ebenezers;  'tis  from  the  merciful  help  of  our 
God  unto  us.  But  beware,  I  beseech  you,  of  those  provoking  evils  that 
may  expose  us  to  a  plague,  exceeding  all  that  are  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
twenty-eighth  of  Deuteronomy.  Let  me  go  on  to  say,  What!  shall  there 
be  any  bawdy-houses  in  such  a  town  as  this!  It  may  be  the  neighbours, 
that  could  smoke  them,  and  rout  them,  if  they  would,,  are  loth  to  stir,  for 
fear  of  being  reputed  ill  neighbours.  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  you  are 
ill  neighbours  because  you  do  it  not.  All  the  neighbours  are  like  to  have 
their  children  and  servants  poisoned,  and  their  dwellings  laid  in  ashes, 
because  you  do  it  not.  And,  Oh !  that  the  drinking-houses  in  the  town 
might  once  come  under  a  laudable  regulation.  The  town  has  an  enormous 
number  of  them ;  Avill  the  haunters  of  those  houses  hear  the  counsels  of 
Heaven?  For  you  that  are  the  town-dwellers,  to  be  oft  or  long  in  your 
visits  of  the  ordinary,  'twill  certainly  expose  you  to  mischiefs  more  than 
ordinary.  I  have  seen  certain  taverns,  where  the  pictures  of  horrible 
devourers  were  hanged  out  for  the  signs;  and,  thought  I,  'twere  well  if 
such  signs  were  not  sometimes  too  significant:  alas,  men  have  their  estates 
devoured^  their  names  devoured,  their  hours  devoured,  and  their  very  souls 
devoured,  when  they  are  so  besotted  that  they  are  not  in  their  element, 
except  they  be  tipling  at  such  houses.  AVhen  once  a  man  is  bewitched 
with  the  ordinary,  what  usually  becomes  of  him?  He  is  a  gone  man; 
and  when  he  comes  to  die,  he  will  cry  out,  as  many  have  done,  "Ale- 
houses are  hell-houses!  ale-houses  are  hell-houses!"  But  let  the  owners 
of  those  houses  also  now  hear  our  counsels.  "Oh!  hearken  tc  me,  that 
God  may  hearken  to  you  another  day ! "  It  is  an  honest,  and  a  lawful, 
though  it  may  not  be  a  very  desirable  employment,  that  you  have  under- 
taken :  you  may  gloritie  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  your  employment  if  you 
will,  and  benefit  the  town  considerably.  There  was  a  very  godly  man 
that  was  an  innkeeper,  and  a  great  minister  of  God  could  say  to  that  man, 
in  3  John  2,  "Thy  soul  prospereth."  0  let  it  not  be  said  of  you,  since 
you  are  fallen  into  this  employment,  "Thy  soul  withereth!"  It  is  thus 
with  too  many:  especially,  when  they  that  get  a  license  perhaps  to  sell 
drink  out  of  doors,  do  stretch  their  license  to  sell  within  doors.  Those 
private  houses,  when  once  a  professor  of  the  gospel  comes  to  steal  a  living 
out  of  them,  it  commonly  precipitates  them  into  an  abundance  of  wretch- 
edness and  confusion.  But  I  pray  God  assist  you  that  keep  ordinaries,  to 
keep  the  commandments  of  God  in  them.  There  was  an  Inn  at  Bethle- 
hem where  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  to  be  met  withal.  Can  Boston 
boast  of  many  such?  Alas,  too  ordinarily  it  may  be  said,  "there  is  no 
room  for  him  in  the  Inn!"  My  friends,  let  me  beg  it  of  you,  banish  the 
unfruitful  works  of  darkness  from  your  houses,  and  then  the  sun  of  right- 
eousness will  shine  upon  them.  Don't  countenance  drunkenness,  revelling, 
and  mis-spending  of  precious  time  in  your  houses ;  let  none  have  the  snares 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  JQl 

of  deatli  laid  for  them  in  your  houses.  You'll  say,  "I  shall  starve  then!" 
I  say,  "Better  starve  than  sin:"  but  you  shall  not.  Jt  is  the  word  of  tlic 
Most  High,  "Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed.  '*'  And  is  not  peace  of  conscience^  with  a  little^  better  than  those  riches 
that  will  shortly  melt  away,  and  then  run  like  scalding  metal  down  the 
very  bowels  of  thy  soul? 

What  shall  I  say  more?  There  is  one  article  of  2'>^^ty  more  to  be 
recommended  unto  us  all ;  and  it  is  an  article  which  all  piety  does  exceed- 
ingly turn  upon,  that  is,  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day.  Some 
very  judicious  persons  have  observed,  that  as  "they  sanctify  the  Lord's 
day,  remissly  or  carefully,  just  so  their  affairs  usually  prospered  all  the 
ensuing  week."  Sirs,  you  cannot  more  consult  the  prosperity  of  the  town, 
in  all  its  affairs,  than  by  endeavouring  that  the  Lord's  day  may  be  exem- 
plarily  sanctified.  When  people  about  Jerusalem  took  too  much  liberty 
on  the  Sabbath,  the  ruler  of  the  town  contended  with  them,  and  said,  "Ye 
bring  wrath  upon  Israel,  by  prophaning  the  Sabbath."  I  fear^ — ^I  fear  there 
are  many  among  us,  to  whom  it  may  be  said,  "Ye  bring  wrath  upon  Bos- 
ton, by  prophaning  the  Sabbath."  And  what  wrath?  Ah,  Lord,  prevent 
it!  But  there  is  an  awful  sentence  in  Jer.  xvii.  27,  ''If  ye  will  not  hearken 
unto  me,  to  sanctifie  the  Sabbath  day,  then  will  I  kindle  a  fire  on  the  town, 
and  it  shall  devour,  and  shall  not  be  quenched." 

Finally,  Let  the  piety  of  the  town  manifest  it  self  in  a  due  regard  unto 
the  Institutions  of  Him  whose  help  has  hitherto  been  a  shield  unto  us. 
Let  the  ark  be  in  the  town,  and  God  will  bless  the  town !  I  believe  it  may 
be  found,  that  in  the  mortal  scourges  of  heaven,  which  this  town  has  felt, 
there  has  been  a  discernabh  distinction  of  those  that  have  come  up  to 
attend  all  the  ordinances  ol  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  communion  of 
his  churches.  Though  these  have  had,  as  'tis  fit  they  should,  a  share  in 
the  common  deaths,  yet  the  destroying  angel  has  not  had  so  great  a  pro- 
portion of  these  in  his  commission,  as  he  has  had  of  others.  Whether  this 
be  so,  or  no,  to  uphold,  and  support,  and  attend  the  ordinances  of  ihe 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  reforming  churches,  this  will  entitle  the  town  to  the 
help  of  heaven;  for,  "Upon  the  glory  there  shall  be  a  defence!"  There 
were  the  victorious  forces  of  Alexander,  that  in  going  backward  and  for- 
ward, passed  by  Jerusalem  without  hurting  it.  Why  so?  Said  the  Lord 
in.  Zech.  ix.  8,  "I  will  encamp  about  my  house,  because  of  the  army." 
If  our  God  have  an  house  here,  he'll  encamp  about  it.  Nazianzen,  a  famous 
minister  of  the  gospel,  taking  his  farewel  of  Constantinople,  an  old  man 
that  had  sat  under  his  ministry,  cried  out,  "  Oh !  my  father,  don't  you  dare 
to  go  away:  you'll  carry  the  whole  Trinity  with  you!"  How  much  more 
may  it  be  cried  out,  "If  we  lose  or  slight  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  we  forego  the  help  of  all  the  Trinity  with  them!" 

VI.  Extraordinary  equity  and  charity,  as  well  a&  piety,  well  becomes 
a  town  that  hath  been  by  the  help  of  God  so  extraordinarily  signalized. 


102  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

A  town  marvellously  helped  by  God,  has  this  forptold  concerning  it,  in 
Isa.  i.  26,  "Afterward  thou  shalt  be  called,  the  city  of  righteousness,  the 
faithful  city."  May  the  Ebenezers  of  this  town  render  it  a  town  of  equity, 
and  a  town  of  charity!  Oh!  there  should  be  none  but  fair  dealings  in  a 
town  wherewith  Ilcaven  has  dealt  so  favourably.  Let  us  deal  fairly  in 
bargains;  deal  fairly  in  taxes;  deal  fairly  in  paying  respects  to  such  as 
have  been  beneflictors  unto  the  town.  'Tis  but  equity,  that  they  who 
have  been  old  slanders  in  the  town,  and  both  with  person  and  estate  served 
the  town  unto  the  utmost  for  many  years  together,  should  on  all  proper 
occasions  be  considered.  For  charity — I  may  indeed  speak  it  without  flat- 
tery— this  town  has  not  many  equals  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  from  heaven  wrote  unto  the  good  people  of  a  town  in  the 
lesser  Asia,  [Rev.  ii.  19,]  "I  know  thy  works  and  charity."  From  that 
blessed  Lord  I  may  venture  to  bring  that  message  unto  the  good  people 
of  this  town;  "the  glorious  Lord  of  heaven  knows  thy  works,  O  Boston, 
and  all  thy  charity."  This  is  a  poor  town,  and  yet  it  may  be  said  of 
the  Bostonians,  as  it  was  of  the  Macedonians,  "  their  deep  poverty  Jiath 
abounded  unto  the  riches  of  their  liberality."  O  ye  bountiful  people  of 
God,  all  your  daily  bounties  to  the  needy,  all  your  subscriptions  to  send 
the  bread  of  life  abroad  unto  places  that  are  perishing  in  wickedness,  all 
your  collections  in  your  assemblies  as  often  as  they  are  called  for;  "all 
these  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God!"  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  heaven  hath  beheld  your  helpfulness,  and  readiness  to  every 
good  work;  and  he  hath  requited  it  with  his  helpful  Ebenezers.  It  was 
said,  in  Isa.  xxxii.  8,  "The  liberal  deviseth  liberal  things,  and  by  liberal 
things  he  shall  stand."  There  are  some  in  this  town  that  are  always 
devising  liberal  things,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  lets  the  town  stand  for 
the  sake  of  those !  Instead  of  exhorting  you  to  augment  your  charity,  I 
will  rather  utter  an  exhortation,  or  at  least  a  supplication,  that  you  may 
not  abuse  your  charity  by  misapplying  of  it.  I  remember  I  have  read, 
that  an  inhabitant  of  the  city  Pisa  being  asked  why  their  town  so  went, 
as  it  then  did,  unto  decay? — he  fetched  a  deep  sigh,  and  said,  "Our  young 
men  are  too  prodigal,  our  old  men  are  too  affectionate,  and  we  have  no 
punishment  for  those  that  spend  their  years  in  idleness."  Ah!  the  last 
stroak  of  that  complaint  I  must  here  sigh  it  over  again.  Idleness,  alas  I 
idleness  increases  in  the  town  exceedingly ;  idleness,  of  which  there  never 
came  any  goodness!  idleness,  which  is  a  "reproach  to  any  people."  We 
work  hard  all  summer,  and  the  drones  count  themselves  wronged  if  they 
have  it  not  in  the  winter  divided  among  them.  The  poor  that  ca7iH  work, 
are  objects  for  your  liberality.  But  the  poor  that  cayi  work  and  uvn't,  the 
best  liberality  to  them  is  to  make  them.  I  beseech  you,  sirs,  find  out  a 
method  quickly,  that  the  idle  persons  in  the  town  may  earn  their  bread ; 
it  were  the  best  piece  of  charity  that  could  be  shown  unto  them,  and  equity 
unto  us  all.     Our  beggars  do  shamefully  grow  upon  us,  and  such  beggars, 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  103 

too,  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  hath  expressly  forbidden  us  to  coun- 
tenance. I  have  read  a  printed  sermon  which  was  preached  before  "both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  London,  and  the 
Assembly  of  Divines;"  the  greatest  audience  then  in  the  world:  and  in 
that  sermon  the  preacher  had  this  passage:  "I  have  lived  in  a  country 
where  in  seven  years  I  never  saw  a  beggar,  nor  heard  an  oath,  nor  looked 
upon  a  drunkard."  Shall  I  tell  you  where  that  Utopia  was?  'Twas  New- 
England  !     But  they  that  go  from  hence  must  now  tell  another  story. 

VII.  May  the  changes^  and  especially  the  judgments  that  have  come  upon 
the  town,  direct  us  what  help  to  petition  from  the  "God  of  our  salvations." 
The  Israelites  had  formerly  seen  dismal  things,  where  they  now  set  up 
their  Ebenezer:  the  Philistines  had  no  less  than  twice  beaten  them  there, 
and  there  taken  from  them  the  Ark  of  God.  Now  we  are  setting  up  our 
Ebenezer,  let  us  a  little  call  to  mind  some  dismal  things  that  we  have  seen ; 
the  Ebenezer  will  go  up  the  better  for  it. 

'  We  read  in  1  Sam.  vi.  18,  concerning  "the  great  stone  of  Abel."  Some 
say,  that  Adam  erected  that  stone,  as  a  grave-stone  for  his  Abel,  and  wrote 
that  epitaph  upon  it,  "Here  was  poured  out  the  blood  of  the  righteous 
Abel."  I  know  nothing  of  this;  the  names,  I  know,  differ  in  the  original; 
but  as  we  may  erect  many  a  stone  for  an  Ebenezer,  so  we  may  erect  many 
a  great  stone  of  Abel,  that  is  to  say,  we  may  write  mourning  and  sorrow 
upon  the  condition  of  the  town  in  various  examples.  Now  from  the  stones 
of  Abel,  we  will  a  little  gather  what  we  should  wish  to  write  upon  the 
stones  of  our  Ebenezer. 

AVhat  changes  have  we  seen  in  point  of  religion !  It  was  noted  by  Luther, 
he  "could  never  see  good  order  in  the  church  last  more  than  fifteen  years 
together  in  the  purity  of  it."  Blessed  be  God,  religion  hath  here  flourished 
in  the  2)uriti/  of  it  for  more  than  Jifteeii  years  together.  But  certainly  the 
power  of  Godliness  is  now  grievously  decayed  among  us.  As  the  prophet 
of  old  exclaimed,  in  Joel  i.  2,  "Hear  this,  ye  old  men,  and  give  ear,  ye 
inhabitants!  has  this  been  in  your  days?"  Thus  may  I  say,  "Hear  this, 
ye  old  men,  that  are  the  inhabitants  of  the  town :  can't  you  remember 
that  in  your  days,  a  prayerful,  a  watchful,  a  fruitful  Christian,  and  a  well- 
governed  family,  was  a  more  common  sight,  than  it  is  now  in  our  days? 
Can't  you  remember  that  in  your  days  those  abominable  things  did  not 
show  their  heads,  that  are  now  barefaced  among  us?  Here  then  is  a  petition 
to  be  made  unto  our  God:  "Lord,  help  us  to  remember  whence  we  are 
fallen,  and  to  repent,  and  to  do  the  first  works!" 

Again,  What  changes  have  we  seen  in  point  of  mortality  ?  By  mortality 
almost  all  the  old  race  of  our  first  planters  here  are  carried  off;  the  old 
stock  is  in  a  manner  expired.  We  see  the  fulfilment  of  that  word  in  Eccl. 
i.  4,  "One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh."  It 
would  be  no  unprofitable  thing  for  you  to  pass  over  the  several  streets,  and 
call  to  mind,  who  lived  here  so  many  years  ago?     Why?     In  that  place  lived 


10^  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

such  an  one.  "Bnt^  tchere  are  they  now?  Oh!  they  are  gone;  they  are  gone 
into  that  eternal  world,  Avhither  toe  must  quickly  follow  them.  Here  is 
another  petition  to  be  made  unto  God :  "Lord,  help  us  to  number  our  days, 
and  apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom,  that  when  the  places  that  now  know  us, 
do  know  us  no  more,  we  may  begone  into  the  city  of  God!" 

Furthermore,  What  changes  have  we  seen  in  point  of  possessions?  If 
some  that  are  now  rich  were  once  low  in  the  world,  'tis  possible,  more  that 
were  once  rich  are  now  brought  very  low.  Ah !  Boston,  thou  hast  seen  the 
vanity  of  all  worldly  possessions.  One  fatal  morning,  which  laid  fourscore 
of  thy  dwelling-houses,  and  seventy  of  thy  ware-houses,  in  a  ruinous  heap, 
not  nineteen  years  ago,  gave  thee  to  read  it  in  fiery  characters.  And  an 
huge  Jicet  of  thy  vessels,  which  they  would  make  if  they  were  all  together, 
that  have  miscarried  in  the  late  war,  has  given  thee  to  read  more  of  it. 
Here  is  one  petition  more  to  be  made  unto  our  God:  "Lord,  help  us  to 
ensure  a  better  and  a  lasting  substance  in  heaven,  and  the  good  part  that 
cannot  be  taken  away." 

In  fine,  how  dreadfully  have  the  young  people  of  Boston  perished  under 
the  judgments  of  God !  A  renowned  writer  among  the  Pagans  could  make 
this  remark:  there  was  a  town  so  irreligious  and  atheistical,  that  they  did 
not  pay  their  first-fruits  unto  God;  (which  the  light  of  nature  taught  the 
Pagans  to  do!)  and,  says  he,  they  were  by  a  sudden  desolation  so  strangely 
destroyed,  that  there  were  no  remainders  either  of  the  persons,  or  of  the 
houses,  to  be  seen  any  more.  Ah,  my  young  folks,  there  are  few  first-fruits 
paid  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  among  you.  From  hence  it  comes  to  pass, 
that  the  consuming  wrath  of  God  is  every  day  upon  you.  New-England 
has  been  like  a  tottering  house^  the  YQxy  foundations  of  it  have  been  shaking; 
but  the  house  thus  oversetting  by  the  whirlwinds  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
hath  been  like  Job's  house:  "It  falls  upon  the  young  men,  and  they  are 
dead !"  The  disasters  on  our  young  folks  have  been  so  multiplied,  that  there 
are  few  parents  among  us  but  what  will  go  with  wounded  hearts  down 
unto  their  graves:  their  daily  moans  are,  "Ah,  my  son,  cut  off  in  his 
youth!  My  son,  my  son!"  Behold  then  the  help  that  we  are  to  ask  of  our 
God;  and  why  do  we,  with  no  more  days  of  prayer  with  fasting,  ask  it? 
"Lord,  help  the  young  people  of  Boston  to  remember  thee  in  the  days 
of  their  youth,  and  satisfie  unto  the  survivers  the  terrible  things  that  have 
come  upon  so  many  of  that  generation." 

And  now  as  Joshua,  having  reasoned  with  his  people  a  little  before  he 
died,  in  Josh.  xxiv.  26,  27,  "took  a  great  stone,  and  set  it  up,  and  said  unto 
all  the  people.  Behold,  this  stone  shall  be  a  witness  unto  you,  lest  ye  deny 
your  God;"  thus  we  have  been  this  day  setting  up  a  stone,  even  an 
Ebcnezer,  among  you;  and  I  conclude,  earnestly  testifying  unto  you, 
Behold  this  stone  shall  be  a  witness  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
has  been  a  good  Lord  unto  you,  and  if  you  seek  him,  he  will  be  still  found 
of  you ;  but  if  you  forsake  him,  he  will  cast  you  off  for  ever. 


ECCLESIARUM  CLYPEI.-["THE  SHIELDS  OF  THE  CHUUCHES."] 

THE  SECOND  BOOI 


OP 


THE  NEW-ENGLISH   HISTORY: 


CONTAINING 


THE  LIVES  OF  THE  GOYERNOURS, 

AND 

THE  NAMES  OF  THE  MAGISTRATES, 

THAT  HAVE  BEEN  SHIELDS  UNTO  THE  CHURCHES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND, 

UNTIL    THE    YEAR    168  6. 

PERPETUATED   BY    THE   ESSAY   OF   COTTON   MATHER. 


Priscatque  ne  Veteris  vanescat  Oloria  Swell, 
Vicida  defensant,  qum  MonumenCa  damur. 
[Tlie  fclories  of  that  elder  age,  1  While  hero,  martyr,  ruler,  sase, 

L\istrous  utid  pure,  shall  never  wane,    |      Its  flving  monuments  remain.] 

Qi/i  alils  prcesmit,  tavto  privntis  Homhiibus  Melinres  esse   Oporlit, 
(^iianto   Honuribus  et  iJinitale  anteceltunt. — Panorinitan. 
[In  respecl  to  men  in  authority,  it  is  needful  that  they  should  surpass  private  citizens 
In  iuftiuess  of  character,  as  much  as  they  excel  them  in  dignity  of  station.] 

JViindum  htnc,  qua  nunc  tenet  Smculum,  JVegligentia 
Dei  Venerat. — Liv.  1.  3. 
[That  forgetfulness  of  the  Deity,  which  marks  the  present  age, 
had  not  yet  begun  to  appear.] 

Optimus  quisque  JVobilissimvs. — Plato. 
[He  is  most  honoured  who  is  most  virtuous.] 


HARTFORD: 

SILAS    ANDEUS    &    SON. 
1853. 


INTRODUCTION. 


TwERE  to  be  wished  that  there  might  never  be  any  English  translation  of  that  wicked 
position  in  Machiavel,  Non  requiri  in  Principe  veram  pieiaiem,  sed  sufficere  illius  qvandam 
umbram,  et  simultationem  Exiernam.*  It  may  be  there  never  was  any  region  under  heaven 
happier  than  poor  New-England  hath  been  in  Magistrates,  whose  true  piety  was  worthy  to 
be  made  the  example  of  after-ages, 

Happy  hast  thou  been,  O  land!  in  Magistrates,  whose  disposition  to  serve  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  whom  they  still  considered  themselves  accountable,  answered  the  good  rule  of 
Agapetus,  "  Quo  quis  in  Repuhlica  Majorem  Dignitatis  gradum  adeptus  est,  eo  Deum  Colat 
Submissius  :'^j  Magistrates,  whose  disposition  to  serve  the  people  that  chose  them  to  rule 
over  them,  argued  them  sensible  of  that  great  stroak  in  Cicero,  "  Nulla  re  propius  Homilies 
ad  Deum  Accedunt,  quam  salute  Hominibus  danda:\  Magistrates,  acted  in  their  administrations 
by  the  spirit  of  a  Joshua.  When  the  wise  man  observes  unto  us,  "That  oppressions  make 
a  wise  man  mad,"  it  may  be  worth  considering,  whether  the  oppressor  is  not  intended  rather 
than  the  oppressed  in  the  observation.  'Tis  very  certain  that  a  disposition  to  oppress  other 
men,  does  often  make  those  that  are  otherwise  very  wise  men,  to  forget  the  rules  of  reason, 
and  commit  most  unreasonable  exorbitancies.  Rehoboam  in  some  things  acted  wisely;  but 
this  admonition  of  his  inspired  father  could  not  restrain  him  from  acting  madly,  when  the 
spirit  of  oppression  was  upon  him.  The  rulers  of  New-England  have  been  wise  men,  whom 
that  spirit  of  oppression  betrayed  not  into  this  madness. 

The  father  of  Themistocles  disswading  him  from  government,  showed  him  the  old  oars 
which  the  mariners  had  now  thrown  away  upon  the  sea-shores  with  neglect  and  contempt; 
and  said,  "That  people  would  certainly  treat  their  old  rulers  with  the  same  contempt." 
But,  reader,  let  us  now  take  up  our  old  oars  with  all  possible  respect,  and  see  whether  we 
cannot  still  make  use  of  them  to  serve  our  little  vessel.  But  this  the  rather,  because  we 
may  with  an  easie  turn  change  the  name  into  that  of  pilots. 

The  word  Government,  properly  signifies  the  guidance  of  a  ship:  Tully  uses  it  for  that 
purpose;  and  in  Plutarch,  the  art  of  steering  a  ship,  is,  Texvi  irvPepviriKr,.  New-England  is 
a  little  ship,  which  hath  weathered  many  a  terrible  storm ;  and  it  is  but  reasonable  that  they 
who  have  sat  at  the  helm  of  the  ship,  should  be  remembred  in  the  history  of  its  deliverances. 

Priidentius  calls  Judges,  "The  great  lights  of  the  sphere;"  Symraachus  calls  Judges, 
"  The  better  part  of  mankind."  Reader,  thou  art  now  to  be  entertained  with  the  Lives  of 
Judges  which  have  deserved  that  character.  And  the  Lives  of  those  who  have  been  called 
speaking  laws,  will  excuse  our  History  from  coming  under  the  observation  made  about  the 
work  of  Homer,  That  the  word  Law,  is  never  so  much  as  once  occuring  in  them.  They 
are  not  written  like  the  Cyrus  of  Xenophon,  like  the  Alexander  of  Curtius,  like  Virgil's 
jEneas,  and  like  Pliny's  Trajan:  but  the  reader  hath  in  every  one  of  them  a  real  and  a  faith- 
ful History.  And  I  please  my  self  with  hopes,  that  there  will  yet  be  found  among  the  sons 
of  New-England,  those  young  gentlemen  by  whom  the  copies  given  in  this  History  will  be 
written  after;  and  that  saying  of  old  Chaucer  be  remembred, " To  do  the  genteel  deeds,  that 
makes  the  gentleman." 

•  True  piety  is  Buperfluous  in  a  prince:  it  is  enough  if  he  assume  its  semblance  and  outward  show. 

+  TIk!  loftier  the  station  one  reaches  in  the  government,  the  truer  should  be  his  devotion  to  the  service  of  God. 

X  Men  approach  neai-est  to  the  character  of  God  in  doing  good  to  mankind. 


ECCLESI  ARUM  CLYPEI. 
THE  SECOND  BOOK 

OF    THE 

NEW-ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

GALEACIUS    SECUNDUS.' 

THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  BRADFORD,  ESQ.,  GOVERNOUR  OF  PLYMOUTH  COLONY. 

Omnium  Somnos  illius  vigilantia  dcfendit;  omnium  otium,  illius  Labor;  omnium  Delitias,  illiua 
Industria  ;  omnium  vacationcm,  illius  occupatio." 

§  1.  It  has  been  a  matter  of  some  observation,  that  altbougli  Yorksbire 
be  one  of  the  largest  shires  in  England;  yet,  for  all  \h.Q  fires  of  martyrdom 
which  were  kindled  in  the  days  of  Queen  Mary,  it  afforded  no  more  fuel 
than  one  poor  Leaf;  namely,  John  Leaf,  an  apprentice,  who  sufibred  for 
the  doctrine  of  the  Reformation  at  the  same  time  and  stake  with  the  famous 
John  Bradford.  But  when  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  would  not  admit 
the  Reformation  of  worship  to  proceed  unto  those  degrees,  which  were 
proposed  and  pursued  by  no  small  number  of  the  faithful  in  those  days, 
Yorkshire  was  not  the  least  of  the  shires  in  England  that  afforded  suffering 
ivilnesses  thereunto.  The  Churches  there  gathered  were  quickly  molested 
with  such  a  raging  persecution,  that  if  the  spirit  of  separation  in  them  did 
carry  them  unto  a  further  extream  than  it  should  have  done,  one  blameable 
cause  thereof  will  be  found  in  the  extremity  of  that  persecution.  Their 
troubles  made  that  cold  country  too  hot  for  them,  so  that  they  were  under 
a  necessity  to  seek  a  retreat  in  the  Low  Countries ;  and  yet  the  watchful 
malice  and  fury  of  their  adversaries  rendred  it  almost  impossible  for  them 
to  find  what  they  sought.  For  them  to  leave  their  native  soil,  their  lands 
and  their  friends,  and  go  into  a  strange  place,  where  they  must  hear  foreign 
language,  and  live  meanly  and  hardly,  and  in  other  imployments  than 
that  of  husbandry,  wherein  they  had  been  educated,  these  must  needs  have 
been  such  discouragements  as  could  have  been  conquered  by  none,  save 
those  who  "sought  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  righteousness  there- 
of"    But  that  which  would  have  made  these  discouragements  the  more 

•  The  second  shiold-bcnrer. 

+  His  watchfulnctis  Ruards  olliers'  slumbers;  his  toil  secures  others'  rest;  his  diligence  protects  others'  enjoy- 
ments ;  his  constant  upplication,  others'  leisure. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  109 

unconquerable  unto  an  ordinary  faith,  was  the  terrible  zeal  of  their  ene- 
mies to  guard  all  ports,  and  search  all  ships,  that  none  of  them  should  be 
carried  off.  I  will  not  relate  the  sad  things  of  this  kind  then  seen  and 
feli  bj  this  people  of  God;  but  only  exemplifie  those  trials  with  one  short 
story.  Divers  of  this  people  having  hired  a  Dutchman,  then  lying  at 
Hull,  to  carry  them  over  to  Holland,  he  promised  faithfully  to  take  them 
in  between  Grimsly  and  Hull;  but  they  coming  to  the  place  a  day  or  two 
too  soon,  the  appearance  of  such  a  multitude  alarmed  the  officers  of  the 
town  adjoining,  who  came  with  a  great  body  of  soldiers  to  seize  upon 
them.  Now  it  happened  that  one  boat  full  of  men  had  been  carried  aboard, 
while  the  women  were  yet  in  a  bark  that  lay  aground  in  a  creek  at  low 
water.  The  Dutchman  perceiving  the  storm  that  was  thus  beginning 
ashore,  swore  by  the  sacrament  that  he  would  stay  no  longer  for  any  of 
them ;  and  so  taking  the  advantage  of  a  fair  wind  then  blowing,  he  put 
out  to  sea  for  Zealand.  The  women  thus  left  near  Grimsly-common, 
bereaved  of  their  husbands,  who  had  been  hurried  from  them,  and  forsaken 
of  their  neighbours,  of  whom  none  durst  in  this  fright  stay  with  them, 
were  a  very  rueful  spectacle ;  some  crying  for  fear^  some  shaking  for  cold, 
all  dragged  by  troops  of  armed  and  angry  men  from  one  Justice  to  another, 
till  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  them,  they  even  dismissed  them  to  shift 
as  well  as  they  could  for  themselves.  But  by  their  singular  afflictions,  and 
by  their  Christian  heJiaviours,  the  cause  for  which  they  exposed  themselves 
did  gain  considerably.  In  the  mean  time,  the  men  at  sea  found  reason 
to  be  glad  that  their  families  were  not  with  them,  for  they  were  surprized 
with  an  horrible  tempest,  which  held  them  for  fourteen  days  together,  in 
seven  whereof  they  saw  not  sun,  moon  or  star,  but  were  driven  upon  the 
coast  of  Norway.  The  mariners  often  despaired  of  life,  and  once  with 
doleful  shrieks  gave  over  all,  as  thinking  the  vessel  was  foundred:  but 
the  vessel  rose  again,  and  when  the  mariners  with  sunk  hearts  often  cried 
out,  "We  sink!  we  sink!"  the  passengers,  without  such  distraction  of 
mind,  even  while  the  water  was  running  into  their  mouths  and  ears, 
would  chearfully  shout,  "Yet,  Lord,  thou  canst  save!  Yet,  Lord,  thou 
canst  save!"  And  the  Lord  accordingly  brought  them  at  last  safe  unto 
their  desired  haven :  and  not  long  after  helped  their  distressed  relations 
thither  after  them,  where  indeed  they  found  upon  almost  ail  accounts  a 
new  icorld,  but  a  world  in  which  they  found  that  they  must  live  like 
strangers  and  pilgrims. 

§  2.  Among  those  devout  people  was  our  "William  Bradford,  who  was 
born  Anno  1588,  in  an  obscure  village  called  Ansterfield,  where  the  people 
were  as  unacquainted  with  the  Bible,  as  the  Jews  do  seem  to  have  been 
with  2^(^'>'i  of  i^  ii^  ^^^^  days  of  Josiah;  a  most  ignorant  and  licentious 
jieople,  and  like  unto  their  i^riest.  Here,  and  in  some  other  places,  he  had 
a  comfortable  inheritance  left  him  of  his  honest  parents,  who  died  while 
he  was  yet  a  child,  and  cast  him  on  the  education,  first  of  his  grand 


J^Q  MAGNALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

parents,  and  then  of  his  uncles,  who  devoted  him,  like  his  ancestors,  unto 
the  affairs  of  husbandry.  Soon  a  long  sickness  kept  him,  as  he  would 
afterwards  thankfully  say,  from  the  vanities  of  youtli^  and  made  him  the 
fitter  for  what  he  was  afterwards  to  undergo.  When  he  was  about  a 
dozen  years  old,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  began  to  cause  great 
impressions  upon  him;  and  those  impressions  were  much  assisted  and 
improved,  when  he  came  to  enjoy  Mr.  Richard  Clifton's  illuminating 
ministry,  not  far  from  his  abode;  he  was  then  also  farther  befriended,  by 
being  brought  into  the  company  and  fellowship  of  such  as  were  then 
called  professors;  though  the  young  man  that  brought  him  into  it  did 
after  become  a  prophane  and  wicked  apostate.  Nor  could  the  wrath  of 
his  uncles,  nor  the  scoff  of  his  neighbours,  now  turned  upon  him,  as  one 
of  the  Puritans^  divert  him  from  his  pious  inclinations. 

§  3.  At  last,  beholding  how  fearfully  the  evangelical  and  apostolical 
church-form^  whereinto  the  churches  of  the  primitive  times  were  cast  by 
the  good  spirit  of  God,  had  been  deformed  by  the  apostacy  of  the  suc- 
ceeding times;  and  what  little  progress  the  Reformation  had  yet  made  in 
many  parts  of  Christendom  towards  its  recovery,  he  set  himself  by  read- 
ing, by  discourse,  by  prayer,  to  learn  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  with- 
draw from  the  communion  of  the  parish-assemblies,  and  engage  with  some 
society  of  the  faithful,  that  should  keep  close  unto  the  luritten  ivord  of 
God,  as  the  onile  of  their  worship.  And  after  many  distresses  of  mind 
concerning  it,  he  took  up  a  very  deliberate  and  understanding  resolution, 
of  doing  so ;  which  resolution  he  chearfully  prosecuted,  although  the  pro- 
voked rage  of  his  friends  tried  all  the  ways  imaginable  to  reclaim  him 
from  it,  unto  all  whom  his  answer  was: 

"  Were  I  like  to  endanger  my  life,  or  consume  my  estate  by  any  ungodly  courses,  your 
counsels  to  me  were  very  seasonable;  but  you  know  that  I  have  been  diligent  and  provi- 
dent in  my  calling,  and  not  only  desirous  to  augment  what  I  have,  but  also  to  enjoy  it  in 
your  company;  to  part  from  which  will  be  as  great  a  cross  as  can  befal  me.  Nevertheless, 
to  keep  a  good  conscience,  and  walk  in  such  a  way  as  God  has  prescribed  in  his  Word,  is  a 
thing  which  I  must  prefer  before  you  all,  and  above  life  it  self.  Wherefore,  since  'tis  for  .1 
good  cause  that  I  am  like  to  suffer  the  disasters  which  you  lay  before  me,  you  have  no  cause 
to  be  either  angry  witli  me,  or  sorry  for  me ;  yea,  I  am  not  only  willing  to  part  with  every 
thing  tiiat  is  dear  to  me  in  tliis  world  for  this  cause,  but  I  am  also  thankful  that  God  has 
given  me  an  heart  to  do,  and  will  accept  me  so  to  suffer  for  him." 

Some  lamented  him,  some  derided  him,  all  disswaded  him:  neverthe- 
less, the  more  they  did  it,  the  more  fixed  he  was  in  his  purpose  to  seek 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  where  they  should  be  dispensed  with  most 
of  the  commamled  purity ;  and  the  sudden  deaths  of  the  chief  relations 
which  thus  lay  at  him,  quickly  after  convinced  him  what  a  folly  it  had 
been  to  have  quitted  his  jirofession,  in  expectation  of  any  satisfaction 
from  them.     So  to  Uolland  he  attempted  a  removal. 

§  4.  Having  with  a  great  company  of  Christians  hired  a  ship  to  trans- 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  HI 

port  them  for  Holland,  the  master  perfidiously  betrayed  them  into  the 
hands  of  those  persecutors,  who  rifled  and  ransacked  their  goods,  and 
clapped  their  persons  into  prison  at  Boston,  where  they  lay  for  a  month 
together.  But  Mr.  Bradford  being  a  young  man  of  about  eighteen,  was 
dismissed  sooner  than  the  rest,  so  that  within  a  while  he  had  opportunity 
with  some  others  to  get  over  to  Zealand,  through  perik^  both  by  land 
and  sea  not  inconsiderable;  where  he  was  not  long  ashore  ere  a  viper 
seized  on  his  hand — that  is,  an  officer — who  carried  him  unto  the  magis- 
trates, unto  whom  an  envious  passenger  had  accused  him  as  having  Jled 
out  of  England.  When  the  magistrates  understood  the  true  cause  of  his 
coming  thither,  they  were  well  satisfied  with  him;  and  so  he  repaired 
joyfully  unto  his  brethren  at  Amsterdam,  where  the  difficulties  to  which 
he  afterwards  stooped  in  learning  and  serving  of  a  Frenchman  at  the 
working  of  silks,  were  abundantly  compensated  by  the  delight  where- 
with he  sat  under  the  shadow  of  our  Lord,  in  his  purely  dispensed  ordi- 
nances. At  the  end  of  two  years,  he  did,  being  of  age  to  do  it,  convert 
his  estate  in  England  into  money;  but  setting  up  for  himself,  he  found 
some  of  his  designs  by  the  providence  of  God  frowned  upon,  which  he 
judged  a  correction  bestowed  by  God  upon  him  for  certain  decays  of  inter- 
nal pze^y,  whereinto  he  had  fallen;  the  consumption  of  his  estate  he 
thought  came  to  prevent  a  consumption  in  his  virtue.  But  after  he  had 
resided  in  Holland  about  half  a  score  years,  he  was  one  of  those  who 
bore  a  part  in  that  hazardous  and  generous  enterprise  of  removing  into 
New-England,  with  part  of  the  English  church  at  Leyden,  where,  at  their 
first  landing,  his  dearest  consort  accidentally  falling  overboard,  was  drowned 
in  the  harbour;  and  the  rest  of  his  days  were  spent  in  the  services,  and 
the  temptations,  of  that  American  wilderness. 

§  5.  Here  was  Mr.  Bradford,  in  the  year  1621,  unanimously  chosen  the 
governour  of  the  plantation:  the  difficulties  whereof  were  such,  that  if 
he  had  not  been  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary  piety,  wisdom  and 
courage,  he  must  have  sunk  under  them.  He  had,  with  a  laudable  indus- 
try, been  laying  up  a  treasure  of  experiences,  and  he  had  now  occasion 
to  use  it :  indeed,  nothing  but  an  experienced  man  could  have  been  suitable 
to  the  necessities  of  the  people.  The  potent  nations  of  the  Indians,  into 
whose  country  they  were  come,  would  have  cut  them  off,  if  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  his  conduct  had  not  quelled  them ;  and  if  his  prudence,  jus- 
tice and  moderation  had  not  over-ruled  them,  they  had  been  ruined  by 
their  own  distempers.  One  specimen  of  his  demeanour  is  to  this  day 
particularly  spoken  of.  A  company  of  young  fellows  that  were  newly 
arrived,  were  very  unwilling  to  comply  with  the  governour's  order  for 
working  abroad  on  the  publick  account ;  and  therefore  on  Christmas-day, 
when  he  had  called  upon  them,  they  excused  themselves,  with  a  pretence 
that  it  was  against  their  conscience  to  icork  such  a  day.  The  governour 
gave  them  no  answer,  only  that  he  would  spare  them  till  they  were  better 


-^12  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEBIC  AN  A; 

informed;  but  by  and  by  he  found  them  all  ^i play  in  the  street,  sporting 
themselves  with  various  diversions;  whereupon  commanding  the  instru- 
ments of  their  games  to  be  taken  from  them,  he  effectually  gave  them  to 
understand,  ^^  That  it  tvas  against  Ms  conscience  that  they  should 2'>lay  whilst 
others  iccre  at  ivorh:  and  that  if  they  had  any  devotion  to  the  day,  they 
should  show  it  at  home  in  the  exercises  of  religion,  and  not  in  the  streets 
with  pastime  and  frolicks;"  and  this  gentle  reproof  put  a  final  stop  to  all 
such  disorders  for  the  future. 

§  6.  For  two  years  together  after  the  beginning  of  the  colony,  whereof 
he  was  now  governour,  the  poor  people  had  a  great  experiment  of  "man's 
not  living  by  bread  alone ;"  for  when  they  were  left  all  together  without 
one  morsel  of  bread  for  many  months  one  after  another,  still  the  good 
providence  of  God  relieved  them,  and  supplied  them,  and  this  for  the 
most  part  out  of  the  sea.  In  this  low  condition  of  affairs,  there  was  no 
little  exercise  for  the  prudence  and  patience  of  the  governour,  who  chear- 
fully  bore  his  part  in  all :  and,  that  industry  might  not  flag,  he  quickly 
set  himself  to  settle  propriety  among  the  new-planters;  foreseeing  that 
while  the  whole  country  laboured  upon  a  common  stock,  the  husbandry 
and  business  of  the  plantation  could  not  flourish,  as  Plato  and  others 
long  since  dreamed  that  it  would,  if  a  community  were  established.  Cer- 
tainly, if  the  spirit  which  dwelt  in  the  old  puritans,  had  not  inspired  these 
new-planters,  they  had  sunk  under  the  burden  of  these  dijQ&culties ;  but 
our  Bradford  had  a  double  portion  of  that  spirit. 

§  7.  The  plantation  was  quickly  thrown  into  a  storm  that  almost  over- 
whelmed it,  by  the  unhappy  actions  of  a  minister  sent  over  from  England 
by  the  adventurers  concerned  for  the  plantation;  but  by  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  on  the  conduct  of  the  governour,  they  weathered  out  that  storm. 
Only  the  adventurers  hereupon  breaking  to  pieces,  threw  up  all  their 
concernments  with  the  infant-colony;  whereof  they  gave  this  as  one 
reason,  "That  the  planters  dissembled  with  his  Majesty  and  their  friends 
in  their  petition,  wherein  they  declared  for  a  church-discipline,  agreeing 
with  the  French  and  others  of  the  reforming  churches  in  Europe." 
Whereas  'twas  now  urged,  that  they  had  admitted  into  their  communion 
a  person  who  at  his  admission  utterly  renounced  the  Churches  of  Eng- 
land, (which  person,  by  the  way,  was  that  very  man  who  had  made  the 
complaints  against  them,)  and  therefore,  though  they  denied  the  name  of 
Brownists,  yet  they  were  the  thing.  In  answer  hereunto,  the  very  words 
written  by  the  gcA'crnour  were  these: 

"Whereas  you  tax  us  with  dissembling  about  the  French  discipline,  you  do  us  wrong,  for 
we  both  hold  and  practice  the  discipline  of  the  French  and  other  Reformed  Churches  (as 
they  have  i)ul)lished  tlic  same  in  tlie  Harmony  of  Confessions)  according  to  our  means,  in 
efl'ect  and  suhstance.  But  whereas  you  would  tie  us  up  to  the  French  discipline  in  every 
circumstance,  you  derogate  from  tlie  liberty  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  Apostle  Paul 
would  have  none  to  fdlowhim  in  any  thing,  but  wherein  hcfoUoivs  Christ;  much  less  ought 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  II3 

any  Christian  or  church  in  the  world  to  do  it^^^he  French  may  err,  we  may  err,  and  other 
churches  may  err,  and  doubtless  do  in  many  circumstances.  That  honour  therefore  belongs 
only  to  the  infallible  Word  of  God,  and  pure  Testament  of  Christ,  to  be  propounded  and 
followed  as  the  only  rule  and  pattern  for  direction  herein  to  all  churches  and  Christians. 
And  it  is  too  great  arrogancy  for  any  man  or  church  to  think  that  he  or  they  have  so  sounded 
the  Word  of  God  unto  the  bottom,  as  precisely  to  set  down  the  church's  discipline  without 
error  in  substance  or  circumstance,  that  no  other  without  blame  may  digress  or  differ  in  any 
thing  from  the  same.  And  it  is  not  difficult  to  shew  that  the  Reformed  Churches  differ  in 
many  circumstances  among  themselves. 

By  wliicli  words  it  appears  how  far  lie  was  free  from  that  rigid  spirit 
of  separation,  which  broke  to  pieces  the  Separatists  themselves  in  the  Low 
Countries,  unto  the  great  scandal  of  the  reforming  churches.  He  was 
indeed  a  person  of  a  well-tempered  spirit,  or  else  it  had  been  scarce  possible 
for  him  to  have  kept  the  affairs  of  Pl_ymouth  in  so  good  a  temper  for 
thirt}^ -seven  years  together;  in  every  one  of  which  he  was  chosen  their 
governour,  except  the  three  years  wherein  Mr.  Winslow,  and  the  two 
years  wherein  Mr.  Prince,  at  the  choice  of  the  people,  took  a  turn  with  him. 

§  8.  The  leader  of  a  people  in  a  wilderness  had  need  be  a  Moses;  and 
if  a  Moses  had  not  led  the  people  of  Plymouth  Colony,  when  this  worthy 
person  was  their  governour,  the  people  had  never  with  so  much  unanim- 
ity and  importunity  still  called  him  to  lead  them.  Among  many  instances 
thereof,  let  this  one  piece  of  self-denial  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  him, 
wheresoever  this  History  shall  be  considered:  The  Patent  of  the  Colony 
was  taken  in  his  name,  running  in  these  terms:  "To  William  Bradford, 
his  heirs,  associates,  and  assigns."  But  when  the  number  of  the  freemen 
was  much  increased,  and  many  new  townships  erected,  the  General  Court 
there  desired  of  Mr.  Bradford,  that  he  would  make  a  surrender  of  the 
same  into  their  hands,  which  he  willingly  and  presently  assented  unto, 
and  confirmed  it  according  to  their  desire  by  his  hand  and  seal,  reserving 
no  more  for  himself  than  was  his  proportion,  with  others,  by  agreement. 
But  as  he  found  the  providence  of  Heaven  many  ways  recompensing  his 
many  acts  of  self-denial,  so  he  gave  this  testimony  to  the  faithfuilness  of 
the  divine  promises:  "That  he  had  forsaken  friends,  houses  and  lands  for 
the  sake  of  the  gospel,  and  the  Lord  gave  them  him  again."  Here  he 
prospered  in  his  estate ;  and  besides  a  worthy  son  which  he  had  by  a  for- 
mer wife,  he  had  also  two  sons  and  a  daughter  by  another,  whom  he 
married  in  this  land. 

§  9.  He  was  a  person  for  study  as  well  as  action ;  and  hence,  notwith- 
standing the  difficulties  through  which  he  passed  in  his  youth,  he  attained 
unto  a  notable  skill  in  languages:  the  Dutch  tongue  was  become  almost 
as  vernacular  to  him  as  the  English;  the  French  tongue  he  could  also 
manage;  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  he  had  mastered;  but  the  Hebrew  he 
most  of  all  studied,  "Because,"  he  said,  "he  would  see  with  his  own  eyes, 
the  ancient  oracles  of  God  in  their  native  beauty."  He  was  also  well 
skilled  in  Historj^,  in  Antiquity,  and  in  Philosophy ;  and  for  Theology  he 
Vol.  I.— 8 


11^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

became  SO  versed  in  it,  that  he  was  an  irrefragable  disputant  against  the 
errors,  especially  those  of  Anabaptism,  which  with  trouble  he  saw  rising 
in  his  colony ;  wherefore  he  wrote  some  significant  things  for  the  confuta- 
tion of  those  errors.  But  the  croivn  of  all  was  his  holy,  prayerful, 
watchful,  and  fruitful  walk  with  God,  wherein  he  was  very  exemplary. 

§  10.  At  length  he  fell  into  an  indisposition  of  body,  which  rendred 
liim  unhealthy  for  a  whole  winter;  and  as  the  spring  advanced,  his  health 
yet  more  declined ;  yet  he  felt  himself  not  what  he  counted  sick,  till  one 
day;  in  the  night  after  which,  the  God  of  heaven  so  filled  his  mind  with 
inefiable  consolations,  that  he  seemed  little  short  of  Paul,  rapt  up  unto 
the  unutterable  entertainments  of  Paradise.  The  next  morning  he  told 
his  friends,  "That  the  good  Spirit  of  God  had  given  him  a  pledge  of  his 
happiness  in  another  world,  and  the  first-fruits  of  his  eternal  glory;"  and 
on  the  day  following  he  died.  May  9,  1657,  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age — • 
lamented  by  all  the  colonies  of  New-England,  as  a  common  blessing  and 
father  to  them  all. 

0  mihi  si  Similis  Contingat  Clausula  Vita  .'* 

Plato's  brief  description  of  a  governour,  is  all  that  I  will  now  leave  as 
his  character,  in  an 

EPITAPH. 

Nof/-Suf  Tpo(poj  dysXrig  av4pwir'»v»]ff.f 

Men  are  but  flocks  :  Bradford  beheld  their  need, 
And  long  did  them  at  once  both  rule  and  feed. 


SUCCESSORS. 

Inter  omnia  qutc  Eenipublicam,  ejusque  ftBlicUatem  conservant,  quid  utilius,  quid  preestantius, 
qudm  Viros  ad  Magislratus  gerendos  Eligere,  summa  prudcntia  et  Viriute  preditos,  quique  ad 
llonorcs  obtincndos,  non  Ambitione,  non  Largitionibus,  sed  Viriute  et  Modestia  sibi  parent 
adytum  !\ 

§  1.  The  merits  of  Mr  Edward  Winslow,  the  son  of  Edward  Winslow, 
Esq.,  of  Draughtwich,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  obliged  the  votes  of 
the  Plymothean  colony  (whereto  he  arrived  in  the  year  162-1,  after  his 
prudent  and  faithful  dispatch  of  an  agency  in  England,  on  the  behalf  of 
that  infant  colony)  to  chuse  him  for  many  years  a  magistrate,  and  for  two 

•  O,  that  life's  end  may  be  as  sweet  to  me !  f  A  shepherd-guardian  of  his  human  fold. 

X  Amonj^'st  all  such  things  as  tend  to  the  stitbility  and  happiness  of  a  commonwealth,  what  is  more  salutary  or 
more  glorious  thiui  to  select  men  for  ofHco  who  will  acquire  renown,  not  by  an  ambitious  chase  for  honour,  or  by 
popular  arts,  but  by  virtue  and  self-control. 


GOV.  EDWARD  WIXSLOW, 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  115 

or  three  tlieir  govern  our.  Travelling  into  tbe  Low-Countries,  lie  fell  into 
acquaintance  with  the  English  church  at  Lejden,  and  joining  himself  to 
them,  he  shipped  himself  with  that  part  of  them  which  first  came  over 
into  America ;  from  which  time  he  was  continually  engaged  in  such  extra- 
ordinary actions,  as  the  assistance  of  that  people  to  encounter  their  more 
than  ordinary  difficulties,  called  for.  But  their  publick  affairs  then 
requiring  an  agency  of  as  wise  a  man  as  the  country  could  find  at  White- 
hall for  them,  he  was  again  prevailed  withal,  in  the  year  1635,  to  appear 
for  them  at  the  Council-board ;  and  his  appearance  there  proved  as  affectual, 
as  it  was  very  seasonable,  not  only  for  the  colony  of  Plymouth,  but  for 
the  Massachusets  also,  on  very  important  accounts.  It  was  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God  upon  his  wary  and  proper  applications,  that  the  attempts  of 
many  adversaries  to  overthrow  the  whole  settlement  of  Naw-En gland, 
were  themselves  wholly  overthrown ;  and  as  a  small  acknowledgment  for 
his  great  service  therein,  they  did,  upon  his  return  again,  chuse  him  their 
governour.  But  in  the  year  1646,  the  place  of  governour  being  reassumed 
by  Mr.  Bradford,  the  Massachuset-colony  addressed  themselves  unto  Mr. 
Winslow  to  take  another  voj-age  for  England,  that  he  might  there  pro- 
cure their  deliverance  from  the  designs  of  many  troublesome  adversaries 
that  were  petitioning  unto  the  Parliament  against  them ;  and  this  Hercules 
having  been  from  his  very  early  days  accustomed  unto  the  crushing  of 
that  sort  of  serpents^  generously  undertook  another  agency,  wherein  how 
many  good  services  he  did  for  New-England,  and  with  what  fidelity,  dis- 
cretion, vigour  and  success  he  pursued  the  interests  of  that  happy  people, 
it  would  make  a  large  history  to  relate — an  history  that  may  not  now  be 
expected  until  the  "resurrection  of  the  just."  After  this  he  returned  no 
more  unto  New-England ;  but  being  in  great  favour  with  the  greatest  per- 
sons then  in  the  nation,  he  fell  into  those  imployments  wherein  the  whole 
nation  fared  the  better  for  him.  At  length  he  was  imployed  as  one  of  the 
grand  commissioners  in  the  expedition  against  Hispaniola,  where  a  disease 
(rend  red  yet  more  uneasie  by  his  dissatisfaction  at  the  strange  miscarriage 
of  that  expedition)  arresting  him,  he  died  between  Domingo  and  Jamaica, 
on  May  8,  1655,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  life,  and  had  his  body  hon- 
ourably committed  unto  the  sea. 

§  2.  Sometimes  during  the  life,  but  always  after  the  death  of  Governour 
Bradford,  even  until  his  own,  Mr.  Thomas  Prince  was  chosen  Governour 
of  Plymouth.  He  was  a  gentleman  whose  natural  parts  exceeded  his 
acquired;  but  the  want  and  worth  of  acquired  parts  was  a  thing  so  sensible 
unto  him,  that  Plymouth  never  had  a  greater  Mecaenas  of  learning  in  it: 
it  was  he  that,  in  spite  of  much  contradiction,  procured  revenues  for  the 
support  of  grammar-schools  in  that  colony.  About  the  time  of  Govern- 
our Bradford's  death,  religion  it  self  had  like  to  have  died  in  that  colony, 
through  a  libertine  and  Brownistick  spirit  then  prevailing  among  the 
people,  and  a  strange  disposition  to  discountenance  the  gospel-ministry, 


IIQ  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

by  setting  up  the  "gifts  of  private  brethren"  in  opposition  thereunto. 
The  good  peoi)le  being  in  extrcam  distress  from  the  pros])ect  which  this 
matter  gave  to  them,  saw  no  way  so  likely  and  ready  to  save  the  churches 
from  ruin,  as  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Prince  to  the  place  of  governour; 
and  this  point  being  by  the  gracious  and  marvellous  providence  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  gained  at  the  next  election,  the  adverse  party  from  that 
very  time  sunk  into  confusion.  He  had  sojourned  for  awhile  at  Eastham, 
where  a  church  was  by  his  means  gathered;  but  after  this  time  he  returned 
imto  his  former  scituation  at  Plymouth,  where  he  resided  until  he  died, 
which  was  March  29,  1673,  when  he  was  about  seventy-three  years  of  age. 
Among  the  many  excellent  qualities  which  adorned  him  as  governour  of 
the  colony,  there  was  much  notice  taken  of  that  interjrity^  wherewith  indeed 
he  was  moat  exemplarily  qualified:  whence  it  was  that  as  he  ever  would 
refose  any  thing  that  looked  like  a  bribe;  so  if  any  person  having  a  case 
to  be  heard  at  Court,  had  sent  a  present  unto  his  family  in  his  absence, 
he  would  presently  send  back  the  value  thereof  in  money  unto  the  person. 
But  had  he  been  only  a  private  Christian,  there  would  yet  have  been  seen 
upon  him  those  ornaments  of  pray  erf ulness,  and  peaceableness,  and  profound 
resignation  to  the  conduct  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  a  strict  loalk  with 
God,  which  might  justly  have  been  made  an  example  to  a  Avhole  colony. 

§  3.  Header,  if  thou  wouldest  have  seen  the  true  picture  of  ivisdojn,  cour- 
age, and  generosity,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Thomas  Princein  the  government 
of  Plymouth  would  have  represented  it.  It  was  the  truly  honourable 
Josiah  Winslow,  Esq.,  the  first  governour  that  was  born  in  New-England, 
and  one  well  worthy  to  be  an  example  to  all  that  should  come  after  him  ; 
a  true  English  gentleman,  and  (that  I  may  say  all  at  once)  the  true  son  of 
that  gentleman  whom  we  parted  withal  no  more  than  two  paragraphs  ago. 
His  education  and  his  disposition  was  that  of  a  gentleman ;  and  his  many 
services  to  his  country  in  the  field,  as  well  as  on  the  bench,  ought  never 
to  be  buried  in  oblivion.  All  that  Homer  desired  in  a  ruler  was  in  the  life 
of  this  gentleman  expressed  unto  the  life;  to  be,  Fortes  in  Hastes,  and 
Bomis  in  Cives*  Though  he  hath  left  an  off-spring,  yet  I  must  ask  for 
one  daughter  to  be  remembred  above  the  rest.  As  of  old,  Epaminondas 
being  upbraided  with  Avant  of  issue,  boasted  that  he  left  behind  him  one 
daughter,  namely,  the  battel  of  Leuctra,  which  would  render  him  immortal; 
so  our  general  Winslow  hath  left  behind  him  his  battel  at  the  fort  of  the 
Narraganscts,  to  immortalize  him:  there  did  he  with  his  own  sicord  make 
and  shape  a^)en  to  write  his  history.  But  so  large  afield  of  merit  is  now 
before  me,  that  I  dare  not  give  my  self  the  liberty  to  range  in  it  lest  I  lose 
my  self.     He  died  on  Dec.  18,  1680. 

Jam  Cinis  est,  et  dp.  tarn  7nagno  restat  Achille 
Nescio  quid;  parvam  quod  non  bene  compleat  urnam.i 
•  nrave  jiKainsl  the  oiioniy— kind  to  liis  subjects. 
t  Behold  Achilles'  thist !  llio  issue  leurn  1  These  mighty  relics  now  a  paltn-  urn 

Of  that  huroic  will :  |  Can  scarcely  fill. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ^^f 

§  4.  And  what  successor  had  he?  Methinks  of  the  two  last  words  in 
the  wonderful  prediction  of  the  succession,  oracled  unto  King  Henry  VII., 
Leo,  Nullus,*  the  first  would  have  well  suited  the  valiant  Wiuslow  of 
Plymouth;  and  the  last  were  to  have  been  wished  for  him  that  followed. 


KJ     UJUJ     bUOi     bL         Jj       (Li     (1)6  lL    Ji     Jj  o 

PATRES   CONSCRIPTIjt    OR,  ASSISTENTS. 

The  Governours  of  New-England  have  still  had  "righteousness  the 
girdle  of  their  loins,  and  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  their  reins" — that  is  to 
say,  righteous  and  faithful  men  about  them,  in  the  assistance  of  such  magis- 
trates as  were  called  by  the  votes  of  the  freemen  unto  the  administration 
of  the  government,  (according  to  their  charters)  and  made  the  judges  of  the 
land.  These  persons  have  been  such  members  of  the  churches,  and  such 
patrons  to  the  churches,  and  generally  been  such  examples  of  courage, 
wisdom,  justice,  goodness  and  religion,  that  it  is  fit  our  Church-History 
should  remember  them.  The  blessed  Apollonius,  who  in  a  set  oration 
generously  and  eloquently  pleaded  the  cause  of  Christianity  before  the 
Eoman  Senate,  was  not  only  a  learned  person,  but  also  (if  Jerom  say  right) 
a  Senator  of  Eome.  The  Senators  of  New-England  also  have  pleaded  the 
cause  of  Christianity,  not  so  much  by  orations,  as  by  practising  of  it,  and 
by  suffering  for  it.  Nevertheless,  as  the  Sicyonians  would  have  no  other 
epitaphs  written  on  the  tombs  of  their  Kings,  but  only  their  names,  that 
they  might  have  no  honour  but  what  the  remembrance  of  their  actions 
and  merits  in  the  minds  of  the  people  should  procure  for  them ;  so  I  shall 
content  my  self  with  only  reciting  the  names  of  these  worthy  persons,  and 
the  tim^s  when  I  find  them  first  chosen  unto  their  magistracy. 

MAGISTRATES   IN   THE   COLONY   OF  NEW-PLYMOUTH. 

The  good  people,  soon  after  their  first  coming  over,  chose  Mr.  William 
Bradford  for  their  governour,  and  added  five  assistents,  whose  names,  I 
suppose,  will  be  found  in  the  catalogue  of  them  whom  I  find  sitting  on 
the  seat  of  judgment  among  them,  in  the  year  1633. 


Edward  VVinslow, 

Gov. 

Miles  Standish. 

John  A  Idea. 

Stephen  Hopkins. 

William  Bradford. 

John  Howland. 

John  Done. 

William  Gilson. 

AFTERWARDS    AT    SEVERAL 

TIMES  WERE 

ADDED, 

Thomas  Prince, 

1634, 

Edmund  Freeman. 

,          1640. 

William  Bradford,  F.      1558. 

William  Collier, 

1634. 

William  Thomas, 

1642. 

Thomas  Hinkley,             165S. 

Timothy  Hatherly, 

1636. 

Thomas  Willet, 

1651. 

James  Brown,                   1665. 

John  Brown,     \ 

1636. 

Thomas  Southworth,       16.52. 

John  Freeman,                 1660. 

John  Jeimy.        ■ 

1637. 

James  Cudworth, 

I6r)6. 

NalhaniLcl  Bacon,            1067. 

John  Atwood, 

1038. 

Josiah  Vi'^inslow, 

1657. 

*  First  a  hon — then,  a  i 

lobody. 

t  Senators. 

118 


MAG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Thus  far  we  find  in  a  book  entituled,  New-En(jland's  Memorial  which 
was  pubHshed  by  Mr.  Nathanael  Morton,  the  Secretary  of  Plymouth  colony, 
in  the  year  1669.     Since  then  there  have  been  added  at  several  times, 

Constanl  Southworlh,      1C70.  Barnabas  Lothrop,  1681.  John  Walley,  . 

Daniel  Smith,  1674.  John  Thatcher,  . 


CHAPTER   11. 

NEHEMIASAMERICANUS.* 

THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  WINTHROP,  ESQ.,  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MASSACHUSET  COLONY. 
Quicunque  Venti  erunt,  Ars  nostra  certe  non  aherit. — Cicero. t 

§  1.  Let  Greece  boast  of  her  patient  Lycurgus,  the  lawgiver,  by  whom 
diligence,  temperance,  fortitude  and  wit  were  made  the  fashions  of  a 
therefore  long-lasting  and  renowned  commonwealth:  let  Eome  tell  of  her 
devout  Numa,  the  lawgiver,  by  whom .  the  most  famous  commonwealth 
saw  peace  triumphing  over  extinguished  war  and  cruel  plunders;  and 
murders  giving  place  to  the  more  mollifying  exercises  of  his  religion. 
Our  New-England  shall  tell  and  boast  of  her  Winthrop,  a  lawgiver  as 
patient  as  Lycurgus,  but  not  admitting  any  of  his  criminal  disorders ;  as 
devout  as  Nvmia^  but  not  liable  to  any  of  his  heathenish  madnesses;  a  gov- 
ernour  in  whom  the  excellencies  of  Christianity  made  a  most  improving 
addition  unto  the  virtues,  wherein  even  without  those  he  would  have  made 
SI  parallel  for  the  great  men  of  Greece,  or  of  Rome,  which  the  pen  of  a 
Plutarch  has  eternized. 

§  2.  A  stock  of  heroes  by  right  should  afford  nothing  but  what  is  hero- 
real;  and  nothing  but  an  extream  degeneracy  would  make  any  thing  less 
to  be  expected  from  a  stock  of  Winthrops.  Mr.  Adam  Winthrop,  the  son 
of  a  worthy  gentleman  wearing  the  same  name,  was  himself  a  worthy,  a 
discreet,  and  a  learned  gentleman,  particularly  eminent  for  skill  in  the 
law,  nor  without  remark  for  love  to  the  gospel,  under  the  reign  of  King 
Henry  VIIL,  and  brother  to  a  memorable  favourer  of  the  reformed  reli- 
gion in  the  days  of  Queen  Mary,  into  whose  hands  the  famous  martyr 
Philpot  committed  his  papers,  which  afterwards  made  no  inconsiderable 
part  of  our  martyr-hooks.  This  Mr.  Adam  Winthrop  had  a  son  of  the 
same  name  also,  and  of  the  same  endowments  and  imployments  with  his 
father;  and  this  third  Adam  Winthrop  was  the  father  of  that  renowned 
John  Winthrop,  who  was  the  father  of  New-England,  and  the  founder  of 
a  colo7ii/,  which,  upon  many  accounts,  like  him  that  founded  it,  may  chal- 
lenge the  first  place  among  the  English  glories  of  America.     Our  John 

*  The  American  Nehemloh.  t  Whatever  winds  may  blow,  this  art  of  ours  can  nerer  be  lost. 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ng 

WiNTHROP,  thus  born  at  the  mansion-house  of  his  ancestors,  at  Groton  in 
Suffolk,  on  June  12,  1587,  enjoyed  afterwards  an  agreeable  education. 
But  though  he  would  rather  have  devoted  himself  unto  the  study  of  Mr. 
John  Calvin,  than  of  Sir  Edward  Cook;  nevertheless,  the  accomplish- 
ments of  a  lawyer  were  those  wherewith  Heaven  made  his  chief  oppor- 
tunities to  be  serviceable. 

§  3.  Being  made,  at  the  unusually  early  age  of  eighteen,  a  justice  of 
peace,  his  virtues  began  to  fall  under  a  more  general  observation ;  and 
he  not  only  so  bound  himself  to  the  behaviour  of  a  Christian,  as  to  become 
exemplary  for  a  conformity  to  the  laws  of  Christianity  in  his  own  conver- 
sation, but  also  discovered  a  more  than  ordinary  measure  of  those  quali- 
ties which  adorn  an  officer  of  humane  society.  His  justice  was  impartial, 
and  used  the  ballance  to  weigh  not  the  cash,  but  the  case  of  those  who 
were  before  him:  prosopolatria*  he  reckoned  as  bad  as  idolatria :f  his  wis- 
dom did  exquisitely  temper  things  according  to  the  art  of  governing,  which 
is  a  business  of  more  contrivance  than  the  seven  arts  of  the  schools;  oyer 
still  went  before  terminer  in  all  his  administrations:  his  courage  made  him 
dare  to  do  right,  and  fitted  him  to  stand  among  the  lions  that  have  some- 
times been  the  supporters  of  the  throne:  all  which  virtues  he  rendred 
the  more  illustrious,  by  emblazoning  them  with  the  constant  liberality 
and  hospitality  of  a  gentleman.  This  made  him  the  terror  of  the  wicked, 
and  the  delight  of  the  sober,  the  envy  of  the  many,  but  the  hope  of  those 
who  had  any  hopeful  design  in  hand  for  the  common  good  of  the  nation 
and  the  interests  of  religion. 

§  4.  Accordingly  when  the  noble  design  of  carrying  a  colony  of  chosen 
people  into  an  American  wilderness,  was  by  some  eminent  persons  under- 
taken, this  eminent  person  was,  by  the  consent  of  all,  chosen  for  the 
Moses,  who  must  be  the  leader  of  so  great  an  undertaking:  and  indeed 
nothing  but  a  Mosaic  spirit  could  have  carried  him  through  the  tempta- 
tions, to  which  either  his  farewel  to  his  own  land,  or  his  travel  in  a 
strange  land,  must  needs  expose  a  gentleman  of  his  education.  Where- 
fore having  sold  a  fair  estate  of  six  or  seven  hundred  a  year,  he  trans- 
ported himself  with  the  effects  of  it  into  New-England  in  the  year  1630, 
where  he  spent  it  upon  the  service  of  a  famous  plantation,  founded  and 
formed  for  the  seat  of  the  most  reformed  Christianity:  and  continued 
there,  conflicting  with  temptations  of  all  sorts,  as  many  years  as  the  nodes 
of  the  moon  take  to  dispatch  a  revolution.  Those  persons  were  never 
concerned  in  a  new  plantation,  who  know  not  that  the  unavoidable  diffi- 
culties of  such  a  thing  will  call  for  all  the  prudence  and  patience  of  a 
mortal  man  to  encounter  therewithal ;  and  they  must  be  very  insensible 
of  the  influence,  which  the  just  lorath  of  Heaven  has  permitted  the  devils 
to  have  upon  this  world,  if  they  do  not  think  that  the  difficulties  of  a 
new  plantation,  devoted  unto  the  evangelical  worship  of  our  Lord  Jesus 

*  Face-worship,  or  respect  of  persons.  t  Idol-woi-ship. 


120  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 

Christ,  must  be  yet  more  than  ordinary.  How  prudently,  how  patiently, 
and  witli  how  much  resignation  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  brave  Win- 
throp  waded  through  these  difhculties,  let  posterity  consider  with  admi- 
ration. And  know,  that  as  the  picture  of  this  their  governour  was,  after 
his  death,  hung  up  with  honour  in  the  state-house  of  his  country,  so  the 
wisdom,  courage,  and  holy  zeal  of  his  life,  were  an  example  well-worthy 
to  be  copied  by  all  that  shall  succeed  him  in  government. 

§  5.  Were  he  now  to  be  considered  only  as  a  Christian,  we  might 
therein  propose  him  as  greatly  imitable.  He  was  a  very  religious  man; 
and  as  he  strictly  kept  his  hearty  so  he  kept  his  house^  under  the  laws  of 
piety ;  there  he  was  every  day  constant  in  holy  duties,  both  morning  and 
evening,  and  on  the  Lord's  days,  and  lectures;  though  he  wrote  not  after 
the  preacher,  yet  such  was  his  attention,  and  such  his  retention  in  hearing, 
that  he  repeated  unto  his  family  the  sermons  which  he  had  heard  in  the 
congregation.  But  it  is  chiefly  as  a  governour  that  he  is  now  to  be 
considered.  Being  the  governour  over  the  considerablest  part  of  New- 
England,  he  maintained  the  figure  and  honour  of  his  place  with  the 
spirit  of  a  true  gentleman ;  but  yet  with  such  obliging  condescention  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  colony,  that  when  a  certain  troublesome  and 
malicious  calumniator,  well  known  in  those  times,  printed  his  libellous 
nick-names  upon  the  chief  persons  here,  the  worst  nick-name  he  could 
find  for  the  governour,  was  John  Temper-well ;  and  when  the  calumnies 
of  that  ill  man  caused  the  Arch-bishop  to  summon  one  Mr.  Cleaves  before 
the  King,  in  hopes  to  get  some  accusation  from  him  against  the  country, 
Mr.  Cleaves  gave  such  an  account  of  the  governour's  laudable  carriage  in 
all  respects,  and  the  serious  devotion  wherewith  prayers  were  both  pub- 
lickly  and  privately  made  for  his  Majesty,  that  the  King  expressed  him- 
self most  highly  pleased  therewithal,  only  sorry  that  so  worthy  a  person 
should  be  no  better  accommodated  than  with  the  hardships  of  America. 
He  Avas,  indeed,  a  governour,  who  had  most  exactly  studied  that  book 
which,  pretending  to  teach  politicks,  did  only  contain  three  leaves^  and  but 
one  ivurd  in  each  of  those  leaves,  which  word  was.  Moderation.  Hence, 
though  he  were  a  zealous  enemy  to  all  vice,  yet  his  practice  was  according 
to  his  judgment  thus  expressed:  "In  the  infancy  of  plantations,  justice 
should  be  administered  with  more  lenity  than  in  a  settled  state;  because 
people  are  more  apt  then  to  transgress ;  partly  out  of  ignorance  of  new 
laws  and  orders,  partly  out  of  oppression  of  business,  and  other  straits. 
[Lento  Gradu]*  was  the  old  rule ;  and  if  the  strings  of  a  new  instrument 
be  wound  up  unto  their  heighth,  they  will  quickly  crack."  But  when 
some  leading  and  learned  men  took  offence  at  his  conduct  in  this  matter, 
and  upon  a  conference  gave  it  in  as  their  opinion,  "That  a  stricter  disci- 
pline was  to  be  used  in  the  beginning  of  a  plantation,  than  after  its  being 
with  more  age  established  and  confirmed,"  the  governour  being  readier 

•  By  slow  degrees. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ;[21 

to  see  his  oion  errors  than  otKer  viol's,  professed  his  purpose  to  endeavour 
their  satisfaction  with  less  of  leiiity  in  his  administrations.  At  that  con- 
ference there  were  drawn  up  several  other  articles  to  be  observed  between 
the  governour  and  the  rest  of  the  magistrates,  which  were  of  this  import: 
"That  the  magistrates,  as  far  as  might  be,  should  aforehand  ripen  their 
consultations,  to  produce  that  unanimity  in  their  publick  votes,  which 
might  make  them  liker  to  the  voice  of  God ;  that  if  differences  fell  out 
among  them  in  their  publick  meetings,  they  should  speak  only  to  the  case, 
without  any  reflection,  with  all  due  modesty,  and  but  by  way  of  question ; 
or  desire  the  deferring  of  the  cause  to  further  time ;  and  after  sentence  to 
imitate  privately  no  dislike;  that  they  should  be  more  familiar,  friendly 
and  open  unto  each  other,  and  more  frequent  in  their  visitations,  and  not 
any  way  expose  each  other's  infirmities,  but  seek  the  honour  of  each 
other,  and  all  the  Court ;  that  one  magistrate  shall  not  cross  the  proceed- 
ings of  another,  without  first  advising  with  him ;  and  that  they  should  in 
all  their  appearances  abroad,  be  so  circumstanced  as  to  prevent  all  con- 
tempt of  authority;  and  that  they  should  support  and  strengthen  all 
under  officers.  All  of  which  articles  were  observed  by  no  man  more 
than  by  the  governour  himself. 

§  6.  But  whilst  he  thus  did,  as  our  New-English  Nehemiah,  the  part 
of  a  ruler  in  managing  the  public  affairs  of  our  American  Jerusalem,  when 
there  were  Tobijahs  and  Sanballats  enough  to  vex  him,  and  give  him  the 
experiment  of  Luther's  observation,  Oranis  qui  regit  est  tanqumn  signum,  in 
quod  omnia  jacula,  Satan  et  Mimdus  dirigunt;^  he  made  himself  still  an 
exacter  2^o,rallel  unto  that  governour  of  Israel,  by  doing  the  part  of  a  neigh- 
bour among  the  distressed  people  of  the  new  plantation.  To  teach  them  the 
frugality  necessary  for  those  times,  he  abridged  himself  of  a  thousand  com- 
fortable things,  which  he  had  allowed  himself  elsewhere :  his  habit  was  not 
that  soft  raimerit,  which  would  have  been  disagreeable  to  a  wilderness; 
his  table  was  not  covered  with  the  superfluities  that  would  have  invited 
unto  sensualities :  water  was  commonly  his  own  drink,  though  he  gave 
wine  to  others.  But  at  the  same  time  his  liberality  unto  the  needy  was 
even  beyond  measure  generous;  and  therein  he  was  continually  causing 
"the  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  to  come  upon  him,  and  the 
heart  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan  to  sing  for  joy:"  but  none  more  than 
those  of  deceased  Ministers,  whom  he  always  treated  with  a  very  singular 
compassion;  among  the  instances  whereof  we  still  enjoy  with  us  the  worthy 
and  now  aged  son  of  that  reverend  Higginson,  whose  death  left  his  family 
in  a  wide  world  soon  after  his  arrival  here,  publickly  acknowledging  the 
charitable  Winthrop  for  his  foster-father.  It  was  oftentimes  no  small  trial 
unto  his  faith,  to  think  how  a  table  for  the  people  should  be  furnished 
when  they  first  came  into  the  wilderness!  and  for  very  many  of  the  people 
his  own  good  works  were  needful,  and  accordingly  employed  for  the 

*  A  man  in  authority  is  a  target,  at  which  Satan  and  the  world  launch  all  their  darta. 


1^2  MAGNA  LI  A    CHRIST  I    AMERICANA; 

answering  of  liis  faith.  Indeed,  for  a  while  the  governour  was  the  Joseph, 
luito  whom  the  whole  body  of  the  people  repaired  when  their  corn  failed 
thcin;  and  lie  continued  relieving  of  them  with  his  open-handed  bounties, 
as  long  as  he  had  any  stock  to  do  it  with;  and  a  lively /(»'^/i  to  see  the 
return  of  the  "bread  after  many  days,"  and  not  starve  in  the  da3's  that 
were  to  pass  till  that  return  should  be  seen,  carried  him  chearfully  through 
those  expences. 

Once  it  was  observable  that,  on  February  5,  1630,  when  he  was  dis- 
tributing the  last  handful  of  the  meal  in  the  barrel  unto  a  poor  man 
distressed  by  the  "wolf  at  the  door,"  at  that  instant  they  spied  a  ship 
arrived  at  the  harbour's  mouth,  laden  with  provisions  for  them  all.  Yea, 
the  governour  sometimes  made  his  own  private  purse  to  be  the  puhlick  : 
not  by  sucking  into  it,  but  by  squeezing  out  of  it;  for  when  the  publick 
treasure  had  nothing  in  it,  he  did  himself  defray  the  charges  of  the  pub- 
lick.  And  having  learned  that  lesson  of  our  Lord,  "that  it  is  better  to 
give  than  to  receive,"  he  did,  at  the  general  court,  when  he  was  a  third 
time  chosen  governour,  make  a  speech  unto  this  purpose:  "That  he  had 
received  gratuities  from  divers  towns,  which  he  accepted  with  much  com- 
fort and  content;  and  he  had  likewise  received  civilities  from  particular 
persons,  which  he  could  not  refuse  without  incivility  in  himself:  never- 
theless, he  took  them  with  a  trembling  heart,  in  regard  of  God's  word, 
and  the  conscience  of  his  own  infirmities ;  and  therefore  he  desired  them 
that  they  would  not  hereafter  take  it  ill  if  he  refused  such  presents  for 
the  time  to  come."  'Twas  his  custom  also  to  send  some  of  his  family 
upon  errands  unto  the  houses  of  the  poor,  about  their  meal  time,  on  pur- 
pose to  52?^  whether  they  tvanted;  and  if  it  were  found  that  they  wanted, 
he  would  make  that  the  opportunity  of  sending  supplies  unto  them.  And 
there  was  one  passage  of  his  charity  that  was  perhaps  a  little  unusual: 
in  an  hard  and  long  winter,  when  wood  was  very  scarce  at  Boston,  a  man 
gave  him  a  private  information  that  a  needy  person  in  the' neighbourhood 
stole  wood  sometimes  from  Ids  pile ;  whereupon  the  governour  in  a  seeming 
anger  did  reply,  "  Does  he  so?  I'll  take  a  course  with  him ;  go,  call  that  man 
to  me;  I'll  warrant  you  I'll  cure  him  of  stealing."  AVhen  the  man  came, 
the  governour  considering  that  if  he  had  stolen,  it  was  more  out  of  neces- 
sity than  disposition,  said  unto  him,  "Friend,  it  is  a  severe  winter,  and  I 
doubt  you  are  but  meanly  provided  for  wood ;  wherefore  I  would  have 
you  supply  your  self  at  my  wood-pile  till  this  cold  season  be  over."  And 
he  then  merrily  asked  his  friends,  "Whether  he  had  not  effectually  cured 
this  man  of  stealing  his  wood?" 

§  7.  One  would  have  imagined  that  so  good  a  man  could  have  had  no 
enemies,  if  we  had  not  had  a  daily  and  woful  experience  to  convince  us 
that  goodness  it  self  will  make  enemies.  It  is  a  wonderful  speech  of  Plato, 
(in  one  of  his  books,  De  Repiihlica^)  "For  the  trial  of  true  vertue,  'tis  neces- 
sary  that  a  good    man   ixi^iJtv  a5ixoiv,  Jo^av  s^^ei  twv  (xjyi  rrv  ddixioLS :    Though 


OK,    THE    hiSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  ;][23 

he  do  no  unjust  thing,  should  suffer  the  infamy  of  the  greatest  injustice." 
The  governour  had  by  his  unspotted  integrity  procured  himself  a  great 
reputation  among  the  people ;  and  then  the  crime  of  popularity  was  laid 
unto  his  charge  by  such,  who  were  willing  to  deliver  him  from  the  danger 
of  having  all  men  speak  well  of  him.  Yea,  there  were  persons  eminent 
both  for  figure  and  for  number,  unto  whom  it  was  almost  essential  to  dislike 
every  thing  that  came  from  him;  and  yet  he  always  maintained  an  ami- 
cable correspondence  with  them;  as  believing  that  they  acted  according 
to  their  judgment  and  conscience,  or  that  their  eyes  were  held  by  some 
temptation  in  the  worst  of  all  their  oppositions.  Indeed,  his  right  works 
were  so  many,  that  they  exposed  him  unto  the  envy  of  his  neighbours; 
and  of  such  power  was  that  envy^  that  sometimes  he  could  not  stand  before 
it;  but  it  was  by  not  standing  that  he  most  effectually  withstood  it  all. 
Great  attempts  were  sometimes  made  among  the  freemen  to  get  him  left 
out  from  his  place  in  the  government  upon  little  pretences,  lest  by  the  too 
frequent  choice  of  one  man,  the  government  should  cease  to  be  by  choice; 
and  with  a  particular  aim  at  him,  sermons  were  preached  at  the  anniver- 
sary Court  of  election,  to  disswade  the  freemen  from  chusing  one  man 
twice  together.  This  was  the  reward  of  his  extraordinary  serviceableness  / 
But  when  these  attempts  did  succeed,  as  they  sometimes  did,  his  profound 
humility  appeared  in  that  equality  of  mind,  wherewith  he  applied  himself 
chearfully  to  serve  the  country  in  whatever  station  their  votes  had  alloted 
for  him.  And  one  year  when  the  votes  came  to  be  numbered,  there  were 
found  six  less  for  Mr,  Winthrop  than  for  another  gentleman  who  then 
stood  in  competition:  but  several  other  persons  regularly  tendring  their 
votes  before  the  election  was  published,  were,  upon  a  very  frivolous 
objection,  refused  by  some  of  the  magistrates  that  were  afraid  lest  the 
election  should  at  last  fall  upon  Mr,  Winthrop:  which,  though  it  was 
well  perceived,  yet  such  was  the  self-denial  of  this  patriot,  that  he  would 
not  permit  any  notice  to  be  taken  of  the  injury.  But  these  trials  were 
nothing  in  comparison  of  those  harsher  and  harder  treats,  which  he  some- 
times had  from  the  frowardness  of  not  a  few  in  the  days  of  their  parox- 
isms; and  from  the  faction  of  some  against  him,  not  much  unlike  that  of 
the  Piazzi  in  Florence  against  the  family  of  the  Medices :  all  of  which 
he  at  last  conquered  by  conforming  to  the  flimous  Judge's  motto,  Prudens 
qui  PatiensJ^  The  oracles  of  God  have  said,  "Envy  is  rottenness  to  the 
bones;"  and  Gulielmus  Parisiensis  applies  it  unto  rulers,  who  are  as  it 
were  the  hones  of  the  societies  which  they  belong  unto:  "Envy,"  says  he, 
"is  often  found  among  them,  and  it  is  rottenness  unto  them,"  Our' Win- 
throp encountred  this  envy  from  others,  but  conquered  it,  by  being  free 
from  it  himself, 

§  8.  Were  it  not  for  the  sake  of  introducing  the  exemplary  skill  of  this 
wise  man,  at  giving  soft  answers^  one  would  not  chuse  to  relate  those 

♦  He  is  prudent  who  is  patient. 


124  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMEKICANA; 

instances  of  wrath  which  he  had  sometimes  to  encounter  with;  but  he 
was  for  his  gentleness,  his  forbearance,  and  longanimity,  a  pattern  so 
worthy  to  be  written  after,  that  something  must  here  be  written  of  it.  He 
seemed  indeed  never  to  speak  any  other  language  than  that  of  Theodosius : 
"  If  any  man  speak  evil  of  the  governour,  if  it  be  through  lightness,  'tis  to 
be  contemned ;  if  it  be  through  madness,  'tis  to  be-  pitied ;  if  it  be  through 
injury,  'tis  to  be  remitted."  Behold,  reader,  the  "meekness  of  wisdom" 
notably  exemplified!  There  was  a  time  when  he  received  a  very  sharp 
letter  from  a  gentleman  who  was  a  member  of  the  Court,  but  he  delivered 
back  the  letter  unto  the  messengers  that  brought  it,  with  such  a  Christian 
speech  as  this:  "I  am  not  willing  to  keep  such  a  matter  of  provocation  by 
me!  Afterwards  the  same  gentleman  was  compelled  by  the  scarcity  of 
provisions  to  send  unto  him  that  he  would  sell  him  some  of  his  cattle; 
whereupon  the  governour  prayed  him  to  accept  what  he  had  sent  for  as  a 
tol<:en  of  his  good  will ;  but  the  gentleman  returned  him  this  answer:  "Sir, 
your  overcoming  of  yourself  hath  overcome  me;"  and  afterwards  gave 
demonstration  of  it.  The  French  have  a  saying,  That  Tin  honeste  homme^ 
est  un  homme  mesh! — o.  good  man  is  a  niixt  man;  and  there  hardly  ever 
was  a  more  sensible  mixture  of  those  two  things,  resolution  and  condescentton, 
than  in  this  good  man.  There  was  a  time  when  the  court  of  election  being, 
for  fear  of  tumult,  held  at  Cambridge,  May  17,  1637,  the  sectarian  part  of 
the  country,  who  had  the  year  before  gotten  a  governour  more  unto  their 
mind,  had  a  project  now  to  have  confounded  the  election,  by  demanding 
that  the  court  would  consider  a  petition  then  tendered  before  their  pro- 
ceeding thereunto.  Mr.  Winthrop  saw  that  this  was  only  a  trick  to  throw 
all  into  confusion,  by  putting  off  the  choice  of  the  governour  and  assistents 
until  the  day  should  be  over ;  and  therefore  he  did,  with  a  strenuous  reso- 
lution, procure  a  disappointment  unto  that  mischievous  and  ruinous  con- 
trivance. Nevertheless,  Mr.  Winthrop  himself  being  by  the  voice  of  the 
freemen  in  this  exigence  chosen  the  governour,  and  all  of  the  other  party 
left  out,  that  ill-affected  party  discovered  the  dirt  and  mire,  which  remained 
with  them,  after  the  storm  was  over;  particularly  the  Serjeants,  whose  office 
'twas  to  attend  the  governour,  laid  down  their  halberts ;  but  such  was  the 
condescention  of  this  governour,  as  to  take  no  present  notice  of  this  anger 
and  contempt,  but  only  order  some  of  his  own  servants  to  take  the  hal- 
berts; and  when  the  country  manifested  their  deep  resentments  of  the 
affront  thus  offered  him,  he  prayed  them  to  overlook  it.  But  it  was  not  long 
before  a  compensation  was  made  for  these  things  by  the  doubled  respects 
which  were  from  all  parts  paid  unto  him.  Again,  there  was  a  time  when 
the  suppression  of  an  antinomian  and  famdistical  faction,  which  extreamly 
threatned  the  ruin  of  the  country,  was  generally  thought  much  owing 
unto  this  renowned  man ;  and  therefore  when  the  friends  of  that  faction 
could  not  wreak  their  displeasure  on  him  with  anj2>olitick  vexations,  they 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  125 

set  themselves  to  do  it  by  ecclesiastical  ones.  Accordingly  when  a  sentence 
of  banishment  was  passed  on  the  ringleaders  of  those  disturbances,  who 

Maria  et  Terras,  Cmlumque  profundum, 

Quippe  ferant  Rapidi,  secum  vertantque  per  Auras;* 

many  at  the  church  of  Boston,  who  were  then  that  way  too  much  inclined, 
most  earnestly  solicited  the  elders  of  that  church,  whereof  the  governour 
was  a  member,  to  call  him  forth  as  an  offender^  for  passing  of  that  sentence. 
The  elders  were  unwilling  to  do  any  such  thing;  but  the  governour  under- 
standing the  ferment  among  the  people  took  that  occasion  to  make  a  speech 
in  the  congregation  to  this  effect: 

"Brethren:  Understanding  that  some  of  you  have  desired  that  I  should  answer  for  an 
offence  lately  taken  among  you;  had  I  been  called  upon  so  to  do,  I  would,  first,  have  advised 
with  the  ministers  of  the  country,  whether  the  church,  had  power  to  call  in  question  the  civil 
court;  and  I  would,  secondly,  have  advised  \vith  the  rest  of  the  court,  whether  I  might  dis- 
cover their  counsels  unto  the  church.  But  though  I  know  that  the  reverend  elders  of  this 
church,  and  some  others,  do  very  well  apprehend  that  the  church  cannot  enquire  into  the  ,, 
proceedings  of  the  court;  yet,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  weaker,  who  do  not  apprehend  it,  ^ 
I  will  declare  my  mind  concerning  it.  If  the  church  have  any  such  power,  they  have  it  from 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  disclaimed  it,  not  only  by  -practice, 
but  also  by  precept,  which  we  have  in  his  gospel,  Matt.  xx.  25,  26.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
magistrates,  as  they  are  church-members,  are  accountable  unto  the  church  for  their  failings; 
but  that  is  when  they  are  out  of  their  calling.  When  Uzziah  would  go  offer  incense  in  the 
temple,  tlie  officers  of  the  church  called  him  to  an  account,  and  withstood  him;  but  wlien 
Asa  put  tlie  prophet  in  prison,  the  officers  of  the  church  did  not  call  him  to  an  account  for 
that.  If  the  magistrate  shall  in  a  private  uny  wrong  any  man,  the  church  may  call  him  to  an 
account  for  it;  but  if  he  be  in  pursuance  of  a  course  of  justice,  though  the  thing  that  he 
does  be  U7ijust,  yet  he  is  not  accountable  for  it  before  the  church.  As  for  my  self,  I  did 
nothing  in  the  causes  of  any  of  the  brethren  but  by  the  advice  of  the  elders  of  the  church. 
Moreover,  in  the  oath  which  I  have  taken  there  is  this  clause:  "In  all  cases  wherein  you  are 
to  give  your  vote,  you  shall  do  as  in  your  judgment  and  conscience  you  shall  see  to  be  just, 
and  for  the  publick  good."  And  I  am  satisfied,  it  is  most  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  publick  good, that  there  has  been  such  a  sentence  passed;  yea,  those  brethren  are  so 
divided  from  the  rest  of  the  country  in  their  opinions  and  practices,  that  it  cannot  stand  with  „, 
the  fuhlick  peace  for  them  to  continue  with  us;  Abraham  saw  that  Hagar  and  Ishmael  must 
be  sent  away." 

By  such  a  speech  he  marvellously  convinced,  satisfied  and  mollified  the 
uneasie  brethren  of  the  church;  Sic  cunctus  Pela^i  cecidit  Fragor — .f 
And  after  a  little  patient  waiting,  the  differences  all  so  wore  away,  that  the 
church,  meerly  as  a  token  of  respect  unto  the  governour  when  he  had 
newly  met  with  some  losses  in  his  estate,  sent  him  a  present  of  several 
hundreds  of  pounds.  Once  more  there  was  a  time  when  some  active 
spirits  among  the  deputies  of  the  colony,  by  their  endeavours  not  only  to 
make  tliemselves  a  Court  of  Judicature,  but  also  to  take  away  the  negative 
b}^  which  the  magistrates  might  check  their  votes,  had  like  by  over-driving 
to  have  run  the  whole  government  into  something  too  democratical.     And 

•  Rack  sea  and  land  and  sky  with  mingled  wrath,  -f-  To  silence  sunk  the  thunder  of  the  wave. 

In  the  wild  tumult  of  their  stormy  path. 


12Q  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

if  there  were  a  town  in  Spain  undermined  by  coneys,  another  town  in 
Thrace  destroyed  by  moles,  a  third  in  Greece  ranversed  hy  frogs,  a  fourth 
in  Germany  subverted  by  rats;  I  must  on  this  occasion  add,  that  there 
was  a  country  in  America  like  to  be  confounded  by  a  sivine.  A  certain 
stnoj  sow  being  found,  was  claimed  by  two  several  persons  with  a  claim 
so  ecpially  maintained  on  both  sides,  that  after  six  or  seven  years'  hunting 
the  business  from  one  court  unto  another,  it  was  brought  at  last  into  the 
General  Court,  where  the  final  determination  was,  "that  it  was  impossible 
to  proceed  unto  any  judgment  in  the  case."  However,  in  the  debate  of 
this  matter,  the  negative  of  the  upper-hoiise  upon  the  lower  in  that  Court  was 
brought  upon  the  stage;  and  agitated  with  so  hot  a  zeal,  that  a  little  more, 
and  all  had  been  in  thejire.  In  these  agitations,  the  governour  was  informed 
that  an  offence  had  been  taken  by  some  eminent  persons  at  certain  passages 
in  a  discourse  by  him  written  thereabout;  whereupon,  with  his  usual  conde- 
scendency,  when  he  next  came  into  the  General  Court,  he  made  a  speech 
of  this  import: 

"I  understand  that  some  have  taken  offence  at  sometliing  that  I  have  lately  written; 
which  offence  I  desire  to  remove  now,  and  begin  this  year  in  a  reconciled  state  with  you  all. 
As  for  the  malter  of  my  writing,  I  had  the  concurrence  of  my  brethren;  it  is  a  point  of  judg- 
ment which  is  not  at  my  own  disposing.  I  have  examined  it  over  and  over  again  by  such  light 
as  God  has  given  me,  from  the  rules  of  religion,  reason  and  custom;  and  I  see  no  cause  to 
retract  any  thing  of  it:  wherefore  I  must  enjoy  my  liberty  in  that,  as  you  do  your  selves. 
But  for  the  manner,  this,  and  all  that  was  blame-worthy  in  it,  was  wholly  my  own  ;  and 
whatsoever  I  miglit  alledge  for  my  own  justification  therein  before  men,  I  wave  it,  as  now 
setting  my  self  before  another  Judgment  seat.  However,  what  I  wrote  was  upon  great 
provocation,  and  to  vindicate  my  self  and  others  from  great  aspersion;  yet  that  was  no  suf- 
ficient warrant  for  me  to  allow  any  distemper  of  spirit  in  my  self;  and  I  doubt  I  have  been 
too  prodigal  of  my  brethren's  reputation;  I  might  liave  maintained  my  cause  without  casting 
any  blemish  upon  others,  when  I  made  that  mj  conclusion,  'And  now  let  religion  and 
sound  reason  give  judgment  in  the  case;'  it  looked  as  if  I  arrogated  too  much  unto  my  self, 
and  too  little  to  others.  And  when  I  made  that  profession,  'That  I  would  maintain  what 
I  wrote  before  all  the  world,'  though  such  words  might  modestly  be  spoken,  yet  I  perceive 
an  unbeseeming  pride  of  my  own  heart  breathing  in  tliem.  For  these  failings,  I  ask  pardon 
of  God  and  man." 

Sic  nil,  et  dido  citius  Tumida  JEquora  placrit, 
Cullectasque  ftigat  Nubes,  Solemque  rediirit* 

This  acknowledging  disposition  in  the  governour  made  them  all 
acknowledge,  that  he  was  truly  "a  man  of  an  excellent  spirit."  In  fine, 
the  victories  of  an  Alexander,  an  Hannibal,  or  a  Caesar  over  other  men, 
were  not  so  glorious  as  the  victories  of  this  great  man  over  himself,  which 
also  at  last  proved  victories  over  other  men. 

§  9.  But  the  stormiest  of  all  the  trials  that  ever  bcfel  this  gentleman, 
was  in  the  year  1645,  when  he  was,  in  title,  no  more  than  Dcputy-govern- 
our  of  the  colony.     If  the  famous  Cato  were  forty-four  times  called  into 

•  Uc  speaks— but  ere  the  word  is  saiil,  1  And  briifhtening  clouds  one  moment  stay 

Each  mounting  billow  droops  its  head,  1  To  pioneer  returning  day. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  127 

judgment,  but  as  often  acquitted;  let  it  not  be  wondred,  and  if  our  famous 
Winthrop  were  one  time  so.  There  liapning  certain  seditious  and  muti- 
nous practices  in  the  town  of  Hingham,  the  Deputj-governour,  as  legally 
as  prudently,  interposed  his  authority  for  the  checking  of  them:  whereupon 
there  followed  such  an  enchantment  upon  the  minds  of  the  deputies  in  the 
General  Court,  that  upon  a  scandalous  petition  of  the  delinquents  unto 
them,  wherein  a  pretended  invasion  made  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people 
was  complained  of,  the  Deputy-governour  was  most  irregularly  called 
forth  unto  an  ignominious  hearing  before  them  in  a  vast  assembly ;  whereto 
with  a  sagacious  hiimilitude  he  consented,  although  he  shewed  them  how 
he  might  have  refused  it.  The  result  of  that  hearing  was,  that  notwith- 
standing the  touchy  jealousie  of  the  people  about  their  liberties  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  all  this  prosecution,  yet  Mr.  Winthrop  was  publickly  acquitted, 
and  the  offenders  were  severally  fined  and  censured.  But  Mr.  Winthrop 
then  resuming  the  place  of  Deputy-governour  on  the  bench,  saw  cause  to 
speak  unto  the  root  of  the  matter  after  this  manner: 

"I  shall  not  now  speak  any  thing  about  the  past  proceedings  of  this  Court,  or  the  persons 
therein  concerned.  Only  I  bless  God  that  I  see  an  issue  of  this  troublesome  affair.  I  am 
well  satisfied  that  I  was  publickly  accused,  and  that  I  am  now  publickly  acquitted.  But 
though  I  am  justified  before  men,  yet  it  may  be  the  Lord  hath  seen  so  much  amiss  in  my 
administrations,  as  calls  me  to  be  humbled;  and  indeed  for  me  to  have  been  thus  charged 
by  men,  is  it  self  a  matter  of  humiliation,  whereof  I  desire  to  make  a  right  use  before  the 
Lord.  If  Miriam's  father  spit  in  her  face,  she  is  to  be  ashamed.  But  give  me  leave,  before 
you  go,  to  say  something  that  may  rectifie  the  opinions  of  many  people,  from  whence  the 
distempers  have  risen  that  have  lately  prev.ailed  upon  the  body  of  this  people.  The  ques- 
tions that  have  troubled  the  country  have  been  about  the  authority  of  the  magistracy,  and 
the  liberty  of  the  people.  It  is  you  who  have  called  us  unto  this  office;  but  being  thus  called, 
we  have  our  authority  from  God;  it  is  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  it  hath  the  image  of  God 
stamped  upon  it;  and  the  contempt  of  it  has  been  vindicated  by  God  with  terrible  examples  of 
his  vengeance.  I  entreat  you  to  consider,  that  when  you  chuse  magistrates,  you  take  them 
from  among  your  selves,  'men  subject  unto  like  passions  with  your  selves.'  If  you  see  our 
infirmities,  reflect  on  your  own,  and  you  will  not  be  so  severe  censurers  of  ours.  We  count 
him  a  good  servant  who  breaks  not  his  covenant:  the  covenant  between  us  and  you,  is  the 
oath  you  h.ave  taken  of  us,  which  is  to  this  purpose,  'that  we  shall  govern  you,  and  judge 
your  causes,  according  to  God's  laws,  and  our  own,  according  to  our  best  skill.'  As  for  our 
skill,  you  must  run  the  hazard  of  it;  and  if  there  be  an  error,  not  in  the  will,  but  only  in 
skill,  it  becomes  you  to  bear  it.  Nor  would  I  have  you  to  mistake  in  the  point  of  your 
own  liberty.  There  is  a  liberty  of  corrupt  nature,  which  is  aflfected  both  by  men  and  beasts, 
to  do  what  they  list;  and  this  liberty  is  inconsistent  with  authority,  impatient  of  all  restraint; 
by  this  liberty,  Sumus  Omnes  Deteriores ;  *  'tis  the  grand  enemy  of  truth  and  peace,  and  all 
the  ordinances  of  God  are  bent  against  it.  But  there  is  a  civil,  a  moral,  a  federal  liberty, 
which  is  the  proper  end  and  object  of  authority;  it  is  a  liberty  for  that  only  which  \s  just  v 
and  good;  for  this  liberty  you  are  to  stand  with  the  hazard  of  your  very  lives;  and  whatso- 
ever crosses  it  is  not  authority,  but  a  distemper  thereof.  This  liberty  is  maintained  in  a 
way  of  subjection  to  authority;  and  the  authority  set  over  you  will  in  all  administrations'*^ 
for  your  good  be  quietly  submitted  unto,  by  all  but  such  as  have  a  disposition  to  shake  off  the 
yoke,  and  lose  their  true  liberty,  by  their  murmuring  at  the  honour  and  power  of  authority." 

•  We  are  all  the  worse  for  it. 


^28  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

The  spell  that  was  upon  the  eyes  of  the  people  being  thus  dissolved, 
their  distorted  and  enraged  notions  of  things  all  vanished;  and  the  people 
would  not  afterwards  entrust  the  helm  of  the  weather-beaten  bark  in  any 
other  hands  but  Mr.  Winthrop's  until  he  died. 

§  10.  Indeed,  such  was  the  mixture  of  distant  qualities  in  him,  as  to 
make  a  most  admirable  temper;  and  his  having  a  certain  greatness  of  soul^ 
which  rendered  him  grave,  generous,  courageous,  resolved,  well-applied, 
and  every  way  a  gentleman  in  his  demeanour,  did  not  hinder  him  from 
taking  sometimes  the  old  Eoman's  way  to  avoid  confusions,  namely, 
Cedendo-*  or  from  discouraging  some  things  which  are  agreeable  enough 
to  most  that  wear  the  name  of  gentlemen.  Hereof  I  will  give  no  instances, 
but  only  oppose  two  passages  of  his  life. 

In  the  year  1632,  the  governour,  with  his  pastor,  Mr.  Wilson,  and  some 
other  gentlemen,  to  settle  a  good  understanding  between  the  two  colonies, 
travelled  as  far  as  Plymouth,  more  than  forty  miles,  through  an  howling 
wilderness,  no  better  accommodated  in  those  early  days  than  the  princes 
that  in  Solomon's  time  saw  "servants  on  horseback,"  or  than  genus  and 
species  in  the  old  epigram,  "going  on  foot."  The  difficulty  of  the  lualk, 
was  abundantly  compensated  by  the  honourable,  first  reception,  and  then 
dismission,  which  they  found  from  the  rulers  of  Plymouth;  and  by  the 
good  correspondence  thus  established  between  the  new  colonies,  who  were 
like  the  floating  bottels  wearing  this  motto:  Si  ColUdimur  Frcmgimitr.-f 
But  there  were  at  this  time  in  Plymouth  two  ministers,  leavened  so  far 
with  the  humours  of  the  rigid  separation,  that  they  insisted  vehemently 
upon  the  uulawfulness  of  calling  any  unregenerate  man  by  the  name  of 
"good-man  such  an  one,"  until  by  their  indiscreet  urging  of  this  whimsey, 
the  place  began  to  be  disquieted.  The  wiser  people  being  troubled  at 
these  trifles,  they  took  the  opportunity  of  Governour  Winthrop's  being 
there,  to  have  the  thing  publickly  propounded  in  the  congregation ;  who 
in  answer  thereunto,  distinguished  between  a  theological  and  a  moral  good- 
ness; adding,  that  when  Juries  were  first  used  in  England,  it  was  usual 
for  the  crier,  after  the  names  of  persons  fit  for  that  service  were  called 
over,  to  bid  them  all,  "Attend,  good  men  and  true;"  whence  it  grew 
to  be  a  civil  custom  in  the  English  nation,  for  neighbours  living  b}^  one 
another,  to  call  one  another  "good  man  such  an  one;"  and  it  was  pity 
now  to  make  a  stir  about  a  civil  custom,  so  innocently  introduced.  And 
that  speech  of  Mr.  Winthrop's  put  a  lasting  stop  to  the  little,  idle,  whim- 
sical conceits,  then  beginning  to  grow  obstreperous.  Nevertheless,  there 
was  one  civil  custom  used  in  (and  in  few  hut)  the  English  nation,  which 
this  gentleman  did  endeavour  to  abolish  in  this  country;  and  that  was, 
'^the  visage  of  drinking  to  one  another.  For  although  by  drinking  to  one' 
another,  no  more  is  meant  than  an  act  of  courtesie,  when  one  going  to 
drink,  does  invite  another  to  do  so  too,  for  the  same  ends  with  himself; 

•  By  yielding  the  poii)t.  f  If  ire  come  into  collision,  wc  break. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  129 

nevertheless  the  governour  (not  altogether  unlike  to  Cleomenes,  of  whom 
'tis  reported  by  Plutarch,  driovn  iSsis  itor-^piov  trpodscpsps,  Nblenti poculum  nun- 
quam  2rrcehuit,)*  considered  the  impertinency  and  insignificancy  of  this  usage, 
as  to  any  of  those  ends  that  are  usually  pretended  for  it;  and  that  indeed 
it  ordinarily  served  for  no  ends  at  all,  but  only  to  provoke  persons  unto 
unseasonable  and  perhaps  unreasonable  drinking,  and  at  last  produce  that 
abominable  health-drinJcing,  which  the  fathers  of  old  so  severely  rebuked 
in  the  Pagans,  and  which  the  Papists  themselves  do  condemn,  when  their 
casuists  pronounce  it,  Peccatum  mortale^  provocare  ad  Equates  Calices,  et 
Nefas  Respondere.-\  Wherefore  in  his  own  most  hospitable  house  he 
left  it  off;  not  out  of  any  silly  or  stingy  fancy,  but  nieerly  that  by  his 
example  a  greater  temperance,  with  liberty  of  drinking,  might  be  recom- 
mended, and  sundry  inconveniences  in  drinking  avoided;  and  his  example 
accordingly  began  to  be  much  followed  by  the  sober  people  in  this  country, 
as  it  now  also  begins  among  persons  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  English 
nation  it  self;  until  an  order  of  court  came  to  be  made  against  that 
ceremony  in  drinking,  and  then,  the  old  ivont  violently  returned,  with 
a  Nitimur  in  Vetitum.X 

§  11.  Many  wei^e  the  afflictions  of  this  righteous  man!  He  lost  much 
of  his 'estate  in  a  ship,  and  in  an  house,  quickly  after  his  coming  to  New- 
England,  besides  the  prodigious  expence  of  it  in  the  difficulties  of  his  first 
coming  hither.  Afterwards  his  assiduous  application  unto  the  publick 
affairs,  (wherein  Ipse  se  non  habuit^  postquam  Respublica  eum  Gid>ernatorem 
habere  cajp?Y)§  made  him  so  much  to  neglect  his  own  private  interests,  that 
an  unjust  steward  ran  him  £2,500  in  debt  before  he  was  aware;  for  the 
payment  whereof  he  was  forced,  many  years  before  his  decease,  to  sell  the 
most  of  what  he  had  left  unto  him  in  the  country.  Albeit,  by  the  observ- 
able blessings  of  God  upon  the  posterity  of  this  liberal  man,  his  children 
all  of  them  came  to  fair  estates,  and  lived  in  good  fashion  and  credit. 
Moreover,  he  successively  buried  three  wives;  the  first  of  which  was  the 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Mr.  Forth,  of  Much-Stambridge  in  Essex,  by 
whom  he  had  "wisdom  with  an  inheritance;"  and  an  excellent  son.  The 
second  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Clopton,  of  London,  who  died  with 
her  child,  within  a  very  little  while.  The  third  was  the  daughter  of  the 
truly  worshipful  Sir  John  Tyndal,  who  made  it  her  whole  care  to  please, 
first  God,  and  then  her  husband ;  and  by  whom  he  had  four  sons,  which 
survived  and  honoured  their  father.  And  unto  all  these,  the  addition  of  the 
distempers^  ever  now  and  then  raised  in  the  country,  procured  unto  him  a 
very  singular  share  of  trouble;  yea,  so  hard  was  the  measure  which  he 
found  even  among  pious  men,  in  the  temptations  of  a  Avilderness,  that  when 
the  thunder  and  liglitning  had  smitten  a  wind-mill  whereof  he  was  owner, 

•  Never  urged  the  reluctant  to  drink.  , 

t  It  is  a  deadly  sin  to  challenge  another  to  a  drinking  match,  and  it  is  impious  to  accept  such  challenges. 

X  A  bias  towards  the  forbidden  indulgence. 

g  He  no  longer  belonged  to  himself,  after  the  Republic  had  once  made  him  her  Chief  Magistrate. 

Vol.  I.— 9 


130  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

some  had  such  things  in  their  heads  as  publicklj  to  reproach  this  chari- 
tablest  of  men  as  if  the  voice  of  the  Almighty  had  rebuked,  I  know  not 
what  oppression,  which  they  judged  him  guilty  of;  which  things  I  would 
not  have  mentioned,  but  that  the  instances  may  fbrtifie  the  expectations  of 
my  best  readers  for  such  afflictions. 

§  12.  lie  that  had  been  for  his  attainments,  as  they  said  of  the  blessed 
Macarius,  a  -raioapio/spt^v,  {an  old  man,  while  a  young  one,)  and  that  had  in 
his  young  days  met  with  many  of  those  ill  days,  whereof  he  could  say,  he 
had  "little  pleasure  in  them;"  now  found  old  age  in  its  infirmities  advancing 
earlier  upon  him,  than  it  came  upon  his  much  longer-lived  progenitors. 
While  he  was  yet  seven  years  off  of  that  which  we  call  "the  grand  climac- 
terical,"  he  felt  the  approaches  of  his  dissolution ;  and  finding  he  could  say, 

Non  Habitus,  non  ipse  Color,  non  Gressus  Euntis, 
Non  Species  Eadcm,  qua  fait  ante,  manet;* 

He  then  wrote  this  account  of  himself:  "Age  now  comes  upon  me,  and 
infirmities  therewithal,  which  makes  me  apprehend,  that  the  time  of  my 
departure  out  of  this  world  is  not  far  off.  However,  our  times  are  all  in 
the  Lord's  hand,  so  as  we  need  not  trouble  our  thoughts  how  long  or  short 
they  may  be,  but  how  we  may  be  found  faithful  when  we  are  called  for." 
But  at  last  when  that  year  came,  he  took  a  cold  which  turned  into  a  feaver, 
whereof  he  lay  sick  about  a  month,  and  in  that  sickness,  as  it  hath  been 
observed,  that  there  was  allowed  unto  the  serpent  the  "bruising  of  the 
heel;"  and  accordingly  at  the  heel  or  the  close  of  our  lives  the  old  serpent 
■will  be  nibbling  more  than  ever  in  our  lives  before ;  and  when  the  devil 
sees  that  we  shall  shortly  be,  "where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling," 
that  wicked  one  will  trouble  us  more  than  ever ;  so  this  eminent  saint  now 
underwent  sharp  conflicts  with  the  tempter,  whose  wrath  grew  great,  as 
the  time  to  exert  it  grew  short;  and  he  was  buffeted  with  the  disconsolate 
thoughts  of  black  and  sore  desertions,  wherein  he  could  use  that  sad  rep- 
resentation of  his  own  condition : 

Nuper  eram  Judex;  Jam  Judicor;  Ante  Tribunal 
Subsistens  pavco;  Judicor  ipse  tnodo.f 

But  it  was  not  long  before  those  clouds  were  dispelled,  and  he  enjoyed 
in  his  holy  soul  the  great  consolations  of  God!  AVhile  he  thus  lay  ripen- 
ing for  heaven,  he  did  out  of  obedience  unto  the  ordinance  of  our  Lord, 
send  for  the  elders  of  the  church  to  pray  Avith  him;  3'ea,  they  and  the 
whole  church /ai-fcc/  as  well  as  jvayed  for  him;  and  in  that  fast  the  vener- 
able Cotton  preached  on  Psal.  xxxv.  13,  14:  "When  they  were  sick,  I 
humbled  my  self  with  fasting;  I  behaved  my  self  as  though  he  had  been 
my  friend  or  brother;  I  bowed  down  heavily,  as  one  that  mourned  for 
his  mother:"  from  whence  I  find  him  raising  that  observation,  "The  sick- 

*  I  am  not  what  I  was  in  form  or  face,  I  once  judged  others .  but  now  trembling  stand 

In  healthful  colour  or  in  vigorous  pace.  Before  a  dread  tribuunl.  lo  bk  judged. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  13^ 

ness  of  one  that  is  to  us  as  a  friend,  a  brother,  a  mother,  is  a  just  occasion 
of  deep  humbling  our  souls  with  fasting  and  prayer;"  and  making  this 
application : 

"  Upon  this  occasion  we  arc  now  to  attend  this  duty  for  a  governour,  who  has  been  to  us 
as  a  friend  in  his  counsel  for  all  things,  and  help  for  our  bodies  by  physick,  for  our  estates  by 
law,  and  of  whom  there  was  no  fear  of  his  becoming  an  enemy,  like  the  friends  of  David: 
a  governour  who  has  been  unto  us  as  a  brother;  not  usurping  authority  over  the  church; 
often  speaking  his  advice,  and  often  contradicted,  even  by  young  men,  and  some  of  low 
degree;  yet  not  replying,  but  oft'ering  satisfaction  also  when  any  supposed  offences  have 
arisen ;  a  governour  who  has  been  unto  us  as  a  mother,  parent-like  distributing  his  goods  to 
brethren  and  neighbours  at  his  first  coming;  and  gently  bearing  our  infirmities  without 
taking  notice  of  them." 

Such  a  governour,  after  he  had  been  more  than  ten  several  times  by  the 
people  chosen  their  governour,  was  New-England  now  to  lose;  who  hav- 
ing, like  Jacob,  first  left  his  council  and  blessing  with  his  children  gathered 
about  his  bed-side;  and,  like  David,  "served  his  generation  by  the  will 
of  God,"  he  "gave  up  the  ghost,"  and  fell  asleep  on  March  26,  1649. 
Having,  like  the  dying  Emperour  Valentinian,  this  above  all  his  other 
victories  for  his  triumphs.  His  overcoming  of  himself. 

The  words  of  Josephus  about  Nehemiah,  the  governour  of  Israel,  we 
will  now  use  upon  this  governour  of  New-England,  as  his 

EPITAPH. 

'Avr)p  ^F.ysvSTo  XP'^S'^^  '^''^^  ipuCiv,  xai  (Jixaioff, 
Kai  irspi  Tus  oixosdvsig  (piXorijxoTarof 
Mvrjjxsrov  aiwviov  aurw  xaTokiifuiv,  ra  tuv 
'IspotfoXufji.wv  TSi-y(r\.* 

VIR  FUIT  INDOLE  BONUS,  AC  JUSTUS: 

ET  POPULARIUM  GLORIA  AMANTISSIMUS : 

QUIBUS  ETERNUM  RELIQUIT  MONUMENTUM, 

Novanglorum  Mcenia.* 


CHAPTER   ?» 

SUCCESSORS. 

§  1.  One  as  well  acquainted  with  the  matter,  as  Isocrates,  informs  us, 
that  among  the  judges  of  Areopagus  none  were  admitted,  ttfXiiv  6j  xakCJs 
'vsyovoTSg,  xai  tzfoXXi^v  apJT*iv  xai  (fojqjporfuviiv  £v  rw  /3iw  s\iSeSsiy(is\ioi  (unless  they 
were  nobly  born,  and  eminently  exemplary  for  a  virtuous  and  a  sober 
life).     The  report  may  be  truly  made  concerning  the  Judges  of  New- 

•  He  was  by  nature  a  man,  at  once  benevolent  and  just:  most  zealous  for  the  honour  of  his  countiymen;  and 
to  them  he  lett  an  imperishable  monument— the  walls  of  Jenisalem.  [The  Latin  paraphrase  substitutes  JVew. 
England  for  Jerusalem.] 


132'  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

England,  tliough  tlicy  were  not  nohly  born,  yet  tliey  were  generall}'  well 
barn;  and  by  being  eminently/  exemplary  for  a  virtuous  and  a  sober  life,  gave 
demonstration  tliat  tliey  were  neiv-lurn.  Some  account  of  them  is  now 
more  particularly  to  be  endeavoured. 

We  read  concerning  Saul,  (1  Sam.  xv.  12,)  "He  set  up  himself  a  place," 
The  Hebrew  word,  T,  there  used,  signifies  a  monumental  pillar.  It  is 
accordingly  promised  unto  them  who  please  God,  (Isa.  Ivi.  5,)  "That  they 
shall  have  a  place  and  a  name  in  the  house  of  God;  that  is  to  say,  a  pillar 
erected  for  fame  in  the  church  of  God.  And  it  shall  be  fulfilled  in  what 
shall  now  be  done  for  our  governours  in  this  our  Church-History.  Even 
while  the  Massachxiscttensians  had  a  Winthrop  for  their  governour,  they 
could  not  restrain  the  channel  of  their  affections  from  running  towards 
another  gentleman  in  their  elections  for  the  year  163-i,  particularly  when 
they  chose  unto  the  place  of  governour  Thomas  Dudley,  Esq.,  one  whom, 
after  the  death  of  the  gentleman  above  mentioned,  they  again  and  again 
voted  into  the  chief  place  of  government.  He  was  born  at  the  town  of 
Northampton,  in  the  year  1574,  the  only  son  of  Captain  Eoger  Dudley, 
who  being  slain  in  the  wars,  left  this  our  Thomas,  with  his  only  sister, 
for  the  "Father  of  the  orphans"  to  "take  them  up."  In  the  family  of 
the  Earl  of  Northampton  he  had  opportunity  perfectl}'  to  learn  the  points 
of  good  behaviour;  and  here  having  fitted  himself  to  do  many  other  ben- 
efits unto  the  world,  he  next  became  a  clerk  unto  Judge  Nichols,  who 
being  his  kinsman  by  the  mother's  side,  therefore  took  the  more  special 
notice  of  him.  From  his  relation  to  this  judge,  he  had  and  used  an 
advantage  to  attain  such  a  skill  in  the  law,  as  was  of  great  advantage  to 
him  in  the  future  changes  of  his  life;  and  the  judge  would  have  preferred 
him  unto  the  higher  imployments,  whereto  his  prompt  wit  not  a  little 
recommended  him,  if  he  had  not  been  by  death  prevented.  But  before 
he  could  appear  to  do  much  at  the  p>en,  for  which  he  was  very  well 
accomplished,  he  was  called  upon  to  do  something  at  the  sword;  for  being 
a  young  gentleman  well-known  for  his  ingenuity,  courage  and  conduct, 
when  there  were  soldiers  to  be  raised  by  order  from  Queen  Elizabeth  for 
French  service,  in  the  time  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth,  the  young  sparks 
about  Northampton  were  none  of  them  willing  to  enter  into  the  service, 
until  a  commission  was  given  unto  our  young  Dudley  to  be  their  captain; 
and  then  presently  there  were  fourscore  that  listed  under  him.  At  the 
head  of  these  he  went  over  into  the  Low  Countries,  which  was  then  an 
academy  of  arms,  as  well  as  arts;  and  thus  he  came  to  furnish  himself  with 
endowments  for  \\\q  field,  as  well  as  for  the  bench.  The  post  assigned  unto 
him  with  his  company,  was  after  at  the  siege  of  Amiens,  before  which  the 
King  himself  was  now  encamped;  but  the  providence  of  God  so  ordered 
it,  that  when  both  parties  were  drawn  forth  in  order  to  battel,  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  vigorously  set  on  foot,  which  diverted  the  battel  that  was 
expected.     Captain  Dudley  hereupon  returned  into  England,  and  settling 


OE,     THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  Igg 

.  himself  about  Northampton,  he  married  a  gentlewoman  whose  extraction 
and  estate  were  considerable;  and  the  scituation  of  his  habitation  after 
this  helped  him  to  enjoy  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Dod,  Mr.  Cleaver,  Mr.  Win- 
ston, and  Mr.  Hildersham,  all  of  them  excellent  and  renowned  men :  which 
jiuritan  ministry  so  seasoned  his  heart  with  a  sense  of  religion,  that  he  was 
a  devout  and  serious  Christian,  and  a  follower  of  the  ministers  that  most 
effectually  preached  real  Christianity^  all  the  rest  of  his  days.  The  spirit 
of  real  Christianity  in  him  now  also  disposed  him  unto  sober  non-con- 
formity; and  from  this  time,  although  none  more  hated  the  fanaticisms 
and  enthusiasms  of  wild  ojyinionists,  he  became  a  judicious  Dissenter  from 
the  unscriptural  ceremonies  retained  in  the  Church  of  England.  It  was 
not  long  after  this  that  the  Lord  Say,  the  Lord  Compton,  and  other  per- 
sons of  quality,  made  such  observations  of  him,  as  to  commend  him  unto 
the  service  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  was  then  a  young  man,  and  newly 
come  unto  the  possession  of  his  earldom,  and  of  what  belonged  thereunto. 
The  grandfather  of  this  noble  person  had  left  his  heirs  under  ivast  entan- 
glements, out  of  which  his  father  was  never  able  to  extricate  himself;  so 
that  the  difficulties  and  incumbrances  were  now  devolved  upon  this  The- 
ophilus,  which  caused  him  to  apply  himself  unto  this  our  Dudley  for  his 
assistances,  who  proved  so  able,  and  careful,  and  faithful  a  steward  unto 
him,  that  within  a  little  while  the  debts  of  near  twenty  thousand  pounds, 
whereinto  the  young  Earl  found  himself  desperately  ingulphed,  were  hap- 
pily waded  through ;  and  by  his  means  also  a  match  was  procured  between 
the  young  Earl  and  the  daughter  of  the  Lord  Say,  who  proved  a  most  vir- 
tuous lady,  and  a  great  blessing  to  the  whole  family.  But  the  Earl  find- 
ing Mr.  Dudley  to  be  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary  discretion,  he  would 
rarely,  if  ever,  do  any  matter  of  any  moment  without  his  advice ;  but 
some  into  whose  hands  there  fell  some  of  his  manuscripts  after  his  leaving 
of  the  Earl's  family,  found  a  passage  to  this  purpose:  "The  estate  of  the 
Earl  of  Lincoln  I  found  so,  and  so,  much  in  debt,  which  I  have  discharged, 
andjiave  raised  the  rents  unto  so  many  hundreds  per  annum;  God  will, 
I  trust,  bless  me  and  mine  in  such  a  manner.  I  can,  as  sometimes  Nehe- 
miah  did,  appeal  unto  God,  who  knows  the  hearts  of  all  men,  that  I  have 
with  integrity  discharged  the  duty  of  my  place  before  him." 

I  had  prepared  and  intended  a  more  particular  account  of  this  gentle- 
man ;  but  not  having  any  opportunity  to  commit  it  unto  the  perusal  of  any 
descended  from  him  (unto  whom  I  am  told  it  will  be  unacceptable  for  me 
to  publish  any  thing  of  this  kind,  by  them  not  perused)  I  have  laid  it  aside, 
and  summed  all  up  in  this  more  general  account. 

It  was  about  nine  or  ten  years  that  Mr.  Dudley  continued  a  steward 
unto  the  Earl  of  Lincoln ;  but  then  growing  desirous  of  a  more  private 
life,  he  retired  unto  Boston,  where  the  acquaintance  and  ministry  of  Mr. 
Cotton  became  no  little  satisfaction  unto  him.  Nevertheless,  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln  found  that  he  could  be  no  more  without  Mr.  Dudley,  than  Pha- 


134 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


raoh  without  his  Joseph,  and  prevailed  with  him  to  resume  his  former 
imployment,  until  the  storm  of  persecution  upon  the  non-conformists 
caused  many  men  of  great  worth  to  transport  themselves  into  New-Eng- 
land. Mr.  Dudley  was  not  the  least  of  the  worthy  men  that  bore  a  part 
in  this  transportation,  in  hopes  that  in  an  American  wilderness  they  might 
peaceal^ly  attend  and  enjoy  the  pure  worship  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  the  first  undertakers  for  that  plantation  came  to  know  him,  they 
soon  saw  that  in  him,  that  caused  them  to  chuse  him  their  deputy-governoui-, 
in  which  capacity  he  arrived  unto  these  coasts  in  the  year  1630,  and  had 
no  small  share  in  the  distresses  of  that  young  plantation,  whereof  an 
account,  by  him  written  to  the  Countess  of  Lincoln,  has  been  since  pub- 
lished unto  the  world.  Here  his  wisdom  in  managing  the  most  weighty 
and  thorny  affairs  was  often  signalized:  his  justice  was  a  perpetual  terror 
to  evil-doers:  his  courage  procured  his  being  the  first  major-general  of  the 
colony,  when  they  began  to  put  themselves  into  a  military  figure.  His 
orthodox  intty  had  no  little  influence  unto  the  deliverance  of  the  country 
from  the  contagion  oi  ihe  famalistical  errors,  which  had  like  to  have  over- 
turned all.  He  dwelt  first  at  Cambridge ;  but  upon  Mr.  Hooker's  removal 
to  Hartford,  he  removed  to  Ipswich;  nevertheless,  upon  the  importunity 
and  necessity  of  the  government  for  his  coming  to  dwell  nearer  the  center 
of  the  whole,  he  fixed  his  habitation  at  Roxbury,  two  miles  out  of  Boston, 
where  he  was  always  at  hand  upon  the  publick  exigencies.  Here  he  died, 
July  31,  1653,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age;  and  there  were 
found  after  his  death,  in  his  pocket,  these  lines  of  his  own  composing, 
which  may  serve  to  make  up  what  may  be  wanting  in  the  character 
already  given  him: 


Dim  eyes,  deaf  ears,  cold  stomach,  shew 
My  dissolution  is  in  view. 
Eleven  times  seven  near  lived  have  I, 
And  now  God  calls,  I  willing  die. 
My  shuttle's  shot,  my  race  is  run, 
My  sun  is  set,  my  day  is  done. 
My  span  is  measured,  tale  is  told, 
My  llowcr  is  faded,  and  grown  old. 
My  dream  is  vanish'd,  shadow  's  fled, 
My  soul  with  Christ,  my  body  dead. 


Farewel,  dear  wife,  children  and  friends 

Hate  hercsie — make  blessed  ends. 

Bear  poverty  ;  live  with  good  men; 

So  shall  we  live  with  joy  agen. 

Let  men  of  God  in  courts  and  churches  watch 

O'er  such  as  do  a  tolcratiun  hatch. 

Lest  that  ill  egg  bring  forth  a  cockatrice, 

To  poison  all  with  hcresle  and  vice. 

If  men  be  left,  and  otherwise  combine, 

My  F.pitaph''s,  I  dy'd  no  libkrtine. 


But  when  I  mention  the  poetry  of  this  gentleman  as  one  of  his  accom- 
plishments, I  must  not  leave  unmentioncd  the  fame  with  which  the  poems 
of  one  descended  from  him  have  been  celebrated  in  both  Englands.  K 
the  rare  learning  of  a  daughter  was  not  the  least  of  those  bright  things 
that  adorned  no  less  a  Judge  of  England  than  Sir  Thomas  More;  it  must 
now  be  said,  that  a  Judge  of  New-England,  namely,  Thomas  Dudley, 
Esq.,  had  a  daughter  (besides  other  children)  to  be  a  crown  unto  him. 
Reader,  America  justly  admires  the  learned  women  of  the  other  hemis])here. 
She  has  heard  of  those  that  were  tutoresses  to  the  old  professors  of  all 
philosophy:  she  hath  heard  of  Hippatia,  who  formerly  taught  the  liberal 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


135 


arts;  and  of  Sarocchia,  wlio  more  lately  was  very  often  the  moderatrix  iu 
the  disputations  of  the  learned  men  of  Eome:  she  has  been  told  of  the 
three  Corinn^es,  which  equalled,  if  not  excelled,  the  most  celebrated  poets 
of  their  time :  she  has  been  told  of  the  Empress  Endocia,  who  composed 
poetical  paraphrases  on  divers  parts  of  the  Bible;  and  of  Eosuida,  who 
wrote  the  lives  of  holy  men ;  and  of  Pamphilia,  who  wrote  other  histories 
unto  the  life:  the  writings  of  the  most  renowned  Anna  Maria  Schurnian 
have  come  over  unto  her.  But  she  now  prays,  that  into  such  catalogues  of 
authoresses  as  Beverovicius,  Hottinger,  and  Voetius  have  given  unto  the 
world,  there  may  be  a  room  now  given  unto  Madam  Ann  Bradstreet, 
the  daughter  of  our  Governour  Dudley,  and  the  consort  of  our  Governour 
Bradstreet,  whose  poems,  divers  times  printed,  have  afforded  a  grateful 
entertainment  unto  the  ingenious,  and  a  monument  for  her  memory  beyond 
the  stateliest  marbles.  It  was  upon  these  poems  that  an  ingenious  person 
bestowed  this  epigram : 


Now  I  believe  tradition,  which  doth  call 
The  Jluses,  Virtues,  Graces,  females  all. 
Only  they  are  not  nine,  eleven,  or  three ; 
Our  auth''ress  proves  them  but  an  unitif. 
Mankind,  take  wp  some  blushes  on  the  score ; 
Monopolize  perfection  hence  no  more. 


In  your  own  arts  conless  yom-  selves  outdone ; 
The  moon  hath  totally  eclips'd  the  sun  : 
Not  with  her  sable  mantle  muffling  him, 
But  her  bright  silver  makes  his  gold  look  dim : 
Just  as  his  beams  force  our  pale  lamps  to  wink, 
And  earthly  ^res  within  their  ashes  shrink. 


What  else  might  be  said  of  Mr.  Dudley,  the  reader  shall  construe  from 
the  ensuing 

EPITAPH. 


Helluo  IJhrornm,  Lcctorum  Bibliotheca 
Conuiiunis,  SacrcE  Syllabus  Historite, 
Jid  Mensam  Comes,  hinc  facundus,  Rostra  disertuj, 
(A'on  Cumulus  verbis,  pondus,  Acumen  erat,) 


Morum  acris  Censor,  validus  Defensor  amansgue 
Et  Sanm  et  Canm  Catholicw  fidei. 

Jlngli-novi  Culumen  Summum  Decus  atque  Senatus ; 
Thomas  Dudleius,  conditur  hoc  Tumulo.  * — E.  R. 


§  2.  In  the  year  1635,  at  the  anniversary  election,  the  freemen  of  the 
colony  testified  their  grateful  esteem  of  Mr  John  Haines,  a  worthy  gen- 
tleman, who  had  been  very  serviceable  to  the  interests  of  the  colony,  by 
chusing  him  their  governour.  Of  him  in  an  ancient  manuscript  I  find  this 
testimony  given:  "To  him  is  New-England  many  ways  beholden;  had  he 
done  no  more  but  stilled  a  storm  of  dissention,  which  broke  forth  in  the 
beginning  of  his  government,  he  had  done  enough  to  endear  our  hearts 
unto  him,  and  account  that  day  happy  when  he  took  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment into  his  hands."  But  this  pious,  humble,  well-bred  gentleman,  remov- 
ing afterwards  into  Connecticut,  he  took  his  turn  with  Mr.  Edward  Hopkins 
in  being  every  other  year  the  governour  of  that  colony.  And  as  he  was 
a  great  friend  of  peace  while  he  lived,  so  at  his  death  he  entered  into  that 


In  books  a  prodigal,  they  say ; 

A  livino;  cyclopaedia; 

Of  histories  of  church  and  priest 

A  full  compendium,  at  least; 

A  table-talker,  rich  in  sense. 

And  witty  without  wit's  pretence; 

An  able  champion  in  debate. 

Whose  words  lacked  number  but  not  weight 


In  character  a  critic  bold ; 
And  of  that  faith,  both  sound  and  old — 
Both  Catholic  and  Christian  too, 
A  soldier  trusty,  tried  and  true; 
New-England's  Senate's  crowning  grace. 
In  merit  truly  as  in  place, 
Condemned  to  share  the  common  doom, 
Reposes  here  in  Dudley's  tomb. 


jigg  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

peace  which  attends  the  end  of  the  perfect  and  upright  man,  leaving  behind 
him  tlie  cliaracter  sometimes  given  of  a  greater,  though  not  a  letter  man, 
(Vespasian)  Bonis  Legihus  multa  correxit,  sed  exemplo  probce  vitce  phis  effecit 
apud  pojmhnyi* 

§  3.  Near  twenty  ships  from  Europe  visited  New-England  in  the  3^ear 
1635,  and  in  one  of  them  was  Mr.  Henry  Vane,  (afterwards  Sir  Henry 
Vane,)  an  accomplished  young  gentleman,  whose  father  was  much  against 
his  coming  to  New-England;  but  the  King,  upon  information  of  his  dis- 
position, commanded  him  to  allow  his  son's  voyage  hither,  with  a  consent 
for  his  continuing  three  years  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Although  his 
business  had  some  relation  to  the  plantation  of  Connecticut,  yet  in  the 
year  1636,  the  Massachuset  colony  chose  him  their  governour.  And  now, 
reader,  I  am  as  much  a  seeker  for  his  character  as  many  have  taken  him  to 
be  a  seeker  in  religion,  while  no  less  persons  than  Dr.  Manton  have  not  been 
to  seek  for  the  censure  of  a  tvicJced  book,  with  which  they  have  noted  the 
Mystical  Divinity,  in  the  book  of  this  knight,  entituled,  "  The  retired  man^s 
Meditations.''''  There  has  been  a  strange  variety  of  translations  bestowed 
upon  the  Hebrew  names  of  some  animals  mentioned  in  the  Bible:  Kip)pod, 
for  instance,  which  we  translate  a  bittern,  E.  Salomon  will  have  to  be  an 
oivl,  but  Luther  will  have  it  be  an  eagle,  while  Paynin  will  have  it  be  an 
hedge-hog,  but  K.  Kimchi  will  have  it  a  snail;  such  a  variety  of  opinions 
and  resentments  has  the  name  of  this  gentleman  fallen  under ;  while  some 
have  counted  him  an  eminent  Christian,  and  others  have  counted  him 
almost  an  heretick;  some  have  counted  him  a  renowned  patriot,  and  others 
an  infamous  traitor.  If  Barak  signifie  both  to  bless  and  to  curse;  and 
EuXo^siv-j-  be  of  the  same  significancy  with  BXatfcpsf^siv,:}:  in  such  philology 
as  that  of  Suidas  and  Hesj^chias;  the  usage  which  the  memory  of  this 
gentleman  has  met  withal,  seems  to  have  been  accommodated  unto  that 
indifferency  of  signification  in  the  terms  for  such  an  usage. 

On  the  one  side,  I  find  an  old  New-English  manuscript  thus  reflecting: 

"His  election  will  remain  as  a  blemish  to  their  judgments  who  did  elect  him,  while  New- 
Eiigland  remains  a  nation;  for  he  coming  from  Old-England,  a  young  unexperienced  gen- 
tleman, (and  as  young  in  judgment  as  he  was  in  years,)  by  the  industry  of  some  that  could 
do  much,  and  thought  by  him  to  play  their  own  game,  was  presently  elected  governour; 
and  before  he  w.as  scarce  warm  in  his  seat,  began  to  broach  new  tenets ;  and  these  were 
agitated  witii  as  much  violence,  as  if  the  welfare  of  New-England  must  have  been  sacrificed 
rather  than  these  not  take  place.  But  the  wisdom  of  the  state  put  a  period  to  his  govern- 
ment;  necessity  caused  them  to  undo  the  works  of  their  own  hands,  and  leave  us  a  caveat, 
that  all  good  men  arc  not  tit  for  government." 

But  on  the  other  side,  the  historian  who  has  printed,  "The  Trial  of  Sir 
Henry  Vane,  Knt.  at  the  King's  Bench,  Westminster,  June  2,  and  6,  1662, 
with  other  Occasional  Speeches ;  also  his  Speech  and  Prayer  on  the  scaf- 

•  Reformed  many  abuses  by  means  of  wise  laws,  but  accompUshed  much  more  for  his  people  by  setting  them 
on  example  of  extraordiuary  virt<ie. 

+  To  eulogize.  %  To  malign. 


SIR  HENRY  VANE. 


GOV.  JOHN  ENDICOTT, 
THE   ORIGINAL  GRANTEE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


H  OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I37 

fold,"  has  given  us  in  him  tlie  picture  of  nothing  less  than  an  heroe.  He 
seems  indeed  by  that  story  to  have  suffered  hardly  enough,  but  no  man 
can  deny  that  he  suffered  bravely:  the  English  nation  has  not  often  seen 
more  of  Roman  (and  indeed  more  than  Roman)  gallantry,  out-facing  death 
in  the  most  pompous  terrours  of  it.  A  great  royalist,  present,  at  his  dec- 
ollation, swore,  "He  died  like  a  prince:"  he  could  say,  "I  bless  the  Lord 
I  am  so  far  from  being  affrighted  at  death,  that  I  find  it  rather  shrink  from 
me,  than  I  from  it!"  He  could  say,  "Ten  thousand  deaths  rather  than 
defile  my  conscience;  the  chastity  and  purity  of  which  I  value  beyond 
all  this  world ;  I  would  not  for  ten  thousand  worlds  part  with  the  peace 
and  satisfaction  I  have  in  my  own  heart."  When  mention  was  made  of 
the  difiicult  proceeding  against  him,  all  his  reply  was,  "Alas,  what  ado  do 
they  keep  to  make  a  poor  creature  like  his  Saviour!"  On  the  scaffold 
they  did,  by  the  blast  of  trumpets  in  his  face,  with  much  incivility,  hinder 
him  from  speaking  what  he  intended ;  which  incivility  he  aforehand  sus- 
pecting, committed  a  true  copy  of  it  unto  a  friend  before  his  going  thither; 
the  last  words  whereof  were  these : 

"As  my  last  words,  I  leave  this  with  you,  that  as  the  present  storm  we  now  lye  under, 
and  the  dark  clouds  that  yet  hang  over  the  reformed  churches  of  Christ,  (which  are  coming 
thicker  and  thicker  for  a  season)  were  not  unforeseen  by  me  for  many  years  past;  (as  some 
writings  of  mine  declare)  so  the  coming  of  Christ  iiT  these  clouds,  in  order  to  a  speedy  and 
sudden  revival  of  his  c;iuse,  and  spreading  his  kingdom  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  is 
most  clear  to  the  eye  of  my  faith,  even  that  faith  in  which  I  die." 

His  execution  was  June  14,  1662,  about  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age. 

§  4.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Dudley,  the  notice  and  respect  of  the  colony 
fell  chiefly  on  Mr.  John  Endicot,  who,  after  many  services  done  for  the 
colony,^  even  before  it  was  yet  a  colony,  as  well  as  when  he  saw  it  grown 
into  a  populous  nation,  under  his  prudent  and  equal  government,  expired 
in  a  good  old  age,  and  was  honourably  interred  at  Boston,  March  23,  1665. 

The  gentleman  that  succeeded  Mr.  Endicot  was  Mr.  Richard  Belling- 
ham,  one  who  was  bred  a  lawyer,  and  one  who  lived  beyond  eighty,  well 
esteemed  for  his  laudable  qualities,  but  as  the  Thebans  made  the  statues 
of  their  magistrates  xoithout  hands,  importing  that  they  must  be  no  takers; 
in  this  fashion  must  be  formed  the  statue  for  this  gentleman ;  for  among 
all  his  virtues,  he  was  noted  for  none  more  than  for  his  notable  and  per- 
petual hatred  of  a  bribe,  which  gave  him,  with  his  country,  the  reputation 
of  old  claimed  by  Pericles,  to  be,  cpiy-oroXig  ts  xai  j^pii/xaTwv  xpsio'tfwv  .•  Givitatis 
Amans  et  ad  pecunias  Invictus*  And  as  he  never  took  any  from  any  one 
living;  so  he  neither  could  nor  would  have  giveyi  any  to  death;  but  in  the 
latter  end  of  the  year  1672  he  had  his  "soul  gathered,  not  with  sinners, 
whose  right  hand  is  full  of  bribes,"  but  with  such  as  "walk  in  their 
uprightness." 

The  gentleman  that  succeeded  Mr.  Bellingham  was  Mr.  John  Leveret, 

•  A  true  patriot,  superior  to  the  temptations  of  gain. 


138  MAGNALIA    C  II  R  I  S  T I    AMERICANA;  | 

one  to  -whom  the  affections  of  the  freemen  were  signalized,  in  his  quick 
advances  through  tlic  lesser  stages  of  office  and  honour  unto  the  highest 
in  the  country;  and  one  whose  courage  had  been  as  much  recommended 
by  martial  actions  abroad  in  his  younger  years,  as  his  wisdom  and  justice 
were  now. at  home  in  his  elder.  The  anniversary  election  constantly  kept 
him  at  the  helm  from  the  time  of  his  first  sitting  there,  until  March  16, 1678, 
when  mortality  having  first  put  him  on  severe  trials  of  his  passive-courage, 
(much  more  difficult  than  the  active)  in  pains  of  the  stone^  released  him. 


PATER  PATRIiE;*  OR,   THE  LIFE   OF  SIMON  BRADSTREET,  ESQ. 

— Extinctus  amabitur  idem.'f 

The  gentleman  that  succeeded  Mr.  Leveret  was  Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet, 
the  son  of  a  minister  in  Lincolnshire,  Avho  was  always  a  non-conformist  at 
home,  as  well  as  when  preacher  at  Middleburgh  abroad.  Him  the  New- 
Englanders,  in  their  addresses  fUll  of  profound  respects  unto  him,  have 
with  good  reason  called,  "The  venerable  Mordecai  of  his  country."  He 
was  born  at  Horbling,  March,  1603.  His  father  (who  was  the  son  of  a 
Sufiblk  gentleman  of  a  fine  estate)  was  one  of  the  first  fellows  in  Immanuel 
Colledge,  under  Dr.  Chaderton,  and  one  afterwards  highly  esteemed  by 
Mr.  Cotton  and  by  Dr.  Preston.  Our  Bradstreet  was  brought  up  at  the 
grammar-school,  until  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old ;  and  then  the  death 
of  his  lather  put  a  stop  for  the  present  unto  the  designs  of  his  further 
education.  But  according  to  the  faith  of  his  dying  father,  that  "he  should 
be  well  provided  for,"  he  was  within  two  or  three  years  after  this  taken 
into  the  religious  family  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  (the  best  family  of  any 
nobleman  then  in  England,)  where  he  spent  about  eight  years  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dudley,  sustaining  successively  divers  offices. 
Dr.  Preston  then  (who  had  been  my  lord's  tutor)  moved  my  lord  that  Mr. 
Bradstreet  might  have  their  permission  to  come  unto  Immanuel  Colledge, 
in  the  capacity  of  governour  to  the  Lord  Pich,  the  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Warwick;  which  they  granting,  he  went  with  the  Doctor  to  Cambridge, 
who  provided  a  chamber  for  him,  with  advice  that  he  should  apply  him- 
self to  study  until  my  lord's  arrival.  But  he  afterwards,  in  a  writing  of 
his,  now  in  my  hands,  made  this  humble  complaint:  "I  met  with  many 
obstacles  to  my  study  in  Cambridge;  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  had  a  brother 
there,  who  often  called  me  forth  upon  pastimes.  Divers  masters  of  art, 
and  other  scholars  also,  constantly  met,  where  we  spent  most  part  of  the 
afternoons  many  times  in  discourse  to  little  purpose  or  profit;  but  that 
seemed  an  easie  and  pleasant  life  then,  which  too  late  I  repented."     My 

•  The  Father  of  his  Coiuitry.  t  Though  dead,  he  shall  none  the  less  bo  loved. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I39 

Lord  Rich  not  coming  to  tlie  University,  Mr.  Bradstreet  returned  after  a 
year  to  the  Earl  of  Lincoln's;  and  Mr.  Dudley  then  removing  to  Boston, 
his  place  of  steward  unto  the  Earl  was  conferred  on  Mr.  Bradstreet. 
Afterwards  he  with  much  ado  obtained  the  Earl's  leave  to  answer  the 
desires  of  the  aged  and  pious  Countess  of  Warwick,  that  he  would  accept 
the  stewardship  of  her  noble  familj',  which  as  the  former  he  discharged 
with  an  exemplary  discretion  and  fidelity.  Here  he  married  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  Dudley,  by  whose  perswasion  he  came  in  company  with  him  to 
New-England,  where  he  sj^ent  all  the  rest  of  his  days,  honourably  serving 
his  generation.  It  was  counted  a  singular  favour  of  Heaven  unto  Richard 
Chamond,  Esq.,  one  of  England's  worthies,  that  he  was  a  Justice  of  Peace 
near  threescore  years ;  but  of  Simon  Bradstreet,  Esq.,  one  of  New-Eng- 
land's worthies,  there  can  more  than  this  be  said;  for  he  was  chosen  a 
magistrate  of  New-England  before  New-England  it  self  came  into  New- 
England;  even  in  their  first  great  voyage  thither,  A7i7io  1630,  and  so  he 
continued  annually  chosen;  sometimes  also  their  secretar^^,  and  at  last 
their  governour,  until  the  colony  had  a  share  in  the  general  shipwreck  of 
charters,  which  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II.  brought  upon  the  whole 
English  nation.  Mr.  Joseph  Dudley  was  placed.  Anno  1685,  as  president 
over  the  territory  for  a  few  months,  when  the  judgment  that  was  entred 
against  the  charter  gave  unto  the  late  King  James  II.  an  opportunity  to 
make  what  alterations  he  pleased  upon  the  order  of  things,  under  which 
the  country  had  so  long  been  flourishing.  But  when  the  short  president- 
ship of  that  New-English  and  well  accomplished  gentleman,  the  son  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Dudley  above  mentioned,  was  expired,  I  am  not  in  a  disposition 
here  to  relate  what  was  the  condition  of  the  colony,  until  the  revolution 
whereto  their  condition  compelled  them.  Only  I  have  sometimes,  not 
without  amazement,  thought  of  the  representation  which  a  celebrated 
magician  made  unto  Catherine  de  Medicis,  the  French  Queen,  whose  impi- 
ous curiosity  led  her  to  desire  of  him  a  magical  exhibition  of  all  the  Kings 
that  had  hitherto  reigned  in  France,  and  yet  were  to  reign.  The  shapes 
of  all  the  Kings,  even  unto  the  husband  of  that  Queen,  successively  showed 
themselves,  in  the  enchanted  circle,  in  which  that  conjurer  had  made  his 
invocations,  and  they  took  as  many  turns  as  there  had  been  years  in  their 
government.  The  Kings  that  were  to  come,  did  then  in  like  manner  suc- 
cessively come  upon  the  stage,  namely,  Francis  II.,  Charles  IX.,  Henry  III., 
Henry  lY.,  which  being  done,  then  two  cardinals,  Richlieu  and  Mazarine, 
in  red  hats,  became  visible  in  the  spectacle:  but  after  those  cardinals,  there 
entred  wolves,  bears,  tygers  and  lions,  to  consummate  the  entertainment. 
If  the  people  of  New-England  had  not  imagined  that  a  number  of  as 
rajMcious  animals  were  at  last  come  info  their  government,  I  suppose  they 
would  not  have  made  such  a  revolution  as  they  did,  on  April  18,  1689,  in 
conformity  to  the  pattern  which  the  English  nation  was  then  setting  before 
them.     Nevertheless,  I  have  nothing  in  this  paragraph  of  our  History 


l^Q  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

to  report  of  it,  but  that  Mr.  Bradstreet  was  at  this  time  alive;  whose 
])atcrnal  compassions  for  a  country  thus  remarkably  his  own,  would  not 
permit  him  to  decline  his  return  unto  his  former  seat  in  the  government, 
upon  the  unanimous  invitation  of  the  people  thereunto.  It  was  a  remark 
then  generally  made  upon  him,  "That  though  he  were  then  well  towards 
ninety  years  of  age,  his  intellectual  force  was  hardly  abated,  but  he  retained 
a  vigour  and  wisdom  that  would  have  recommended  a  younger  man  to 
the  government  of  a  greater  colony."  And  the  wonderful  difficulties 
through  which  the  colony  under  his  discreet  conduct  waded,  until  the 
arrival  of  his  Excellency  Sir  William  Phips,  with  a  commission  for  the 
government,  and  a  new  charter  in  the  year  1692,  gave  a  remarkable  dem- 
onstration of  it.  Yea,  this  honourable  Nestor  of  New-England,  in  the 
year  1696,  was  yet  alive;  and  as  Georgius  Leontinus,  who  lived  until  he 
was  an  hundred  and  eight  years  of  age,  being  asked  by  what  means  he 
attained  unto  such  an  age,  answered,  "By  my  not  living  voluptuously;" 
thus  this  excellent  person  attained  his  good  old  age,  in  part,  by  living 
very  temperately.  And  the  New-Englanders  would  have  counted  it  their 
satisfaction,  if,  like  Arganthonius,  who  had  been  fourscore  years  the  gov- 
ernour  of  the  Tartcssians,  he  might  have  lived  unto  the  age  of  an  hundred 
and  twenty;  or,  even  unto  the  age  of  Johannes  de  Temporibus,  who  was 
knighted  by  the  Emperour  Charlemaign,  and  yet  was  living  till  the 
Emperour  Conrade,  and  saw,  they  say,  no  fewer  years  than  three  hundred 
threescore  and  one.  Though,  "to  be  dissolved  and  be  with  Christ,"  was 
the  satisfaction  which  this  our  Macrobius  himself  was  with  a  weary  soul 
now  waiting  and  longing  for;  and  Christ  at  length  granted  it  unto  him, 
on  March  27,  1697.  Then  it  was,  that  one  of  the  oldest  servants  that  God 
and  the  King  had  upon  earth,  drew  his  last^  in  the  very  place  where  he 
drew  \i\s,first^  American  breath.  He  died  at  Salem,  in  a  troublesome  time, 
and  entred  into  everlasting  peace.  And  in  imitation  of  what  the  Roman 
orator  said  upon  the  death  of  Crassus,  I  will  venture  to  say,  Fidt  hoc, 
luctuosum  suis,  Acerbum  Patrice,  Grave  Bonis  Omnibus:  scd  ii  tamen  Rem- 
pid)licam  casus  Secuti  sunt,  ut  mihi  non  Erepta  Bradstreeto  Vita,  sed  donata 
mors  esse  videatur* 

The  epitaph  on  that  famous  lawyer,  Simon  Pistorius,  -we  will  now  imploy 
for  this  eminently  prudent  and  upright  administrator  of  our  laws: 


EPITAPH. 


SIMON    BRArSTREET. 
Qvod  JKortale  fiiit,  Trlliis  tenet ;   Inehjta  Fama 
J^ominis  hand  ullo  atat  viotandc  Die.-f 


AND  ADD, 
F.xtinetum  Iv^rt  qiirm  tcta  JVur-.9nfflia  Patrem, 
O  quantum  C'lavdil  parvula  Terra  VirumIX 


•  His  death  was  mournful  to  his  household,  a  bitter  loss  to  his  country,  a  licnvy  blow  to  nil  good  men :  and  yet 
such  calamities  have  since  then  bcrallen  our  Republic,  that  it  does  not  seem  as  if  [Bradstreet]  was  bereft  of  life, 
but  as  if  death  were  conferred  upon  him  as  a  boon.— Ciciro,  Oration  for  Crassus, 

t  Earth  holds  his  mortal  part :  his  honoured  name    I        J  Here  lies  New-England's  father.    Woe  the  day! 
Shall  put  Time's  impious  hand  to  open  shame.  How  mingles  mightiest  dust  with  meanest  clay! 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


141 


CHAPTER  ?L 

mi  "hv^,  Id  est,  VI R I  AN  I M  ATI;*    OR  ASSISTENTS. 

The  freemen  of  New-England  had  a  great  variety  of  worthy  men, 
among  whom  they  might  pick  and  chuse  a  number  of  Magistrates  to  be 
the  assistants  of  their  Governours,  both  in  directing  the  general  affairs 
of  the  land,  and  in  dispensing  of  justice  unto  the  people.  But  they  wisely 
made  few  alterations  in  their  annual  elections;  and  they  thereby  shewed 
their  satisfaction  in  the  wise  and  good  conduct  of  those  whom  they  had 
elected.  If  they  called  some  few  of  their  magistrates  from  the  plourjh  to 
the  bench,  so  the  old  Eomans  did  some  of  their  dictators;  yea,  the  greatest 
kings  in  the  world  once  carried  jylough-shares  on  the  top  of  their  scejyters. 
However,  the  inhabitants  of  New-England  never  were  so  unhappy  as  the 
inhabitants  of  Norcia,  a  town  scarce  ten  leagues  from  Rome ;  where  they 
do  at  this  day  chuse  their  own  magistrates,  but  use  an  exact  care,  "That 
no  man  who  is  able  to  write,  or  to  read,  shall  be  capable  of  any  share  in 
the  government."  The  magistrates  of  New-England  have  been  of  a  better 
education.  Indeed,  several  deserving  persons,  who  were  joined  as  associ- 
ates and  commissioners  unto  these,  for  the  more  effectual  execution  of  the 
laws  in  emergencies,  cannot  be  brought  into  our  catalogue ;  but  the  nctmes 
of  all  our  magistrates,  with  the  times  when  I  iind  their  first  advancement 
unto  that  character  are  these: 


MAGISTRATES    OF    THE    MASSACHUSET-COLONY. 


John  Winthrop,  Governor, 
Thomas  Dudley,  Deputy-gov. 
Matthew  Ciadock,  1629. 

Thomas  Goff,  1629. 

Sir  Richard  Ijaltonstal,    1629. 


Isaac  Johnson, 
Samuel  Aldersley, 
John  Venn, 
John  Humfrey, 
Simon  VVhercomb, 
Increase  Nowel, 
Richard  Perry, 
Nathariael  Wright, 
Samuel  Vassal, 
Theophilus  Eaton, 
Thomas  Adams, 
Thomas  Hutchins, 
George  Foxcroft, 
William  Vassal, 
William  Pinchon, 
John  Pocock, 
Christopher  Cowlson, 
William  Coddington, 
Simon  Bradstreet, 
Thomas  Sharp, 
Roger  Ludlow, 
Edward  Rossiter, 
John  Endicot, 


1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629s 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1629. 

1630. 

1630. 

1630. 


John  Winthrop,  Jan.. 
John  Haines, 
Richard  Billingham, 
Atterton  Hough, 
Richard  Dummer, 
Henry  Vane, 
Roger  Hartackenden, 
Israel  Stoughton, 
Richard  Saltonstal, 
Thomas  Flintj^ 
Samuel  Symons, 
William  Hibbons, 
William  Tynge, 
Herbert  Pelham, 
Robert  Bridges, 
Francis  Willoughby, 
Thomas  Wiggan, 
Edward  Gibbons, 
John  Glover, 
Daniel  Gookin, 
Daniel  Denison, 
Simon  Willard, 
Humphrey  Atherton, 
Richard  Russel, 
Thomas  Danforth, 
William  Hawthorn, 
Eleazer  Ijusher, 
John  Leveret, 

•  Living  men. 


1632. 

1634. 

1635. 

163.5. 

1633. 

1636. 

1636. 

1637. 

1637. 

1643. 

1643. 

1643. 

1643. 

1645. 

1647. 

1650. 

1650. 

1650. 

1652. 

1652. 

1654. 

1654. 

1C54. 

165D. 

1659. 

1662. 

1662. 

1665. 


John  Pinchon, 
Edwai'd  Tyng, 
William  Stoughton, 
Thomas  Clark, 
Joseph  Dudley, 
Peter  Bulkley, 
Nathanacl  Saltonstal, 
Humphrey  Davy, 
James  Russel, 
Samuel  Nowt  I, 
Peter  Tilton, 
John  Richards, 
John  Hull, 

Bartholomew  Gidney, 
Thomas  Savage, 
William  Brown, 
Samuel  Appleton, 
Robert  Pike, 
Daniel  Fisher, 
John  Woodbridge, 
Elisha  Cook, 
William  Johnson, 
John  Hawthorn, 
Elisha  Hutchinson, 
Samuel  Sewal, 
Isaac  Addington, 
John  Smith, 


1605. 
1668. 
1671. 
1673. 
1676. 
1677. 
1679. 
1679. 

168;). 

1680. 
16?0. 
1680. 
1680. 
1680. 
1680. 
1680. 
1681. 
1682. 
1683. 
1683. 
16S4. 
1684. 
1684. 
1684. 
1684. 
1686. 
1686. 


1^2  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

MAJOR-OENERALS    OF    THE    MILITARY    FORCES    IN    THE    COLONY,    SUCCESSFULLY    CHOSEN. 
Tliomiu*  Dudley.  EUwurd  Oibbons.  Hiimfry  Alherton.  John  Leveret. 

John  Knilicoi.  Robert  Sedgwick.  Daniel  Deuisou.  Daniel  Gookin. 

SECRETARIES    OF    THE    COLONY,    SUCCESSFULLY    CHOSEN. 
Williiun  Ihirgis.  Simon  Briidstreet.  Increase  Nowel.  Edward  Rawson. 

That  these  names  are  proper  and  worthy  to  be  found  in  our  Church- 
History,  will  be  acknowledged,  when  it  is  considered,  not  only  that  they 
were  the  members  of  Congregational  churches,  and  by  the  members  of 
the  churches  chosen  to  be  the  rulers  of  the  Commonwealth ;  and  that  their 
exemplary  behaviour  in  their  magistracy  was  generally  such  as  to  "adorn 
the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour,"  and,  according  to  the  old  Jewish  wishes, 
prohibitum  est  Jlomini,  histar  principis  Dominari  super  populum  et  cum  ela- 
tione  Spiritus,  sed,  nN"|i|  nij^O  cum  mansuetudine  ac  Timore;*  but  also  that 
their  love  to,  and  zeal  for,  and  care  of  these  churches,  was  not  the  least 
part  of  their  character. 

The  instances  of  their  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  churches  were 
innumerable.  I  will  single  out  but  one  fronj  the  rest,  because  of  some 
singular  subserviency  to  the  designs  of  our  Church-IIistory,  therein  to  be 
proposed.  I'll  do  it  only  by  transcribing  an  instrument,  published  Anno 
1668,  in  such  terms  as  these: 

To  the  Elders  and  Ministers  of  every  Town  loithin  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  3Iassachusets  in  New- 
England,  the  Governour  and  Council  sendeth  Greeting. 

"Rea'erend  ANn  Beloved  in  the  Lord:  We  find  in  the  examples  of  holy  Scripture,  tliat 
magistrates  have  not  only  o.xcited  and  commanded  all  the  people  under  their  government, 
'to  seek  the  Lord  (lod  oftjieir  fathers,  and  do  the  law  and  commandment,'  (2  Chron.  xiv. 
2,  3,  4;  Ezra  vii.  25,  26,  27,)  but  also  stirred  up  and  sent  forth  the  Levites,  accompanied 
with  other  principal  men,  to  'teach  the  good  knowledge  of  the  Lord  throughout  all  the  cities,' 
(2  Chron.  xvii.  6,  7,  8,  9,)  which  endeavours  have  been  crowned  with  the  blessing  of  God. 

"Also  we  find  that  our  brethren  of  the  Congregational  perswasion  in  England,  have  made 
a  good  profession  in  their  book,  entituled,  'A  declaration  of  their  faith  and  order,'  (page  59, 
sect.  14,)  where  tliey  say,  'That  although  pastors  and  teachers  stand  especially  related  unto 
their  particular  churches,  yet  they  ought  not  to  neglect  others  living  within  their  parocliial 
bounds;  but  besides  their  constant  public  preacliing  to  them,  they  ouglit  to  enquire  after 
their  profiting  by  the  word,  instructing  tiiem  in,  and  pressing  upon  them,  (whether  young 
or  old)  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  even  personally  and  particularly,  so  far  as  their 
strength  and  time  will  permit.' 

"We  hope  that  sundry  of  you  need  not  a  spur  m  these  things,  but  are  conscientiously 
careful  to  do  your  duty.  Yet,  forasmuch  as  we  have  cause  to  fear  that  there  is  too  much 
neglect  in  many  places,  notwithstanding  the  Imcs  long  since  provided  therein,  we  do  there- 
fore think  it  our  duty  to  emit  this  declaration  unto  you,  earnestly  desiring,  and,  in  the  bowels 
of  our  Lord  Jesus,  requiring  you  to  be  very  diligent  and  careful  to  catechise  and  instruct 
nil  people  (especially  the  youth)  under  your  charge,  in  the  sound  principles  of  (Christian 
religion;  and  that  not  only  in  publick,  but  privately  'from  house  to  house,'  as  blessed  Paul 
did;  (Acts  XX.  20,)  or  at  least  three,  four,  or  more  families  meeting  together,  as  time  and 
strength  may  permit;  taking  to  your  assistiuice  sucii  godly  and  grave  persons  as  to  you 
may  seem  most  exjjcdicnt:  and  also  tiuit  you  labour  to  inform  your  selves  (as  much  as  may  j 

•  It  is  forbidiU-n  to  man  to  rnlo  like  a  prince  over  a  people,  and  with  a  proud  spirit:   he  should  exercise  | 
authority  in  meekness  and  fear. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  143 

be  meet)  how  your  hearers  do  profit  by  the  word  of  God,  and  how  their  conversations  do 
agree  therewith;  and  whether  the  youth  are  taught  to  read  the  English  tongue:  taking  all 
occasions  to  apply  suitable  exhortations  particularly  unto  them,  for  the  rebuke  of  those  that 
do  evil,  and  the  encouragement  of  them  that  do  well. 

"  The  effectual  and  constant  prosecution  hereof,  we  hope  will  have  a  tendency  to  promote 
the  salvation  of  souls;  to  suppress  the  growth  of  sin  and  profaneness;  to  beget  more  love 
and  unity  among  the  people,  and  more  reverence  and  esteem  of  the  ministry :  and  it  will 
assuredly  be  to  the  enlargement  of  your  crown,  and  recompence  in  eternnl  glory. 

"Given  at  Boston,  the  10th  of  March,  1668,  by  the  governour  and  council,  and  by  them 
ordered  to  be  printed,  and  sent  accordingly. 

"Edward  Rawson,  Secretary.''^ 


CHAPTER  TIL 

PUBLICOLA    CHRISTIANUS. 

THE  LIFE  OF  EDWARD  HOPKINS,  ESQ.,  GOVERNOR  OF  CONNECTICUT  COLONY. 
Superiorcs  sint,  qui  superiores  esse  sciunt.f 

§  1.  When  the  great  God  of  heaven  had  carried  his  "peculiar  people" 
into  a  wilderness,  the  theocracy,  wherein  he  became  (as  he  was  for  that 
reason  stiled)  "the  Lord  of  Hosts,"  unto  them  and  the  four  squadrons  of 
their  army,  was  most  eminently  displayed  in  his  enacting  of  their  laivs,  his 
directing  of  their  wars,  and  his  electing  and  inspiring  of  their  judges.  In 
some  resemblance  hereunto,  when  four  colonies  of  Christians  had  marched 
like  so  many  hosts  under  the  conduct  of  the  good  spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  into  an  American  wilderness,  there  were  several  instances  wherein 
that  army  of  confessors  was  under  a  theocracy;  for  their  laws  were  still 
enacted,  and  their  ivars  were  still  directed  by  the  voice  of  God,  as  far  as 
they  understood  it,  speaking  from  the  oracle  of  the  Scriptures:  and  though 
their  judges  were  still  elected  by  themselves,  and  not  inspired  with  such 
extraordinary  influences  as  carried  them  of  old,  yet  these  also  being  singu- 
larly furnished  and  offered  by  the  special  providence  of  God  unto  the 
government  of  his  New-English  people,  were  so  eminently  acted,  by 
his  graces,  and  his  precepts,  in  the  discharge  of  their  government,  that  the 
blessed  people  were  still  sensibly  governed  by  the  Lord  of  all.  Now,  among 
the  first  judges  of  New-England,  was  Edward  Hopkins,  Esq.,  in  whose 
time  the  colony  of  Connecticut  was  favoured  with  "judges  as  at  first:" 
and  put  under  the  power  of  those  with  whom  it  was  a  maxim,  Gratius  est 
jnetatis  Nomen,  quain  ]^otestatis.\ 

§  2.  The  descent  and  breeding  of  Mr.  Edward  Hopkins,  (who  was  born 
I  think  near  Shrewsbury,  about  the  year  1600,)  first  fitted  him  for  the 

•  The  Christian  Patriot.  +  They  should  be  superior,  who  feel  that  they  ai-e  superior. 

X  The  reputation  of  piety  is  dearer  than  the  fame  of  power. 


;|^^  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA-, 

coiulition  of  a  Turkey-merchant,  in  London:  where  he  lived  several  years 
in  good  fashion  and  esteem,  until  a  powerful  party  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land then  resolving  not  only  to  separate  from  the  communion  of  all  the 
faithful  that  were  averse  to  certain  confessedly  unscriptural  and  uninsti- 
tuted  rites  in  the  worship  of  God,  but  also  to  persecute  with  destroying 
severities  those  that  were  non-conformists  thereunto,  compelled  a  consider- 
able number  of  good  men  to  seek  a  shelter  among  the  salvages  of  America. 
Among  tliesc,  and  with  his  excellent  father-in-law,  Mr.  Theophilus  Eaton, 
he  came  to  New-England;  where,  then  removing  from  the  Massachuset- 
bay  unto  Hartford  upon  Connecticut  Eiver,  he  became  a  ruler  and  pillar 
of  that  colony,  during  the  time  of  his  abode  in  the  country. 

§  o.  In  his  government  he  acquitted  himself  as  the  Solomon  of  his 
colony,  to  whom  "  God  gave  wisdom  and  knowledge,  that  he  might  go  out 
and  come  in  before  the  people;"  and  as  he  was  the  heacl^  so  he  was  the 
heart  of  the  people,  for  the  resolution  to  do  well,  which  he  maintained 
among  them.  An  unjust  judge  is,  as  one  says,  "a  cold  fire,  a  dark  sun,  a 
dr}-  sea,  an  ungood  God,  a  contradictio  in  adjecio.''''*  Far  from  such  was  our 
Hopkins;  no,  he  was,  ^ixa»ov  ejjl^'Uxov,-!-  a  meer*piece  of  living  justice.  And 
as  he  had  no  separate  interests  of  his  own,  so  he  pursued  their  interests  with 
such  an  unspotted  and  successful  fidelity,  that  they  might  call  him,  as  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin  did  their  leader  in  the  wilderness,  Abidan;  that  is  to 
say,  "our  father  is  judge."  New-England  saw  little  daivmngs,  and  eynhkms, 
and  earnests  of  the  day,  "that  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
whole  heaven  shall  be  given  unto  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,"  when  such  a  saint  as  our  Hopkins  was  one  of  its  governours.  And 
the  felicity  which  a  great  man  has  prognosticated  for  Europe,  "that  God 
will  stir  up  some  happy  goveruour  in  some  country  in  Christendom,  indued 
with  wisdom  and  consideration,  who  shall  discern  the  true  nature  of  God- 
liness and  Christianity,  and  the  necessity  and  excellency  of  serious  religion, 
and  shall  place  his  honour  and  felicity  in  pleasing  God  and  doing  good, 
and  attaining  everlasting  happiness,  and  shall  subject  all  worldlv  respects 
unto  these  high  and  glorious  ends:"  this  was  now  exemplified  in  America. 

§  4.  Most  exemplary  was  his  piety  and  his  charity ;  and  while  he  gov- 
erned others  by  the  laws  of  God,  he  did  himself  yield  a  profound  subjection 
unto  those  laws.  He  was  exemplarily  watchful  over  his  own  behaviour, 
and  made  a  continual  contemplation  of,  and  preparation  for  death,  to  be  the 
character  of  his  life.  It  was  his  manner  to  rise  early,  even  before  day,  to 
enjoy  the  devotions  of  his  closet;  after  which  he  spent  a  considerable  time 
in  reading,  and  opening,  and  applying  the  word  o/  God  unto  his  family, 
and  then  praying  with  them:  and  he  had  one  particular  way  to  cause 
attention  in  the  people  of  his  family,  which  was  to  ask  any  person  that 
seemed  careless  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse,  "What  was  it  that  I  read 
or  spoke  last?"  whereby  he  habituated  them  unto  such  an  attention,  that 

•  A  Paradox.  f  Justice  incarnate. 


•  OR,    THEHISTOEYOF    NEW-ENGLAND,  I45 

they  were  still  usually  able  to  give  a  ready  account.  But  as  for  his  'prayers^ 
they  were  not  on\j  frequent,  but  &o  fervent  also,  that  he  frequently  fell  a 
hleeding  at  the  nose  through  the  agony  of  spirit  with  which  he  laboured 
in  them.  And  especially  when  imploring  such  spiritual  blessings  as,  "that 
God  would  grant  in  the  end  of  our  lives,  the  end  of  our  hopes,  even  the 
salvation  of  our  souls,"  he  would  be  so  transported,  that  the  observing  and 
judicious  hearers  would  say  sometimes  upon  it,  "Surely  this  man  cannot 
be  long  out  of  heaven."  Moreover,  in  his  neighbourhood  he  not  only  set 
himself  to  encourage  and  countenance  real  Godliness,  but  also  would  him- 
self kindly  visit  the  Meetings  that  the  religious  neighbours  privately  kept 
for  the  exercises  of  it;  and  where  the  least  occasion  for  contention  was 
offered,  he  would,  with  a  prudent  and  speedy  endeavour,  extinguish  it. 
But  the  poor  he  so  considered,  that  besides  the  daily  reliefs  which  with  his 
own  hands  he  dispensed  unto  them,  he  would  put  considerable  sums  of 
money  into  the  hands  of  his  friends,  to  be  by  them  employed  as  they  saw 
"opportunity  to  do  good  unto  all,  especially  the  household  of  faith."  In 
this  thing  he  was  like  that  noble  and  worthy  English  General,  of  whom 
'tis  noted,  "he  never  thought  he  had  any  thing  but  what  he  gave  away;" 
and  yet,  after  all,  with  much  humility  he  would  profess,  as  one  of  the  most 
liberal  men  that  ever  was  in  the  world  often  would,  "I  have  often  turned 
over  my  books  of  accounts,  but  I  could  never  find  the  great  God  charged 
a  debtor  there." 

§  5.  But  suffering  as  well  as  doing  belongs  to  the  compleat  character  of 
a  Christian ;  and  there  were  several  trials  wherein  our  Lord  called  this 
eminently  patient  servant  of  his  to  suffer  the  will  of  God.  He  conflicted 
with  bodily  infirmities,  but  especially  with  a  wasting  and  a  bloody  cough, 
which  held  him  for  thirty  j'-ears  together.  He  had  been  by  persecutions 
driven  to  cross  an  ocean,  to  which  he  had  in  his  nature  an  antipathy; 
and  then  a  wilderness  full  of  such  crosses  as  attend  the  beginning  of  a 
plantation,  exercised  him.  Nevertheless,  there  was  one  affliction  which 
continually  dropt  upon  him  above  all  the  rest,  and  that  was  this,  he  mar- 
ried a  daughter  which  the  second  wife  of  Mr.  Eaton  had  by  a  former 
husband ;  one  that  from  a  child  had  been  observable  for  desirable  qualities. 
But  some  time  after  she  was  married,  she  fell  into  a  distempered  melan- 
choly^ which  at  last  issued  in  an  incurable  distraction^  with  such  ill-shaped 
ideas  in  her  brain,  as  use  to  be  formed  when  the  animcd  spirits  are  fired  by 
irregular  particles,  fixed  with  acid,  bilious,  venemous  ferments  in  the  blood. 
Very  grievous  was  this  affliction  unto  this  her  worthy  consort,  who  was  by 
temper  a  very  affectionate  person ;  and  who  now  left  no  part  of  a  tender 
husband  undone,  to  ease^  and,  if  it  were  possible,  to  cure  the  lamentable 
desolation  thus  come  upon  "the  desire  of  his  eyes;"  but  when  the  physi- 
cian gave  him  to  understand  that  no  means  would  be  likely  to  restore  her 
sense  but  such  as  would  be  also  likely  to  hazard-  her  life,  he  replied,,  with 
tears,  "I  had  rather  bear  my  cross  unto  the  end  that  the  Lord  shall  give!" 
Vol.  I.— 10 


l^Q  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

but  upon  this  occasion  be  said  unto  her  sister,  who,  with  all  the  rest  related 
unto  her,  were  as  dear  unto  him  as  his  own,  "I  have  often  thought,  what 
would  be  the  meaning  of  the  Lord,  in  chastising  of  me  with  so  sharp  a  rod, 
and  with  so  long  a  stroke,"  whereto,  when  she  replied,  "Sir,  nothing  sin- 
gular has,  in  this  case,  befallen  you ;  God  hath  afflicted  others  in  the  like 
way;  and  we  must  be  content  with  our  portion;"  he  answered,  "Sister, 
this  is  among  the  Lord's  rarities.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  tell  what  sore  to 
lay  mv  hand  upon:  however,  in  general,  my  sovereign  Lord  is  just,  and 
I  will  justifie  him  for  ever:  but  in  particular,  I  have  thought  the  matter 
might  lye  here:  I  promised  my  self  too  much  content  in  this  relation  and 
enjoj-ment;  and  the  Lord  will  make  me  to  know  that  this  world  shall  not 
aftbrd  it  me,"  So  he  wisely,  meekly,  fruitfully  bore  this  heavy  affliction 
unto  his  djnng  day;  having  been  taught  by  the  affliction  to  die  daily  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

§  6.  About  Governour  Eaton,  his  fother-in-law,  he  saw  cause  to  say 
unto  a  sister-in-law,  whom  he  much  valued,  "I  have  often  wondred  at 
my  father  and  your  father;  I  have  heard  him  say.  That  he  never  had  a 
repenting,  or  a  repining  thought,  about  his  coming  to  New-England: 
surely,  in  this  matter  he  hath  a  grace  far  out-shining  mine.  But  he  is 
our  father!  I  cannot  say,  as  he  can,  I  have  had  hard  work  Avith  my  own 
heart  about  it."  But  upon  the  death  of  his  elder  brother,  who  was  warden 
of  the  fleet,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  return  into  England,  that  he  might 
look  after  the  estate  which  then  fell  unto  him;  and  accordingly,  after  a 
tempestuous  and  a  terrible  voyage,  wherein  they  were  eminently  endan- 
gered by /??r,  accidentally  enkindled  on  the  ship,  as  well  as  by  icatei\  which 
tore  it  so  to  pieces,  that  it  was  towed  in  by  another  ship,  he  at  length, 

Per   Varios  Casus;  per  tot  Discrimina  Berum,* 

arrived  there.  There  a  great  notice  was  quickly  taken  of  him:  he  was 
made  warden  of  the  fleet,  commissioner  of  the  admiralt}',  and  the  navy 
office,  a  parliament-man ;  and  he  was  placed  in  some  other  considerable 
stations :  in  all  which  he  more  than  answered  the  expectations  of  those 
who  took  him  to  be  a  person  eminently  qualified  for  public  service.  By 
these  employments,  his  design  of  returning  to  New-England,  with  which 
he  left  it,  was  diverted  so  far,  that  he  sent  for  his  family ;  and  about  the 
time  that  he  looked  for  them,  he  being  advantaged  by  his  great  places  to 
employ  certain  frigots  for  their  safety  on  the  coast,  by  that  means  had 
them  safely  brought  unto  him.  When  they  were  with  him  in  London, 
one  of  them  told  hini  how  much  his  friends  in  New-England  washed  and 
prayed  for  his  return:  and  how  that  passage  had  been  used  in  our  publick 
supplications  for  that  mercy,  "Lord,  if  we  may  win  him  in  heaven,  we 
shall  yet  have  him  on  earth:''  but  he  replyed,  "I  have  had  many  thoughts 
about  my  return,  and  my  affections  have  been  bent  very  strongly  that 

*  Through  peril,  toil,  mid  rough  adventure  passed. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  147 

wa}^;  and  tliougli  I  have  now,  blessed  be  God,  received  my  family  here, 
yet  that  shall  be  no  hindrance  to  my  return,  I  will  tell  you,  though  I 
am  little  worth,  yet  I  have  that  love  which  will  dispose  me  to  serve  the 
Lord  and  that  people  of  his.  But  as  to  that  matter,  I  incline  to  think 
they  will  not  win  it  in  heaven ;  and  I  know  not  whether  the  terrors  of  my 
dreadful  voyage  hither  might  not  be  ordered  by  the  Divine  Providence  to 
stake  me  in  this  land,  being  in  my  spirit  sufiiciently  loth  to  run  the  hazard 
of  such  another.  I  must  also  say  to  you,  I  mourn  exceedingly,  and  //ear, 
I  fear  ^  the  sins  of  New-England  will  ere  long  be  read  in  its  punishments. 
The  Lord  has  planted  that  land  with  a  nohh  vine;  and  blessed  hast  thou  been, 
0  land^  in  thy  rulers!  But,  alas!  for  the  generality  they  have  not  consid- 
ered how  they  were  to  honour  the  rules  of  God,  in  honouring  of  those 
whom  God  made  riders  over  them ;  and  I  fear  they  will  come  to  smart  by 
having  them  set  over  them,  that  it  will  be  an  hard  work  to  honour^  and 
that  will  hardly  be  capable  to  manage  their  affairs." 

§  7,  Accordingly  he  continued  in  England  the  rest  of  his  days,  in 
several  places  of  great  honour  and  burden  faithfully  serving  the  nation ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  his  publick  employments  most  exactly  maintaining 
the  zeal  and  watch  of  his  own  private  walk  with  God.  His  mind  kept 
continually  mellowing  and  ripening  for  heaven;  and  one  expression  of 
his  heavenly  mind,  among  many  others,  a  little  before  his  end,  was,  "How 
often  have  I  pleased  my  self  with  thoughts  of  a  joyful  meeting  with  my 
father  Eaton !  I  remember  with  what  pleasure  he  would  come  down  the 
street,  that  he  might  meet  me  when  I  came  from  Hartford  unto  New- 
Haven  :  but  with  how  much  greater  pleasure  shall  we  shortly  meet  one 
another  in  heaven!"  But  as  an  heavenly  mind  is  oftentimes  a,  presaging 
mind^  so  he  would  sometimes  utter  this  presage  unto  some  that  were  near 
and  dear  unto  him:  "God  will  shortly  take  the  Protector  away,  and  soon 
after  that  you  will  see  great  changes  overturning  the  present  constitution, 
and  sore  troubles  come  upon  those  that  now  promise  better  things  unto  * 
themselves."  However,  he  did  not  live  to  see  the  fulfilment  of  this 
prediction. 

§  8.  For  the  time  now  drew  near  that  this  Israelite  was  to  die !  He  had 
been  in  his  life  troubled  with  many  fears  of  death ;  and  after  he  fell  sick, 
even  when  he  drew  very  near  his  death,  he  said,  with  tears,  "Oh!  pray 
for  me,  for  I  am  in  extream  darkness!"  But  at  length,  on  a  Lord's  day, 
about  the  very  time  when  Mr.  Caryl  was  publickly  praying  for  him,  his 
darkness  all  vanished,  and  he  broke  forth  into  these  expressions:  "Oh! 
Lord,  thou  hast  kept  the  best  wine  until  the  last!  Oh!  friends,  could 
you  believe  this  ?  I  shall  be  blessed  for  ever ;  I  shall  quickly  be  in  eternal 
glory.  Now  let  the  whole  world  count  me  vile,  and  call  me  an  hypocrite, 
or  what  they  will,  I  matter  it  not;  I  shall  be  blessed;  there  is  reserved 
for  me  a  crown  of  glory.  Oh !  blessed  be  God  for  Jesus  Christ !  I  have 
heretofore  thought  it  an  hard  thing  to  die,  but  now  I  find  that  it  is  not 


248  MAG  N  ALIA    C  II  K  1ST  I    AMERICANA; 

SO.  If  I  might  have  my  choice,  I  would  now  chuse  to  die.  Oh!  mj 
Lord,  I  pray  thee  send  mc  not  back  again  into  this  evil  world,  I  have 
enough  of  it;  no,  Lord,  now  take  mc  to  glory,  and  the  kingdom  that  is 
prepared  for  me!"  Yea,  the  standers  by  thought  it  not  possible  for  them 
to  utter,  exactly  after  him,  the  heavenly  words  which  now  proceeded  from 
him ;  and  when  one  of  them  said,  "  Sir,  the  Lord  hath  enlarged  your  faith ;" 
he  replied,  "Friend,  this  is  sense;  the  Lord  hath  even  satisfied  my  sense; 
I  am  sensibly  satisfied  of  everlasting  glory!"  Two  or  three  days  he  now 
spent  in  prayers  and  praises,  and  in  inexpressible  joys;  in  which  time, 
when  some  eminent  i)ersons  of  a  very  publick  station  and  imploj'-ment 
came  to  visit  him,  unto  them  he  said,  "Sirs,  take  heed  of  your  hearts  while 
you  are  in  your  work  for  God,  that  there  be  no  root  of  bitterness  within 
you.  It  may  be  pretended  your  desires  are  to  serve  God,  but  if  there  are 
in  you  secret  aims  at  advancing  of  your  selves,  and  your  own  estates  and 
interests,  the  Lord  will  not  accept  your  services  as  pure  before  him." 

But  at  length,  in  the  month  of  March,  1657,  at  London  he  expired; 
when  being  opened,  it  was  found  that  his  heart  had  been  unaccountably, 
as  it  were,  boiled  and  wasted  in  water,  until  it  was  become  a  little  brittle 
skin,  which,  being  touched,  presently  dropped  in  pieces.  He  had  often 
wished,  upon  some  great  accounts,  that  he  might  live  till  the  beginning  of 
this  year;  and  now  when  he  lay  a  dying,  he  said,  "  Lord!  thou  hast  fulfilled 
my  desires  according  to  th}^  word,  that  thou  wilt  fulfil  the  desires  of  them 
that  fear  thee." 

Now,  from  the  tombstone  of  another  eminent  person,  we  will  fetch  what 
shall  here  be  a  proper 

EPITAPH. 

PART     OF     EDWARD     HOPKINS,     ESQ. 
But  heaven,  not  brooking  that  the  earth  should  share    I  Intends  to  sue  out,  by  a  new  revise. 

In  the  least  atom  of  a  piece  so  rare,  His  habeas  corpus  at  the  grand  assize. 


CHAPTER   YHL 

SUCCESSORS. 

§  1.  Alteristately,  for  the  most  part  every  other  year,  Mr.  Haines,  whom 
we  have  already  mentioned  elsewhere,  took  a  turn  with  Mr.  Hopkins  in 
the  chief  place  of  government.  And  besides  these,  (reader,  the  oi-acle  that 
once  predicted  government  unto  a  ©,  would  now  and  here  predict  it  unto 
a  IV",)  there  were  Mr.  Willis,  Mr.  Wells,  and  Mr.  Webster,  all  of  whom  also 
had  opportunity  to  express 'their  liberal  and  generous  dispositions,  and  the 
govarning  virtues  of  wisdom,  justice  and  courage,  b}'  the  election  of  the 
freemen  in  the  colony  before  its  being  united  with  New-Haven.     Had  the 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  l^g 

surviving  relations  of  these  worthy  men  sent  in  unto  me  a  tenth  part  of 
tlie  comiderahle  and  imitable  things  which  occurred  in  their  lives,  they  might 
have  made  more  of  a  figure  in  this  our  history ;  whereas  I  must  now  sum 
up  all,  with  assuring  my  reader,  that  it  is  the  want  of  knowledge  in  me,  and 
not  of  desert  in  them,  that  has  confined  us  unto  this  brevity. 

§  2.  After  the  union  of  Connecticut  with  New-Haven,  there  were  in 
chief  government  Mr.  Leet,  whom  we  have  already  paid  our  dues  unto: 
and  Mr.  Treat,  who  is  yet  living,  a  pious  and  a  valiant  man,  and  (if  even 
Annosa  Quercus^  be  an  honourable  thing!)  worthy  to  be  honoured  for  an 
hoary  head  found  in  the  way  of  righteousness ;  besides,  Mr.  Winthrop,  of 
whom  anon,  reader,  expect  a  compleater  history. 


HUMILITAS    HONORATA.f 

THE  LIPE  OF  THEOPHILUS  EATON,  ESQ.,  GOVEIINOUR  OF  NEW-HAVEN  COLONY. 

Justiti<B  Cultor,  Rigidi  Servaior  Honesti,  <» 

In  Commune  Bunum.X 

§  1.  It  has  been  enquired  why  the  Evangelist  Luke,  mt\xQ  first  sacred 
history  which  he  addressed  unto  his  fellow-citizen,  gave  him  the  title  of 
"The  most  excellent  Theophilus,"  but  in  the  next  he  used  no  higher  a  stile 
than  plain  Theophilus!  And  though  several  other  answers  might  be 
given  to  that  enquiry,  'tis  enough  to  say,  that  neither  the  civility  of  Luke, 
nor  nobility  of  Theophilus,  were  by  age  abated ;  but  Luke  herein  considered 
the  disposition  of  Theophilus,  as  well  as  his  own,  with  whom  a  reduced 
age  had  rendered  all  titles  of  honour  more  disagreeable  superfiuities.  Indeed,, 
nothing  would  have  been  more  unacceptable  to  the  governour  of  our  New- 
Haven  colony,  all  the  time  of  his  being  so,  than  to  have  been  advanced 
and  applauded  above  the  rest  of  mankind,  yet  it  must  be  now  published 
unto  the  knowledge  of  mankind,  that  New-England  could  not  of  his  qual- 
ity show  a  more  excellent  person,  and  this  was  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq.,  the 
first  governour  of  that  colony.  Humility  is  a  virtue  whereof  Amyraldus 
observes,  "There  is  not  so  much  as  a  shadow  of  commendation  in  all  the 
pagan  writers."  But  the  reader  is  now  concerned  with  writings  which  will 
commend  a  person  for  humility;  and  therefore  our  Eaton,  in  whom  the 
shine  of  every  virtue  was  particularly  set  off  with  a  more  than  ordinary 
degree  of  humility,  must  now  be  proposed  as  commendable. 

§  2.  'Tis  reported,  that  the  earth  taken  from  the  banks  of  Nil  us,  will 

•  An  aged  oak.  %  Exact  in  justice — honest,  humble,  plain — 

+  Humility  in  lionour.  His  private  virtues  were  the  public's  gain. 


250  MAGNALIA    CnRISTI    AMERICANA; 

very  strangely  sympathize  with  the  place  from  whence  it  was  taken,  and 
grow  moist  or  dry  according  to  the  increase  and  the  decrease  of  the  river. 
And  in  spite  of  that  PoimJi  He  which  pretends  to  observe  the  contrary,  this 
thing  has  been  signally  moralized  in  the  daily  observation,  that  the  sons  of 
ministers^  though  betaking  themselves  to  other  emplo^^ments,  do  ordinarily 
carry  about  with  them  an  holy  and  happy  savour  of  their  ministerial  edu- 
cation. 'Twas  remarkably  exemplified  in  our  Theophilus  Eaton,  who  was 
born  at  Stony-Stratford  in  Oxfordshire,  the  eldest  son  to  the  faithful  and 
famous  minister  of  the  place.  But  the  words  of  old  used  by  Philostratus 
concerning  the  son  of  a  great  man,  "  As  for  his  son,  I  have  nothing  else  to  say, 
but  that  he  was  his  son;"  they  could  not  be  used  concerning  our  Theophi- 
lus, who,  having  received  a  good  education  from  his  pious  parents,  did  live 
many  years  to  answer  that  education  in  his  own  piety  and  usefulness. 

§  3.  His  father  being  removed  unto  Coventr}^,  he  there  at  school  fell 
into  the  intimate  acquaintance  of  that  worthy  John  Davenport,  with  whom 
the  providence  of  God  many  years  after  united  in  the  great  undertaking 
of  settling  a  colony  of  Christian  and  reformed  churches  on  the  American 
strand.  Here  his  ingenuity  and  proficiency  rendered  him  notable ;  and 
so  vast  was  his  memory^  that  although  he  wrote  not  at  the  church,  yet 
when  he  came  home,  he  would,  at  his  father's  call,  repeat  unto  those  that 
met  in  his  father's  house,  the  sermons  which  had  been  publickly  preached 
by  others,  as  well  as  his  own  father,  with  such  exactness,  as  astonished 
all  the  neighbourhood.  But  in  their  after  improvements,  the  hands  of 
Divine  Providence  were  laid  across  upon  the  heads  of  Theophilus  Eaton 
and  John  Davenport;  for  Davenport,  whose  father  was  the  mayor  of  Cov- 
entry, became  a  minister;  and  Eaton,  whose  father  was  ministt^r  of 
Coventry,  contrary  to  his  intentions,  became  a  merchant.  His  parents  were 
very  loth  to  have  complied  with  his  inclinations;  but  their  compliance 
therewithal  did  at  last  appear  to  have  been  directed  by  a  special  ftivour 
of  Heaven  unto  the  family,  when,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  he  by  this 
means  became  the  Joseph,,  by  whom  his  mother  was  maintained  until 
she  died,  and  his  orphan  brethren  and  sisters  had  no  small  part  of  their 
subsistence. 

§  4.  During  the  time  of  his  hard  apprenticeship  he  behaved  himself 
wisely ;  and  his  wisdom^  with  God's  favour^  particularly  appeared  in  his 
chaste  escape  from  the  snares  of  a  young  woman  in  the  house  where  he 
lived,  who  would  fain  have  taken  him  in  the  pits  by  the  wise  man  cautioned 
against,  and  who  was  herself  so  taken  only  with  his  most  comely  person, 
that  she  dyed  for  the  love  of  him,  when  she  saw  him  gone  too  far  to  be 
obtained:  whereas,  by  the  like  snares^  the  apprentice  that  next  succeeded 
him  was  undone  for  ever.  But  being  a  person  herewithal  most  signally 
diligent  in  his  business,  it  w^as  not  long  before  the  maxim  of  the  wise  man 
was  mo.st  literally  accomplished  in  his  coming  to  "stand  before  princes;" 
for  being  made  a  freeman  of  London,  he  applied  himself  unto  the  East- 


OR,    THE    II  IS  TORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ;l^5]^ 

Country  trade,  and  was  publickly  chosen  the  deputy-governour  of  the  i 
COmpnTry,  wherein  he  so  acquitted  himself  as  to  become  considerable.  .>/ 
And  afterwards  going  himself  into  the  East-Country,  he  not  only  became 
so  well  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  the  Baltick-sea,  but  also  became  so 
well  improved  in  the  accomplishments  of  a  man  of  business,  that  the  King 
of  England  imployed  him  as  an  agejit  unto  the  King  of  Denmark.  The 
concerns  of  his  agency  he  so  discreetly  managed,  that  as  he  much  obliged 
and  engaged  the  East-Land  company,  (who  in  token  thereof  presented 
his  wife  with  a  bason  and  ewer  double  gilt,  and  curiously  wrought  with 
gold,  and  weighing  above  sixty  pound,)  so  he  found  much  acceptance  with 
the  King  of  Denmark,  and  was  afterwards  used  by  that  prince  to  do  him 
no  little  services.  Nevertheless,  he  kept  his  integrity  amongst  the  tempt- 
ations of  that  court,  whereat  he  was  now  a  resident;  and  not  seldom  had 
he  most  eminent  cause  to  acknowledge  the  benignity  and  interposal  of 
Heaven  for  his  preservations:  once  particularly,  when  the  King  of  Den- 
mark was  beginning  the  King  of  England's  health,  while  Mr.  Eaton,  who 
disliked  such  health-drinking,  was  in  his  presence;  the  King  fell  down  in 
a  sort  of  a  fit,  with  the  cup  in  his  hand,  whereat  all  the  nobles  and  court- 
iers wholly  applied  themselves  to  convey  the  King  into  his  chamber,  and 
there  was  no  notice  taken  who  was  to  pledge  his  health;  whereby  Mr. 
Eaton  was  the  more  easily  delivered  from  any  share  in  the  debauch. 

§  5.  Having  arrived  unto  a  fair  estate,  (which  he  was  Ji7^st  willing  to  do,) 
he  married  i,  most  virtuous  gentlewoman,  to  whom  he  had  first  espoused 
himself  after  he  had  spent  three  years  in  an  absence  from  her  in  the  East- 
Country.  But  this  dearest  and  greatest  of  his  temporal  enjoyments  proved 
but  a  ter)i'poral  one ;  for  living  no  longer  with  him  than  to  render  him  the 
father  of  two  children,  she  almost  hilled  him  with  her  own  death;  and  yet 
at  her  death  she  expressed  herself  wondrous  willing  "to  be  dissolved,  and 
to  be  with  Christ,  from  whom"  (she  said)  "I  would  not  be  detained  one 
hour  for  all  the  enjoyments  upon  earth."  He  afterwards  married  a  pru- 
dent and  pious  widow,  the  daughter  of  the  bishop  of  Chester;  unto  the 
three  former  children  of  which  widow,  he  became  a  most  exemplary,  living 
and  faithful  father,  as  well  as  a  most  worthy  husband  unto  herself,  by  whom 
he  afterwards  had  five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  But  the 
second  of  his  children  by  his  latter  wife  dying  some  while  before,  it  was 
not  long  before  his  two  children  by  his  former  wife  were  smitten  with  the 
plague,  whereof  the  elder  died,  and  his  house  thereupon  shut  up  with  a 
"Lord,  have  mercy!"  However,  the  Lord  had  this  mercy  on  the  family, 
to  let  the  distemper  spread  no  further ;  and  so  Mr,  Eaton  spent  many  years 
a  merchant  of  great  credit  and  fashion  in  the  city  of  London. 

§  6.  At  length  conformity  to  ceremonies  humanely  invented  and  imposed 
in  the  worsliip  of  God,  was  urged  in  the  Church  of  England  with  so  much 
rigour,  that  Mr.  Davenport  was  thereby  driven  to  seek  a  refuge  from  the 
storm  in  the  cold  and  rude  corners  of  America.     Mr.  Eaton  had  already 


1^52  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

v^x-assisted  the  new  Massachuset-colony,  as  being  one  of  the  patentees  for  it; 
but  hud  no  purpose  of  removing  thither  himself,  until  Mr.  Davenport, 
under  whose  exeellent  ministry  he  lived,  was  compelled  unto  a  share  in 
this  removal.  However,  being  fully  satisfied  in  his  own  conscience,  that 
unlaxcfnl  things  were  now  violently  demanded  of  him,  he  was  willing  to 
accompany  his  persecuted  pastor  in  the  retreat  from  violence  now  endeav- 
oured, and  many  eminent  Londoners  chearfully  engaged  with  him  in  this 
undertaking.  Unto  New-England  this  company  of  good  men  came  in  the 
year  l(3o7,  where,  chusing  to  be  a  distinct  colony  by  themselves,  more 
accommodated  unto  the  designs  of  merchandize  than  of  husbandry,  they 
sought  and  bought  a  large  territory  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  country 

^for  their  habitations.    In  the  prosecution  hereof,  the  chief  care  was  devolved 

upon  Mr.  Eaton,  who,  with  an  unexampled  patience,  took  many  tedious 
and  hazardous  journics  through  a  desolate  wilderness  full  of  barbarous 
Indians,  until  upon  mature  deliberation  he  pitched  upon  a  place  now 
called  New-Haven,  where  they  soon  formed  a  very  regular  town;  and  a 
number  of  other  towns  along  the  sea  side  were  quickly  added  thereunto. 
But  by  the  difficulties  attending  these  journies,  Mr.  Eaton  brought  himself 
into  an  extream  sickness;  from  which  he  recovered  not  without  a  fistula 
in  his  breast,  whereby  he  underwent  much  affliction.  When  the  chirurgeon 
came  to  inspect  the  sore,  he  told  him,  "Sir,  I  know  not  how  to  go  about 
what  is  necessary  for  your  cure;"  but  Mr.  Eaton  answered  him,  "God 
calls  you  to  do,  and  me  to  suffer!"  And  God  accordingly  strengthened 
him  to  bear  miserable  cuttings  and  launcings  of  his  flesh  with  a  most 
invincible  patience.  The  chirurgeon  indeed  made  so  many  wounds,  that  he 
was  not  able  to  cure  what  he  had  made;  another,  and  a  better,  hand  was 
necessarily  imployed  for  it;  but  in  the  mean  while  great  were  the  trials 
with  which  the  God  of  heaven  exercised  the  faith  of  this  his  holy  servant. 
§  7.  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Davenport  were  the  Moses  and  Aaron  of  the 
Christian  colony  now  erected  in  the  south-west  parts  of  New-England; 
and  Mr.  Eaton  being  yearly  and  ever  chosen  their  governour,  it  was  the 
admiration  of  all  spectators  to  behold  the  discretion,  the  gravity,  the  equity 
with  which  he  still  managed  all  their  publick  affairs.  He  carried  in  his 
very  countenance  a  majesty  which  cannot  be  described;  and  in  his  dispen- 
sations of  justice  he  was  a  mirrour  for  the  most  imitable  impartiality,  but 
ungainsayable  authority  of  his  proceedings,  being  awfully  sensible  of  the 
obligations  which  the  oath  of  a  judge  lays  upon  him.  lis  sont  plus  temis 
de  raison  de  ganler  Leur  Serment,  doubter  onorf,  ou  aucutie  forfeiture:*  and 
hence  he,  who  would  most  patiently  bear  hard  things  offered  unto  his 
person  in  private  cases,  yet  would  never  pass  by  any  publick  affronts  or 
neglects  offered,  when  he  appeared  under  the  character  of  a  magistrate. 
But  he  still  was  the  guide  of  the  blind,  the  staff  of  the  lame,  the  helper 
of  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  and  all  the  distressed ;  none  that  had  a  good 

•  They  are  more  bound  in  reason  to  keep  their  oaths,  than  to  fear  death,  or  any  forfeiture  whatsoever. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  153 

cause  was  afraid  of  coming  before  him:  on  the  one  side,  in  liis  days  did 
the  righteous  flourish ;  on  the  other  side,  he  was  the  terror  of  evil  doers. 
As  in  his  government  of  the  commonwealth,  so  in  the  government  of  his 
family,  he  was  prudent,  serious,  happy  to  a  wonder:  and  albeit  he  some- 
times had  a  large  family,  consisting  of  no  less  than  thirty  penwis,  yet  he 
managed  them  with  such  an  even  temper,  that  observers  have  affirmed, 
"They  never  saw  an  house  ordered  with  more  wisdom!"  He  kept  an 
honourable  and  hospitable  table;  but  one  thing  that  still  made  the  enter- 
tainment thereof  the  better,  was  the  continual  presence  of  his  aged  mother; 
by  feeding  of  whom  with  an  exemplary  piety  till  she  died,  he  ensured  his 
own  prosperity  as  long  as  he  lived.  His  children  and  servants  he  would 
mightily  encourage  unto  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  countenance  their 
addresses  unto  himself  with  any  of  their  enquiries;  but  when  he  discerned 
any  of  them  sinfully  negligent  about  the  concerns  either  of  their  general 
or  particular  callings,  he  would  admonish  them  with  such  a  penetrating 
efficacy,  that  they  could  scarce  forbear  falling  down  at  his  feet  with  tears. 
A  ivord  of  his  was  enough  to  steer  them ! 

§  8.  So  exemplary  was  he  for  a  Christian,  that  one  who  had  been  a  servant 
unto  him,  could  many  years  after  say,  "Whatever  difficulty  in  my  daily 
walk  I  now  meet  withal,  still  something  that  I  either  saw  or  heard  in  my 
blessed  master  Eaton's  conversation,  helps  me  through  it  all ;  I  have  reason 
to  bless  God  that  ever  I  knew  him!"  It  was  his  custom  when  he  first  rose 
in  a  morning,  to  repair  unto  his  study ;  a  study  well  perfumed  with  the 
TYieditations  and  supplications  of  an  holy  soul.  After  this,  calling  his  family 
together,  he  would  then  read  a  portion  of  the  Scripture  among  them,  and 
after  some  devout  and  useful  reflections  upon  it,  he  would  make  a  prayer, 
not  long,  but  extraordinarily  pertinent  and  reverent;  and  in  the  evening 
some  of  the  same  exercises  were  again  attended.  On  the  Saturday 
morning  he  would  still  take  notice  of  the  approaching  Sabbath  in  his 
prayer,  and  ask  the  grace  to  be  remembring  of  it,  and  preparing  for  it; 
and  when  the  evening  arrived,  he,  besides  this,  not  only  repeated  a  sermon, 
but  also  instructed  his  people,  with  -^^Viiimg  oi  questiojis  referring  to  the  points 
of  religion,  which  would  oblige  them  to  study  for  an  answer;  and  if  their 
answer  were  at  any  time  insufficient,  he  would  wisely  and  gently  enlighten 
their  understandings;  all  which  he  concluded  with  singing  of  a  psalm. 
When  the  Lord's  day  came,  he  called  his  family  together  at  the  time  for 
the  ringing  of  the  first  bell,  and  repeated  a  sermon,  whereunto  he  added  a 
fervent  prayer,  especially  tending  unto  the  sanctification  of  the  day.  At 
noon  he  sang  a  psalm,  and  at  night  he  retired  an  hour  into  his  closet; 
advising  those  in  his  house  to  improve  the  same  time  for  the  good  of 
their  own  souls.  He  then  called  his  family  together  again,  and  in  an 
obliging  manner  conferred  with  them  about  the  things  with  which  they 
had  been  entertained  in  the  house  of  God,  shutting  up  all  with  a  prayer 
for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them  all.     For  solemn  days  of  humiliation, 


5^54:  M  AG  N  ALIA    C  II  K  I  S  T  I     AMEKICANA; 

or  of  tliaiiksifiviiiij:,  he  took  the  same  course,  and  endeavoured  still  to 
make  those  that  belonged  unto  him  understand  the  meaning  of  the  services 
before  them.  He  seldom  used  any  recreations,  but  being  a  great  reader,  all 
the  time  he  could  spare  from  company  and  business,  he  commonly  spent 
in  his  beloved  study ;  so  that  he  merited  the  name  which  was  once  given 
to  a  learned  ruler  of  the  English  nation,  the  name  of  Beauderk:  in  con- 
versing with  his  friends,  he  was  afftible,  courteous,  and  generally  pleasant^ 
but  (jravc  })cr})etually ;  and  so  cautelous  and  circumspect  in  his  discourses, 
and  so  modest  in  his  expressions,  that  it  became  a  proverb  for  incontestable 
truth,  "Governour  Eaton  said  it." 

But  after  all,  his  humility  appeared  in  having  always  but  low  expectations, 
looking  for  little  regard  and  reward  from  any  men,  after  he  had  merited  as 
highly  as  possible  by  his  universal  serviceableness. 

§  9.  Ilis  eldest  son  he  maintained  at  the  Colledge  until  he  proceeded 
master  of  arts;  and  he  was  indeed  the  son  of  his  vows,  and  a  son  of  great 
lioprs.  But  a  severe  catarrh  diverted  this  young  gentleman  from  the  work 
of  the  ministry  whereto  his  father  had  once  devoted  him;  and  a  malignant 
fever  then  raging  in  those  parts  of  the  country,  carried  off  him  with  his 
wife  within  two  or  three  days  of  one  another.  This  was  counted  the  sorest 
of  all  the  trials  that  ever  befel  his  father  in  the  "  days  of  the  years  of  his 
pilgrimage;"  but  he  bore  it  with  a  patience  and  composure  of  spirit  which 
was  truly  admirable.  His  dying  son  looked  earnestly  on  him,  and  said, 
"Sir,  what  shall  we  do?"  Whereto,  with  a  well-ordered  countenance,  he 
replied,  "Look  up  to  God!"  And  when  he  passed  by  his  daughter,  drowned 
in  tears  on  this  occasion,  to  her  he  said,  "Kemember  the  sixth  command- 
ment: hurt  not  your  self  with  immoderate  grief:  remember  Job,  who  said, 
'The  Lord  hath  given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away;  blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord!'  You  may  mark  what  a  note  the  spirit  of  God  put  upon  it; 
'  in  all  this  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  God  foolishly :'  God  accounts  it  a 
charging  of  him  foolishly,  when  we  don't  submit  unto  his  will  patiently." 
Accordingly  he  now  governed  him  self  as  one  that  had  attained  unto  the 
rule  of  "weeping  as  if  we  wept  not;"  for  it  being  the  Lord's  day,  he 
repaired  unto  the  church  in  the  afternoon,  as  he  had  been  there  inthe/ore- 
noon,  though  he  was  never  like  to  see  his  dearest  son  alive  any  more  in. 
this  world.  And  though  before  the  first  prayer  began,  a  messenger  came 
to  prevent  Mr.  Davenport's  praying  for  the  sick  person,  who  was  now 
dead,  yet  his  affectionate  father  altered  not  his  course,  but  icrote  after  the 
preacher  as  formerly ;  and  when  he  came  home  he  held  on  his  former 
methods  of  divine  worship  in  his  family,  not  for  the  excuse  of  Aaron, 
omitting  any  thing  in  the  service  of  God.  In  like  sort,  when  the  people 
had  been  at  the  solemn  interment  of  this  his  worthy  son,  he  did  with  a 
very  unpassionate  aspect  and  carriage  then  say,  "Friends,  I  thank  you  all 
for  your  love  and  help,  and  for  this  testimony  of  respect  unto  me  and  mine : 
the  Lord  hath  given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken;  blessed  be  the  name  of 


OE,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  155 

the  Lord !"  Nevertheless,  retiring  hereupon  into  the  chamber  where  his 
daughter  then  lay  sick,  some  tears  were  observed  falling  from  him  while 
he  uttered  these  words,  "There  is  a  difference  between  a  sullen  silence  or 
a  stupid  senselessness  under  the  hand  of  God,  and  a  child-like  submission 
thereunto." 

§.10.  Thus  continually  he,  for  about  a  score  of  years,  was  the  glory 
SiXid pillar  of  New-Haven  colony.  He  would  often  say,  "Some  count  it  a 
great  matter  to  die  ivell,  but  I  am  sure  'tis  a  great  matter  to  live  well.  All 
our  care  should  be  while  we  have  our  life  to  use  it  well,  and  so  when 
death  puts  an  end  unto  that,  it  will  put  an  end  unto  all  our  cares."  But 
having  excellently  managed  his  care  to  live  well,  God  would  ha^'e  him  to 
die  loell,  without  any  room  or  time  then  given  to  take  any  care  at  all ;  for 
he  enjoyed  a  death  sudden  to  every  one  but  himself!  Having  worshipped 
God  with  his  family  after  his  usual  manner,  and  upon  some  occasion  with 
much  solemnity  charged  all  the  family  to  carry  it  well  unto  their  mistress 
who  was  now  confined  by  sickness,  he  supped,  and  then  took  a  turn  or 
two  abroad  for  his  meditations.  After  that  he  came  in  to  bid  his  wife 
good-night,  before  he  left  her  with  her  watchers ;  which  when  he  did,  she 
said,  "Methinks  you  look  sad!"  Whereto  he  replyed,  "The  differences 
risen  in  the  church  of  Hartford  make  me  so;"  she  then  added,  "Let  us 
even  go  back  to  our  native  country  again;"  to  which  he  answered,  "You 
may,  (and  so  she  did)  but  I  shall  die  here."  This  was  the  last  word  that 
ever  she  heard  him  speak;  for,  now  retiring  unto  his  lodging  in  another 
chamber,  he  was  overheard  about  midnight  fetching  a  groan;  and  unto 
one  sent  in  presently  to  enquire  how  he  did,  he  answered  the  enquiry 
with  only  saying,  "Very  ill!"  and  without  saying  any  more,  he  fell  "asleep 
in  Jesus,"  in  the  year  1657,  loosing  anchor  from  New-Haven  for  the  better; 

Sedes,  uhi  Fata,  Quietus 


Ostendunt.* 

Now  let  his  gravestone  wear  at  least  the  following 

EPITAPH. 

New-England's  glory,  full  of  warmth  and  light, 
Stole  away  (and  said   nothing)  in  the  night. 


SUCCESSORS. 

§  1.  When  the  day  arrived  in  the  anniversary  course  for  the  freemen 
of  the  colony  to  elect  another  governour  in  the  place  of  the  deceased 

*  Where  Destiny  points  out  eternal  rest. 


l^Q  MAGNALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

Eaton,  Mr.  Davenport  preached  on  that  passage  of  the  divine  oracle,  in 
Josli.  i.  1,  2 :  "Now  after  the  death  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  it 
came  to  pass  that  the  Lord  spake  unto  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  Moses' 
minister,  saying,  Now  arise  thou  and  all  this  people."  The  colony  was 
abundantly  sensible  that  their  Eaton  had  been  a  man  of  a  Mosaic  spirit; 
and  that  while  they  chose  him,  as  they  did  every  year  of  his  life,  among 
them  to  be  their  governour,  they  could  not  chuse  a  better.  But  they  now 
considered  that  Mr.  Francis  Newman,  who  had  been  for  many  years  the 
secretary  of  the  colony,  was  there  a  minister  to  their  Moses,  as  he  had 
been  otherwise  his  intimate  friend,  neighbour,  companion  and  counsellor. 
For  this  cause  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  freemen  fell  upon  this  gentle- 
man to  succeed  in  the  government.  And  I  shall  here  give  a  sufficient 
history  of  his  government ;  which  through  death  was  not  suffered  to  con- 
tinue above  three  or  four  years,  by  only  saying,  "That  he  walked  exactly 
in  the  steps  of  his  predecessor." 

§  2.  Upon  the  setting  of  Mr.  Francis  Newman,  there  arose  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Leet,  of  whom  let  not  the  reader  be  displeased  at  this  brief  account. 
This  gentleman  was  by  his  education  a  lawyer,  and  by  his  imployment  a 
register  in  the  Bishop's  Court.  In  that  station,  at  Cambridge,  he  observed 
that  there  were  summoned  before  the  court  certain  persons  to  answer  for 
the  crime  of  going  to  hear  sermons  abroad^  when  there  were  none  to  be 
heard  in  their  own  parish  churches  at  home;  and  that,  when  any  were 
brought  before  them  ior  fornication  or  adultery^  the  court  only  made  them- 
selves merry  with  their  Peccadillos;  and  that  these  latter  transgressions 
were  as  favourably  dealt  withal,  as  ever  the  xvolf  was  when  he  came  with 
an  auricular  confession  of  his  murders  to  his  brother  _/bx  for  absolution: 
but  the  former  found  as  hard  measure  as  ever  the  poor  ass^  that  had  only 
taken  a  straw  by  mistake  out  of  a  pilgrim's  pad,  and  yet  upon  confession, 
was  by  Chancellour  Fox  pronounced  unpardonable.  This  observation 
extreamly  scandalized  Mr.  Leet,  who  always  thought  that  hearing  a  good 
sermon  had  been  a  lesser  fault  than  lying  with  one's  neighbour's  wife:  and 
had  the  same  resentments  that  Austin  sometimes  had  of  the  iniquity 
which  made  "the  transgression  of  a  ceremony  more  severely  reprehended 
than  a  transgression  of  the  law  of  God;"  but  it  made  an  everlasting  impres- 
sion upon  his  heart,  when  the  judge  of  the  court  furiously  demanded  of 
one  then  to  be  censured,  "  How  he  durst  be  so  bold  as  to  break  the  laws 
of  the  church,  in  going  from  his  own  parish  to  hear  sermons  abroad?" 
And  the  honest  man  answered,  "Sir,  how  should  I  get  faith  else?  For 
the  apostle  saith.  Faith  comes  by  hearing  the  word  preached;  which  fliith 
is  necessary  to  salvation;  and  hearing  the  word  is  the  means  appointed  by 
God  for  the  obtaining  and  encreasing  of  it:  and  these  means  I  must  use, 
whatever  I  suffer  for  it  in  this  Avorld."  These  words  of  that  honest  man 
were  blessed  b_y  God  with  such  an  effect  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Leet,  that  he 
presently  left  his  ojjice  in  the  Bishop's  Court,  and  forsaking  that  "  untoward 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  257 

generation  of  men,"  he  associated  himself  with  such  as  would  go  "hear 
the  word,  that  they  might  get  faith;"  and  in  hearing,  he  did  happily  get 
the  like  precious  faith.  On  this,  and  for  this,  he  was  exposed  unto  the 
jyersecution,  which  caused  him  to  retire  into  New-England  with  many 
worthy  ministers  and  other  Christians,  in  the  year  1639.  In  that  country 
he  settled  himself  under  the  ministry  of  the  excellent  Mr.  Whitfield  at 
Guilford,  where,  being  also  chosen  a  magistrate,  and  then  governour  of 
the  colony;  and  being  so  at  the  juncture  of  time  when  the  Eoyal  Charter 
did  join  Connecticut  and  New-Haven,  he  became  next  unto  Governour 
Winthrop,  the  deputy-go vernour  of  the  whole;  and  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Winthrop,  even  until  his  own  death,  the  annual  election  for  about  a 
decade  of  years  together,  still  made  him  governour.  But  in  his  whole 
government  he  gave  continual  demonstrations-  of  an  excellent  spirit,  especi- 
ally in  that  part  of  it  where  the  reconciliation  and  the  coalition  of  the 
spirits  of  the  people  under  it  was  to  be  accomplished.  Mr.  Eobert  Treat 
is  the  follower  of  his  example,  as  well  as  the  successor  in  his  government. 


HERMES    CHRISTIANUS.* 

THE  LIFE  OF   JOHN  WINTHROP,  ESQ.,  GOVERNOUR  OF  CONNECTICUT  AND  NEW-HAVEN  UNITED. 

— Et  Nos  aliquod  Nomenque  Decusque 
Gessimus. — t 

§  1.  If  the  historian  could  give  that  character  of  the  best  Eoman 
Emperor,  that  he  Avas  Bonus  a  Bono,  Pius  a  Pio,\  the  son  of  a  father  like 
himself,  our  history  may  affirm  concerning  a  very  good  New-English  gov- 
ernour also,  that  he  was  the  father  of  a  son  like  himself,  The  proverb  of 
the  Jews  which  doth  observe,  "That  vinegar  is  the  son  of  wine;"  and  the 
proverb  of  the  Greeks,  which  doth  observe,  "That  the  sons  of  heroes  are 
trespassers,"  has  been  more  than  once  contradicted  in  the  happy  experi- 
ence of  the  NcAV-Englanders:  but  none  of  the  least  remarkable  contradic- 
tions given  to  it  has  been  in  the  honourable  family  of  our  Winthrops. 

§  2.  The  eldest  son  of  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  the  governour  of  one 
colony,  was  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  the  governour  of  another,  in  therefore 
happy  New-England,  born  February  12, 1605,  at  Groton  in  England.  His 
glad  father  bestowed  on  him  a  liberal  education  at  the  university,  first  of 
Cambridge  in  England,  and  then  of  Dublin  in  Ireland;  and  because  travel 
has  been  esteemed  no  little  accomplisher  of  a  young  gentleman,  he  then 

•  The  Christian  Mercury  (or  Physician).  f  Some  fame  and  honour  we  have  won. 

%  The  good  and  pious  son  of  a  good  and  pious  father. 


258  MACiNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

accomplished  lumself  by  travelling  into  France,  Holland,  Flanders,  Italy, 
Germany,  and  as  far  as  Turkey  it  self;  in  wliicli  places  he  so  improved  his 
opportunity  of  conversing  with  all  sorts  of  learned  men,  that  he  returned 
home  equally  a  subject  of  much  experience  and  of  great  expectation. 

§  3.  The  son  of  Scipio  African  us  proving  a  degenerate  person,  the 
people  forced  him  to  pluck  off  a  signet-ring  which  he  wore  with  his 
father's  face  engraven  on  it.  But  the  son  of  our  celebrated  Governour 
Winthrop,  was  on  the  other  side  so  like  unto  his  excellent  fiither  for  early 
wisdom  and  virtue,  that  arriving  at  New-England  with  his  liither's  family, 
November  4,  1631,  he  was,  though  not  above  twenty-three  years  of  age,  by 
the  unanimous  choice  of  the  people,  chosen  a  magistrate  of  the  colony, 
whereof  his  father  was  the  governour.  For  this  colony  he  afterwards  did 
many  services,  yea,  and  he  did  them  abroad  as  well  as  at  home;  very  par- 
ticularly in  the  year  1634,  when  returning  for  England,  he  was  by  bad 
weather  forced  into  Ireland,  where  being  invited  unto  the  house  of  Sir 
John  Clotworthy,  he  met  with  many  considerable  persons,  by  conferring 
with  whom,  the  affairs  of  New-England  were  not  a  little  promoted;  but 
it  was  another  colony  for  which  the  providence  of  Heaven  intended  him 
to  be  such  anoiher  father,  as  his  own  honourable /a/Aer  had  been  to  this. 
,  §  4.  In  the  year  1635,  Mr.  Winthrop  returned  unto  New-England,  with 
powers  from  the  Lord  Say  and  the  Lord  Brook  to  settle  a  plantation  upon 
the  Long  River  of  Connecticut,  and  a  commission  to  be  himself  the  gov- 
ernour of  that  plantation.  But  inasmuch  as  many  good  people  of  the 
Massachuset-colony  had  just  before  this  taken  possession  of  land  for  a 
new-colony  thereabouts,  this  courteous  and  peaceable  gentleman  gave  them 
no  molestation ;  but  having  wisely  accommodated  the  matter  with  them, 
he  sent  a  convenient  number  of  me?i,  with  all  necessaries,  to  erect  a  forti- 
fication at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  a  town^  with  Sifort,  is  now  distin- 
guished by  the  name  of  Say-Brook ;  by  which  happy  action,  the  planters 
further  up  the  river  had  no  small  kindness  done  unto  them;  and  the 
Indians,  which  might  else  have  been  more  troublesome,  were  kept  in  awe. 

§  5.  The  self-denying  gentleman,  who  had  imployed  his  commission  of 
governour  so  little  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  infant-colony  at  Connecticut, 
was  himself,  ere  long,  by  election  made  governour  of  that  colony.  And 
upon  the  restoration  of  King  Charles  II.  he  willingly  undertook  another 
voyage  to  England,  on  the  behalf  of  the  people  under  his  government, 
whose  affairs  he  managed  with  such  a  successful  prudence,  that  he  obtained 
a  royal  charter  for  them,  which  incorporated  the  colony  of  New-Haven 
with  them,  and  invested  both  colonies,  now  happily  united,  with  a  firm 
grant  of  privUed<jes,  beyond  those  of  the  plantations  which  had  been  settled 
before  them.  I  have  been  informed,  that  while  he  was  engaged  in  this 
negotiation,  being  admitted  unto  a  jirivate  conference  with  the  King,  he 
presented  his  majesty  with  a  ring,  which  King  Charles  I.  had  upon  some 
occasion  given  to  his  grandfather;  and  the  King  not  only  accepted  his 


OE,    THE    ITTSTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  159 

present,  but  also  declared,  tliat  he  accounted  it  one  of  his  richest  jewels; 
which  indeed  was  the  opinion  that  New-England  had  of  the  hand  that 
carried  it.  But  having  thus  laid  his  colony  under  everlasting  obligations 
of  gratitude,  they  did,  after  his  return  to  New-England,  express  of  their 
gratitude,  by  saying  to  him  as  the  Israelites  did  unto  Gideon,  "Kule  thou 
over  us,  for  thou  hast  delivered  us,"  chusing  him  for  their  governour  twice 
seven  years  together. 

.  §  6.  When  the  governour  of  Athens  was  &  philosoijher — namely,  Deme- 
trius— the  commonwealth  so  flourished,  that  no  less  than  three  hundred 
brazen  statues  were  afterward  by  the  thankful  people  erected  unto  his 
memory.  And  a  blessed  land  was  New-England,  when  there  was  over  part 
of  it  a  governour  who  was  not  only  a  Ohristian  and  a  gentleman,  but  also 
an  eminent  p/«7o502j//er;  for  indeed  the  government  of  the  state  is  then  most 
successfully  managed,  when  the  measures  of  it  are,  by  a  loise  observer^  taken 
from  the  government  of  the  loorld;  and  very  unreasonable  is  the  Jewish 
proverb,  Ne  Ilabites  in  urbe  ubi  caput  urbis  est  Medicus :*  but  highly  reason- 
able the  sentence  of  Aristotle,  Ubi  j^rceses  fuen't  Philosojihus,  ibi  Givitas  erit 
F€elix;-\  and  this  the  rather  for  what  is  truly  noted  by  Thucydides,  Magis- 
trains  est  Civitatis  Medicus.'\.  Such  an  one  was  our  Winthrop,  whose 
genius  and  faculty  for  experimental  philosophy  was  advanced  in  his  travels 
abroad,  by  his  acquaintance  with  many  learned  virtuosi.  One  effect  of 
this  disposition  in  him,  was  his  being  furnished  with  noble  medicines^  which r/ 
he  most  charitably  and  generously  gave  away  upon  all  occasions;  inso- 
much that  where-ever  he  came,  still  the  diseased  flocked  about  him,  as  if 
the  healing  angel  of  Bethesda  had  appeared  in  the  place ;  and  so  many 
were  the  cures  which  he  wrought,  and  the  lives  that  he  saved,  that  if  Scan- 
derbeg  might  boast  of  his  having  slain  in  his  time  two  thousand  men  with 
his  own  hands,  this  worthy  person  might  have  made  a  far  more  desirable 
boa^t  of  his  having  in  his  time  healed  more  than  so  many  thousands;  in 
which  beneficence  to  mankind,  there  are  of  his  worthy  children,  who  to  this 
day  do  follow  his  direction  and  example.  But  it  was  not  unto  New-Eng- 
land alone  that  the  respects  of  this  accomplished-p/ri/osop/ier  were  confined. 
For  whereas,  in  pursuance  of  the  methods  begun  by  that  immortally 
famous  advancer  of  learning,  the  most  illustrious  Lord  Chancellour  Bacon, 
a  select  company  of  eminent  persons,  usuing  to  meet  in  the  lodgings  of 
Dr.  Wilkins  of  Wadham  Colledge  in  Oxford,  had  laid  the  foundation  of 
a  celebrated  society,  which  by  the  year  1663,  being  incorporated  with  a 
Royal  Charter,  hath  since  been  among  the  glories  of  England,  yea,  and 
of  mankind;  and  their  design  was  to  make  faithful  records  of  all  the  works 
of  nature  or  of  art,  which  might  come  under  their  observation,  and  correct 
what  had  been  false^  restore  what  should  be  true^  preserve  what  should  be 

*  Neyer  dwell  in  a  city  where  the  chief  magistrate  is  a  Physician. 
+  Where  the  king  Is  a  philosopher,  the  state  will  be  prosperous. 
X  The  magistrate  is  the  physician  of  the  state. 


IQQ  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHKISTI    AMERICANA; 

o'arc,  and  render  the  knowledge  of  tlie  world,  as  well  more  perfect  as  more 
useful;  and  by  multiplied  experiments  both  of  li'jJd  and  fruit,  advance  the 
empire  of  man  over  the  whole  visible  creation;  it  was  the  honour  of  Mr. 
^Winthrop  to  be  a  member  of  this  Eoyal  Society,  And  accordingly 
&mong  the  philo-'^oj'hicid  transactions  published  by  Mr.  Oldenburgh,  there 
are  some  notable  communications  from  this  inquisitive  and  intelligent 
person,  whose  insight  into  many  parts  of  the  creation,  but  especially  of 
the  mineral  kingdom,  was  beyond  what  had  been  attained  by  the  most  in 
many  parts  of  America, 

§  7.  If  one  would  therefore  desire  an  exact  picture  of  this  worthy  man, 
the  description  which  the  most  sober  and  solid  writers  of  the  great  jyhilo- 
sophich  work  do  give  of  those  persons,  who  alone  are  qualified  for  the  smiles 
of  Ileaven  upon  their  enterprizes,  would  have  exactly  fitted  him.  He 
was  a  studious,  limnhle,  piatient,  reserved  and  mortified  person,  and  one  in 
whom  the  love  of  God  was  fervent,  the  love  of  man  sincere :  and  he  had 
herewithal  a  certain  extension  of  soul,  which  disposed  him  to  a  generous 
behaviour  towards  those  who,  by  learning,  breeding  and  virtue,  deserve 
resj^ects,  though  of  a  perswasion  and  profession  in  religion  very  different 
from  his  own;  which  was  that  of  a  reformed  Protestant,  and  a  New-English 
Puritan.  In  sum,  he  was  not  more  an  adoptist  in  those  noble  and  secret 
medicines,  which  would  reach  the  roots  of  the  distempers  that  annoy  humane 
bodies,  and  procure  an  universal  rest  unto  the  archceus  on  all  occasions  of 
disturbance,  than  he  was  in  those  Christian  qualities,  which  appear  upon 
the  cure  of  the  distempers  in  the  minds  of  men,  by  the  effectual  grcwe  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

§  8.  In  the  year  16-13,  after  divers  essays  made  in  some  former  years, 
the  several  colonies  of  New-England  became  in  fact,  as  well  as  name, 
UNITED  COLONIES.  And  an  instrument  was  formed,  wherein  having 
declared,  "  That  we  all  came  into  these  parts  of  America  with  the  same 
end  and  aim — namely,  to  advance  the  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
enjo}--  the  liberties  of  the  gospel  with  purity  and  peace," — it  was  firmly 
agreed  between  the  several  jurisdictions,  that  there  should  yearly  be  chosen 
two  commissioners  out  of  each,  who  should  meet  at  fit  places  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  with  full  powers  from  the  General  Courts  in  each,  to  concert 
and  conclude  matters  of  general  concernment  for  peace  or  ivar  of  the  sev- 
[/^eral  colonies  thus  confederated.  In  pursuance  of  this  laudable  confederacy, 
this  most  meritorious  governour  of  Connecticut  colony  accepted  the  trou- 
ble of  appearing  as  a  commissioner  for  that  colony,  with  the  rest  met  at 
Boston,  in  the  year  1676,  Avhen  the  calamities  of  the  Indian-war  were  dis- 
tressing the  whole  country:  but  here  falling  sick  of  a  fever,  he  dyed  on 
April  5,  of  that  year,  and  was  honourably  interred  in  the  same  tomb  with 
his  honourable  father. 

§  9.  His  father,  as  long  ago  as  the  year  1643,  had  seen  cause  to  write  unto 
him  an  excellent  letter,  wherein  there  were  these  among  other  passages: 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  IgX 

You  are  the  chief  of  two  families;  I  had  by  your  mother  three  sons  and  three  daughters, 
and  I  had  with  her  a  large  portion  of  outward  estate.  These  now  are  all  gone ;  mother 
gone;  brethren  and  sisters  gone;  you  only  are  left  to  see  the  vanity  of  these  temporal  things, 
and  learn  wisdom  thereby,  which  may  be  of  njore  use  to  you,  through  the  Lord's  blessing, 
than  all  that  inherilance  which  might  have  befallen  you,  and  for  which  this  may  stay  and 
quiet  your  heart,  'That  God  is  able  to  give  you  more  than  this;'  and  that  it  being  spent  in 
the  furtherance  of  his  work,  which  hath  here  prospered  so  well,  through  his  power  hitherto, 
you  and  yours  may  certainly  expect  a  liberal  portion  in  the  prosperity  and  blessing  thereof 
hereafter;  and  the  rather,  because  it  was  not  forced  from  you  by  a  father's  power,  but  freely 
resigned  by  your  self,  out  of  a  living  and  filial  respect  unto  me,  and  your  own  readiness 
unto  the  work  it  self.  From  whence  as  I  do  often  take  occasion  to  bless  the  Lord  for  you, 
so  do  I  also  commend  you  and  yours  to  his  fatherly  blessing,  for  a  plentiful  reward  to  be 
rendered  unto  you.  And  doubt  not,  my  dear  son,  but  let  your  faith  be  built  upon  his 
premise  and  faithfulness,  that  as  he  hath  carried  you  hitherto  through  many  perils,  and  pro- 
vided liberally  for  you,  so  he  will  do  for  the  time  to  come,  and  will  never  fiiil  you,  nor  for- 

s.ike  you. ]My  son,  the  Lord  knows  how  dear  thou  art  to  me,  and  that  my  care  has  been 

more  for  thee  than  for  my  self  But  I  knoic  thy  prosperity  depends  not  on  my  care,  nor  on 
thine  own,  but  upon  the  blessing  of  our  Heavenly  Father;  neither  doth  it  on  the  things  of 
this  world,  but  on  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  through  the  merit  and  mediation  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  that  only  which  can  give  us  peace  of  conscience  with  contentation; 
which  can  as  well  make  our  lives  happy  and  comfortable  in  a  mean  estate,  as  in  a  great 
abundance.  But  if  you  weigh  thhigs  aright,  and  sum  up  all  the  turnings  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence together,  you  shall  find  great  advantage. — The  Lord  hath  brought  us  to  a  good  land; 
a  land  where  we  enjoy  outward  peace  and  liberty,  and,  above  all,  the  blessings  of  the  gospel, 
without  the  burden  of  impositions  in  matters  of  religion.  Many  thousands  there  are  who 
would  give  great  estates  to  enjoy  our  condition.  Labour  therefore,  my  good  son,  to  increase 
our  thankfulness  to  God  for  all  his  mercies  to  thee,  especially  for  that  he  hath  revealed  his 
everlasting  good-will  to  thee  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  joined  thee  to  the  visible  body  of  his 
chu'-ch,  in  the  fellowship  of  his  people,  and  hath  saved  thee  in  all  thy  travails  abroad  from 
being  infected  with  the  vices  of  these  countries  where  thou  hast  been,  (a  mercy  vouchsafed 
but  unto  few  young  gentlemen  travellers.)  Let  him  have  the  honour  of  it  who  kept  thee. 
He  it  was  who  gave  thee  favour  in  the  eyes  of  all  with  whom  thou  hadst  to  do,  both  by  sea 
and  land ;  he  it  was  who  saved  thee  in  all  perils ;  and  he  it  is  who  hath  given  thee  a  gift  in 
understanding  and  art;  and  he  it  is  who  hath  provided  thee  a  blessing  in  marriage,  a  com- 
fortable help,  and  many  sweet  children ;  and  hath  hitherto  provided  liberally  for  you  all :  and 
therefore  I  would  have  you  to  love  him  again,  and  serve  him,  and  trust  him  for  the  time  to 
come.  Love  and  prize  that  word  of  truth,  which  only  makes  known  to  you  the  precious 
and  eternal  thoughts  and  councils  of  the  light  inaccessible.  Deny  your  own  wisdom,  that 
you  may  find  his;  and  esteem  it  the  greatest  honour  to  lye  under  the  simplicity  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  crucified,  without  which  you  can  never  enter  into  the  secrets  of  his  tabernacle, 
nor  enjoy  those  sweet  things  which  'Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  can  the  heart  of 
man  conceive;'  but  God  hath  granted  unto  some  few  to  know  them  even  in  this  life.  Study 
well,  my  son,  the  saying  of  the  apostle,  'Knowledge  puffeth  up.'  It  is  a  good  gift  of  God^ 
but  when  it  lifts  up  the  mind  above  the  cross  of  Christ,  it  is  the  pride  of  life,  and  the  high 
way  to  apostacy,  wherein  many  men  of  great  learning  and  hopes  have  perished. — In  all  the 
exercise  of  your  gifts,  and  improvement  of  your  talents,  have  an  eye  to  your  Master's  end, 
more  than  your  own ;  and  to  the  day  of  your  account,  that  you  may  then  have  your  Quietus 
est,  even  'Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant!'  But  my  last  and  chief  request  to  you 
is,  that  you  be  careful  to  have  your  children  brought  up  in  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  God, 
and  in  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  will  give  you  the  best  comfort  of  them, 
and  keep  them  sure  from  any  want  or  miscarriage:  and  when  you  part  from  them,  it  will  be 
no  small  joy  to  your  soul,  that  you  shall  meet  them  again  in  heaven!" 

Vol.  I.— 11 


162 


MAGNALIA    CURISTI    AMERICANA; 


Doubtless,  the  reader  considers  the  historical  passages  in  this  extract 
of  the  letter  thus  recited.  Now,  but  by  making  this  reflection  upon  the 
rest,  that  as  the  inoiihetical  part  of  it  was  notably  fulfilled  in  the  estate 
whereto  the  good  providence  of  God  recovered  this  worthy  gentleman 
and  his  family,  so  the  monitory  part  of  it  was  most  exemplarily  attended 
in  his  holy  and  useful  conversation.  I  shall  therein  briefly  sum  up  the 
life  of  a  person  whom  we  shall  call  a  second  unto  none  of  our  worthies, 
but  as  we  call  him  our  second  "Winthrop. 

EPITAPHIUM. 

Abi  Viator; 

Et  Luge  plures  magistratus  in  Uno  periisse. 

Redi  Viator. 

Non  Periit,  scd  ad  Calcstem  Societatem 

Regia  Mngis  Kegiam, 

Vere  Adeplus, 

A hiit  : 

WiNTHKOPUs,  Non  minor  magnis  Majorihus.* 


Kj  dAj  dX  i  1  iii  dPi    Jiu  i  i . 


ASSISTENTS. 


MAGISTRATES   OF   CONNECTICUT   COLONY, 

BEFORE  NEW-HAVEN  COLONY  WAS  ACTUALLY  ANNEXED  UNTO  IT,  WERE,  BESIDES  THE  TWO  ALTERNATEL7 
FOR  THE  MOST  PART  ELECTED  GOVERNOURS,  HOPKINS  AND  HAINES, 


Roger  Ludlow, 

1636. 

William  Ludlow, 

1040. 

Matthew  AUyn, 

1658. 

John  Steel, 

1636. 

William  Hopkins, 

1642. 

Richard  Treat, 

1658. 

William  Phelps, 

1636. 

Henry  Woolcot, 

1643. 

Thomas  Baker, 

1658. 

William  Westwood, 

1C36. 

George  Fenwick, 

1644. 

Mulford, 

1658, 

Andrew  Ward, 

1636. 

Cosmore, 

1647. 

Alexander  Knowles, 

1658. 

Thomas  Wells, 

1637. 

John  Howel, 

1647. 

John  Wells, 

1658. 

William  Swayn, 

1637. 

John  CuUick, 

1648. 

Robert  Band, 

1659. 

Matthew  Milchel, 

1C37. 

Henry  Clark, 

1650. 

Rayner, 

1661. 

George  Hull, 

1037. 

John  Winthrop, 

1651. 

John  AUyn, 

1662. 

William  Whiting, 

1037. 

Thomas  Topping, 

1651. 

Daniel  Clark, 

1662. 

John  Mason, 

1637. 

John  Talcot, 

1654, 

Samuel  Sherman, 

1662. 

GoorKe  Willis, 

1639. 

John  Ogden, 

1656. 

John  Young, 

1664, 

John  \Vebster, 

1639. 

Nathan  Gold, 

1657. 

GISTRATES  OF  NEW 

HAVEN   COLONY,  BEFORE   CONNECTICUT  COLONY 

COULD    ACCOMPLISH    ITS 

COALITI 

THEREWITH,  WERE, 

BESIDES  THE  GOVERNOURS  ELSEWHERE  MENTIONED, 

Strphon  Goodyear, 

1637. 

Tapp, 

1637. 

Benjamin  Fen, 

1654. 

Thomas  Grisson, 

1637. 

William  Fowler, 

1637. 

Matthew  Gilbert, 

1658. 

Richard  Mnlbon, 

1637. 

Francis  Newman, 

1653. 

Jasper  Crane, 

1658. 

William  I.eet, 

1637. 

Astwood, 

1053. 

Robert  Treat, 

1659. 

John  DeHborough, 

1637. 

Samuel  Eaton, 

1654. 

William  Jones, 

1662. 

•  EPITAPH. 

Go,  Traveller; 

And  mourn  the  loss  of  many  magislrates  in  the  person  of  one. 

Return,    Traveller; 

no  Is  not  dead,  but  has  gone  to  join  a  society  in  Heaven,  more  royal  than  the  Royal  Society: 

Wi.NTUROP,  not  inferior  to  his  own  noble  ancestors. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND, 


163 


MAGISTRATES    AFTER    THE    TWO 


John  VVinthrop,  Oov. 
John  Mason, 
Matthew  AUyn, 
Samuel  Willys, 
Nathan  Gold, 
John  Talcot, 
Henry  Woolcot, 
John  Allyn, 
Samuel  Sherman, 
James  Richards, 
William  Lest, 


1G65. 
1G65. 
1GG5. 
1665. 
1665. 
1665. 
1665. 
1665. 
16G5. 
1665. 
1665. 


COLONIES  WERE    CONTENT, 
ONE,  WERE, 
William  Jones, 
Benjamin  Fen, 
Jasper  Crane, 
Daniel  Olark, 
Alexander  Bryans, 
James  Bishop, 
Anthony  Howkins, 
Thomas  Wells, 
John  Nash, 
Robert  Treat, 


ACCORDING    TO    THEIR    CHARTER,  TO  BECOME 


1665. 
1665. 
1665. 
1666. 
1668. 
1668. 
1668. 
1668. 
1672. 
1673. 


Thomas  Topping, 
Matthew  Gilbert, 
Andrew  Leet, 
John  Wadsworth, 
Robert  Chapman, 
James  Fitch, 
Samuel  Mason, 
Benjamin  Newbury, 
Samuel  Talcot, 
Giles  Hamlin 


1674. 
1677. 
1G78. 
1679. 
1681. 
1681. 
1683. 
1685. 
1G85. 
1685. 


While  tlie  colonies  were  clusters  of  rich  grapes^  which  had  a  blessing  in 
them,  such  leaves  as  these  (which  is,  in  the  proverbs  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
a  name  for  magistrates)  happily  defended  them  from  the  storms  that 
molest  the  world. 

Those  of  the  least  character  among  them,  yet  came  up  to  what  the 
Roman  commonwealth  required  in  their  magistrates: 

Populus  Homanus  delegit  Magistratus,  quasi  EeipublictB  Villicos,  in  quihus,  si  qua  prcetcrea 
est  Ars,  facile  patitur ;  sin  minus,  virtute  eorum  et  Innocentia  Contentus  est. — Cic.  Orat. 
Pro  Plan.* 


•  The  Roman  people  selected  their  magistrates  as  if  they  were  to  be  stewards  of  the  Republic.  Proficiency,  in 
other  departments,  if  it  existed,  they  gladly  tolerated ;  but  if  such  additional  accomplishments  were  lacking,  they 
were  content  with  the  virtue  and  honesty  of  their  public  servants. 


PIETAS    IN    PATRIAM.* 


THE  LIFE  OF  HIS  EXCELLENCY  SIR  WJLLIAM  PIIIPS,  KNT., 

LATE  CAPT'N  GENERAL  AND  GOVERNOUR  IN  CHIEF  OF  THE  PROVINCE  OF  THE  MASSACHUSET  BAT. 

CONTAINING    THE    MEMORABLE    CHANGES    UNDERGONE,   AND    ACTIONS    PERFORMED    BY    HIM. 
WRITTEN     BY     ONE     INTIMATELY     ACQUAINTED     WITH     HIM. 

Discite  Virtutem  ex  Hoc,  vcrumque  Lahorem.\ 

The  author  of  the  following  nan-ative,  is  a  ptirson  of  such  well-known  integrity,  prudence 
and  veracity,  that  there  is  not  any  cause  to  question  the  truth  of  what  he  here  relates.  And 
moreover,  this  writing  of  his  is  adorned  with  a  very  grateful  variety  of  learning,  and  doth 
contain  such  surprizing  workings  of  Providence,  as  do  well  deserve  due  notice  and  observa- 
tion.    On  all  which  accounts,  it  is  with  just  confidence  recommended  to  the  publick  by 

Nath.  Mather, 
John  Howe, 

^prU  Tl,  1C97.  MaTTH.   MeAD. 


To  his  Excellency  the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  Baron  of  Coloony  in  Ireland,  General  Governour 
of  the  Province  of  3Iassachuscts  in  New  England,  and  the  Provinces  annexed. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency':  The  station  in  which  the  hand  of  the  God  of  heaven 
hath  disposed  his  Majesty's  heart  to  place  your  honour,  doth  so  manifestly  entitle  your 
Lordship  to  this  ensuing  narrative,  that  its  being  thus  presented  to  your  E.xcellency's  hand, 
is  thereby  both  apologized  for  and  justified.  I  believe  had  the  writer  of  it,  when  he  penned 
it,  had  any  knowledge  of  your  Excellency,  he  would  himself  have  done  it,  and  withal  would 
have  amply  and  publickly  congratulated  the  people  of  New-England  on  account  of  their 
having  sucli  a  governour,  and  your  E.\cellency  on  account  of  your  being  made  governour 
over  them.  For  though  as  to  some  other  things  it  may  possibly  be  a  place  to  some  persons 
not  so  desirable,  yet  I  believe  this  character  may  be  justly  given  of  them,  that  they  are  the 
best  people  under  heaven ;  there  being  among  them  not  only  less  of  open  profiineness,  and 
less  of  lewdness,  but  also  more  of  the  serious  profession,  practice,  and  power  of  Chris- 
tianity, in  proportion  to  their  number,  than  is  among  any  other  people  upon  the  foce  of  the 
whole  earth.  Not  but  I  doubt  there  are  many  bad  persons  among  them,  and  too  many  dis- 
tempered humours,  perhaps  even  among  those  who  are  truly  good.  It  would  be  a  wonder 
if  it  should  be  otiicrwise;  for  it  hath  of  late  years,  on  various  accounts,  and  some  very 
eingular  and  unusual  ones,  been  a  day  of  sore  temptation  with  that  whole  people.  Never- 
theless, as  I  look  upon  it  as  a  favour  from  God  to  those  plantations,  that  he  hatli  set  your 
E.xcellcncy  over  them,  so  I  do  account  it  a  favour  from  God  to  your  E.xcellency,  tliat  he 
hath  committed  and  trusted  in  your  hand  so  great  a  part  of  his  peculiar  treasure  and  pre- 
cious jewels,  as  are  among  that  people.  Besides,  that  on  other  accounts  tlie  Lord  Jesus 
hath  more  of  a  visible  interest  in  New-England,  than  in  any  of  the  outgoings  of  the  English 
nation  in  America.  They' have  at  their  own  charge  not  only  set  up  schools  of  lower  learn- 
ing up  and  down  the  country ;  but  have  also  erected  an  University,  which  hath  been  the 
happy  nursery  of  many  useful,  learned,  and  excellently  accomplished  persons.  And  more- 
over, from  them  hath  the  blessed  gospel  been  preached  to  the  poor,  barbarous,  savage 
heathen  there;  and  it  hath  taken  such  root  among  them,  that  there  were  lately  four-and- 

•  Devoted  lovo  of  country.  +  From  him  learn  virtue  and  life's  truest  work. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NE  W-EN  GL  AKD.  ]^g5 

twenty  assemblies  in  which  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  constantly  called  on,  and  cele- 
brated in  their  own  language.  In  these  things  New-England  out^hineth  all  the  colonies  of 
the  English  in  those  goings  down  of  the  sun.  I  know  your  Excellency  will  favour  and 
countenance  their  University,  and  also  the  propagating  of  the  gospel  among  the  natives; 
for  the  interest  of  Christ  in  that  part  of  the  earth  is  much  concerned  in  them.  That  the 
God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh  would  abundantly  replenish  your  Excellency  with  a  suitable 
spirit  for  the  service  to  which  he  hath  called  your  Lordship,  that  he  would  give  your  honour 
a  prosperous  voyage  thither,  and  when  there,  make  your  Excellency  a  rich  blessing  to  that 
people,  and  them  a  rejoicing  to  your  Excellency,  is  the  prayer  of. 

My  Lord,  Your  Excellency's  most  humble  servant, 

^pril  27,  1697.  NaTH.   MaTHER. 


THE  LIFE  OF  HIS  EXCELLENCY  SIR  WILLIM  PHIPS,  MX. 

§  1.  If  sucli  a  renowned  cliymist  as  Quercetanus,  with  a  wliole  tribe 
of  "labourers  in  the  fire,"  since  that  learned  man,  find  it  no  easie  thing  to 
make  the  common  part  of  mankind  believe  that  they  can  take  a  ^)Za?z^  in 
its  more  vigorous  consistence,  and  after  a  due  maceration^  fermentation  and 
separation,  extract  the  salt  of  that  plant,  which,  as  it  were,  in  a  chaos,  invis- 
ibly reserves  i\iQ  form  of  the  whole,  with  its  vital  principle;  and,  that 
keeping  the  salt  in  a  glass  hermetically  sealed,  they  can,  by  applying  a  soft 
fire  to  the  glass,  make  the  vegetable  rise  by  little  and  little  out  of  its  ashes^ 
to  surprize  the  spectators  with  a  notable  illustration  of  that  resurrection,  in 
the  faith  whereof  the  Jews,  returning  from  the  graves  of  their  friends,  pluck 
up  the  grass  from  the  earth,  using  those  words  of  the  Scripture  thereupon, 
''Your  bones  shall  flourish  like  an  herb:"  'tis  likely,  that  all  the  observa- 
tions of  such  writers  as  the  incomparable  Borellus,  will  find  it  hard  enough 
to  produce  our  belief  that  the  essential  salts  of  animals  may  be  so  prepared 
and  preserved,  that  an  ingenious  man  may  have  the  whole  ark  of  Noah 
in  his  own  study,  and  raise  the  fine  shape  of  an  animal  out  of  its  ashes  at 
his  pleasure:  and  that,  by  the  like  method  from  the  essential  salts  of 
humane  dust,  a  philosopher  may,  without  any  criminal  necromancy,  call  up 
the  shape  of  any  dead  ancestor  from  the  dust  whereinto  his  body  has  been 
incinerated.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  will  be  as  just,  as  great  an  arti- 
cle of  our  creed,  although  the  relations  of  these  learned  men  should  pass 
for  incredible  romances :  but  yet  there  is  an  anticipation  of  that  blessed 
resurrection,  carrjdng  in  it  some  resemblance  of  these  curiosities,  which  is 
performed,'  when  we  do  in  a  hook,  as  in  a  glass,  reserve  the  history  of  our 
departed  friends;  and  by  bringing  our  loarrn  affections  unto  such  an  history, 
we  revive,  as  it  were,  out  of  their  ashes,  the  true  shape  of  those  friends, 
and  bring  to  a  fresh  view  what  was  memorable  and  imitable  in  them. 
Now,  in  as  much  as  mortality  has  done  its  part  upon  a  considerable  person, 
with  whom  I  had  the  honour  to  be  well  acquainted,  and  a  person  as 
memorable  for  the  wonderful  changes  which  befel.him,  as  imitable  for  his 
virtues  and  actions   under  those  changes;    I  shall   endeavour,  with  tlie 


IC)Q  MA  (IN  A  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

chyinidry  of  an  iiiijnirtiul  historian,  to  raific  my  friend  so  far  out  of  his 
ashes,  as  to  shew  him  again  unto  the  world;  and  if  the  character  of  hero- 
ick  virtue  be  for  a  man  to  deserve  well  of  mankind,  and  be  great  in  the 
]uirpose  and  success  of  essays  to  do  so,  I  may  venture  to  promise  my 
reader  such  example  of  hcroick  virtue,  in  the  story  whereto  I  invite  him, 
that  he  shall  say,  it  would  have  been  little  short  of  a  vice  in  me  to  have 
withheld  it  from  him.  Nor  is  it  any  partiality  for  the  memory  of  my 
deceased  friend,  or  any  other  sinister  design  whatsoever,  that  has  invited 
me  to  this  undertaking;  but  I  have  undertaken  this  matter  from  a  sincere 
desire  that  the  ever-glorious  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  have  the  glory  of 
hisjjojav  and  goodness,  and  of  his  providence,  in  what  he  did  for  such  a 
])erson,  and  in  what  he  disposed  and  assisted  that  person  to  do  for  him. 
Now,  may  he  assist  iny  writing,  even  he  that  prepared  the  subject  whereof 
I  am  to  write! 

§  2.  So  obscure  was  the  origincd  of  that  memorable  person,  whose  actions 
I  am  going  to  relate,  that  I  must,  in  a  way  of  writing  like  that  of  Plutarch, 
prepare  my  reader  for  the  intended  relation,  by  first  searching  the  archives 
of  antiquity  for  a  parallel.  Now,  because  we  will  not  parallel  him  with 
Eumenes,  who,  though  he  were  the  son  of  a  poor  carrier,  became  a  gov- 
ernour  of  mighty  provinces;  nor  with  Marius,  whose  mean  parentage  did 
not  hinder  his  becoming  a  glorious  defender  of  his  country,  and  seven 
times  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  chiefest  city  in  the  universe ;  nor  with 
Iphicrates,  who  became  a  successful  and  renowned  general  of  a  great  peo- 
ple, though  his  father  were  a  eobler;  nor  with  Dioclesian,  the  son  of  a 
poor  scrivener;  nor  with  Bonosus,  the  son  of  a  poor  school-master,  who 
yet  came  to  sway  the  scepter  of  the  Koman  empire;  nor,  lastly,  will  I 
compare  him  to  the  more  late  example  of  the  celebrated  Mazarini,  who, 
though  no  gentleman  by  his  extraction,  and  one  so  sorrily  educated  that 
he  might  have  wrote  man  before  he  could  write  at  all;  yet  ascended  unto 
that  grandeur,  in  the  memory  of  many  yet  living,  as  to  umpire  the  most 
important  affairs  of  Christendom:  we  will  decline  looking  any  farther  in 
that  hemisphere  of  the  world,  and  make  the  "hue  and  cry"  througout  the 
regions  of  America,  the  New  World,  which  he  that  is  becoming  the  subject 
of  our  history,  by  his  nativity,  belonged  unto.  And  in  America,  the  first 
that  meets  me  is  Francisco  Pizarro,  who,  though  a  spurious  offsjyriny, 
exposed  when  a  babe  in  a  church-porch,  at  a  sorry  village  of  Navarre, 
and  afterwards  employed  while  he  was  a  boy  in  keeping  of  cattel,  yet,  at 
length,  stealing  into  Anierica,  he  so  thrived  upon  his  adventures  there, 
that  upon  some  discoveries,  which  with  an  handful  of  men  he  had  in  a 
desperate  expedition  made  of  Peru,  he  obtained  the  King  of  Spain's  com- 
mission for  the  conquest  of  it,  and  at  last  so  incredibly  enriched  himself 
by  the  conquest,  that  he  was  made  the  first  Vice-roy  of  Peru,  and  created 
Marquess  of  Anatilla. 

To  the  latter  and  highest  part  of  that  story,  if  any  thing  hindred  his 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  •^Q'j 

Excellency  Sir  William  Phips  from  affording  of  a  parallel,  it  was  not  the 
want  either  of  design,  or  of  courage,  or  of  conduct  in  himself,  but  it  was 
the  fate  of  a  premature  mortality.  For  my  reader  now  being  satisfied  that 
a  person's  being  obscure  in  his  original  is  not  always  a  just  prejudice  to 
an  expectation  of  considerable  matters  from  him,  I  shall  now  inform  him 
that  this  our  Phips  was  born  February  2,  A.  D.  1650,  at  a  despicable 
plantation  on  the  river  of  Kennebeck,  and  almost  the  furthest  village  of 
the  eastern  settlement  of  New-England.  And  as  the  flither  of  that  man 
which  was  as  great  a  blessing  as  England  had  in  the  age  of  that  man  was 
a  smith,  so  a  gun-smith — namely,  James  Phips,  once  of  Bristol — had  the 
honour  of  being  the  father  to  him  whom  we  shall  presently  see  made  by 
the  God  of  Heaven  as  great  a  blessing  to  New-England  as  that  country 
could  have  had,  if  they  themselves  had  pleased.  His  fruitful  mother,  yet 
living,  had  no  less  than  twenty-six  children,  whereof  twenty-one  were 
sons;  but  equivalent  to  them  all  was  William,  one  of  the  youngest,  whom 
his  father,  dying,  left  young  with  his  mother,  and  with  her  he  lived, 
"keeping  of  sheep  in  the  wilderness,"  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old; 
at  which  time  he  began  to  feel  some  further  dispositions  of  mind  from  that 
providence  of  God  which  "took  him  from  the  sheepfolds,  from  following 
the  ewes  great  with  young,  and  brought  him  to  feed  his  people."  Eeader, 
enquire  no  further  who  was  his  father?  Thou  shalt  anon  see  that  he  was, 
as  the  Italians  express  it,  "a  son  to  his  own  labours!" 

§  3.  His  friends  earnestly  solicited  him  to  settle  among  them  in  a  plant- 
ation of  the  east ;  but  he  had  an  unaccountable  impulse  upon  his  mind, 
perswading  him,  as  he  would  privately  hint  unto  some  of  them,  "that  he 
was  born  to  greater  matters."  To  come  at  those  "greater  matters,"  his 
first  contrivance  was  to  bind  himself  an  apprentice  unto  a  ship  carpenter 
for  four  years ;  in  which  time  he  became  a  master  of  the  trade  that  once, 
in  a  vessel  of  more  \hia\  forty  thousand  tuns,  repaired  the  ruins  of  the  earth ; 
Noah's,  I  mean ;  he  then  betook  himself  an  hundred  and  fifty  miles  fur- 
ther a  field,  even  to  Boston,  the  chief  town  of  New-England ;  which  being 
a  place  of  the  most  business  and  resort  in  those  parts  of  the  world,  he 
expected  there  more  commodiously  to  pursue  the  Spes  Afajorum  et  Melio- 
ru7n^ — hopes  which  had  inspired  him.  At  Boston,  where  it  was  that  he 
now  learned  first  of*all  to  read  and  lurite,  he  followed  his  trade  for  about 
a  year ;  and,  by  a  laudable  deportment,  so  recommended  himself,  that  he 
married  a  young  gentlewoman  of  good  repute,  who  was  the  widow  of  one 
Mr.  John  Hull,  a  well-bred  merchant,  but  the  daughter  of  one  Captain 
Roger  Spencer,  a  person  of  good  fashion,  who,  having  suffered  much 
damage  in  his  estate,  by  some  unkind  and  unjust  actions,  which  he  bore 
with  such  patience,  that  for  fear  of  thereby  injuring  the  publick,  he  would 
not  seek  satisfaction,  posterity  might  afterward  see  the  reward  of  his 
patience,  in  what  Providence  hath  now  done  for  one  of  his  own  posterity. 

*  Hopes  of  greater  and  better  things. 


1(58  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

Within  a  little  while  after  his  marriage,  he  indented  with  several  persons 
in  Boston  to  build  them  a  ship  at  Sheeps-coat  Kivcr,  two  or  three  leagues 
eastward  of  Kennebeck;  where  having  launehed  the  ship,  he  also  pro- 
vided a  lading  of  lumber  to  bring  with  him,  which  would  have  been  to 
the  advantage  of  all  concerned.  But  just  as  the  ship  was  hardly  finished, 
the  barbarous  Indians  on  that  river  broke  forth  into  an  open  and  cruel 
Avar  upon  the  English ;  and  the  miserable  people,  surprized  by  so  sudden 
a  stoi-ni  of  blood,  had  no  refuge  from  the  infidels  but  the  ship  now  finish- 
ing in  the  harbour.  Whereupon  he  left  his  intended  lading  behind  him, 
and,  instead  thereof,  carried  with  him  his  old  neighbours  and  their  fami- 
lies, free  of  all  charges  to  Boston;  so  the  first  action  that  he  did,  after  he 
was  his  own  man,  was  to  save  his  father's  house,  with  the  rest  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, from  ruin;  but  the  disappointment  which  befel  him  from  the 
loss  of  his  other  lading^  plunged  his  affairs  into  greater  embarrassments 
with  such  as  had  employed  him. 

§  4.  But  he  was  hitherto  no  more  than  beginning  to  make  scaffolds  for 
further  and  higher  actions!  He  would  frequently  tell  the  gentlewoman 
his  wife  that  he  should  yet  be  captain  of  a  King^s  ship;  that  he  should 
come  to  have  the  command  of  better  men  than  he  was  now  accounted  him- 
self; and  that  he  should  be  owner  of  a  fair  hriclc-house  in  the  Green-lane 
of  North-Boston ;  and  that,  it  may  be,  this  would  not  be  all  that  the  prov- 
itlencc  of  God  would  bring  him  to.  She  entertained  these  passages  with 
a  sufficient  incredulity ;  but  he  had  so  serious  and  positive  an  expectation 
of  them,  that  it  is  not  easie  to  say  what  was  the  original  thereof.  He  was 
of  an  enterprizing  genius,  and  naturally  disdained  littleness:  but  his  dispo- 
sition for  business  was  of  the  Dutch  mould,  where,  with  a  little  shew  of  vjit^ 
there  is  as  much  wisdom  demonstrated,  as  can  be  shewn  by  any  nation. 
His  talent  lay  not  in  the  airs  that  serve  chiefly  for  the  pleasant  and  sud- 
den turns  of  conversation ;  but  he  might  say,  as  Theniistocles,  "Though 
he  could  not  play  upon  a  fiddle,  yet  he  knew  how  to  make  a  little  city 
become  a  great  one."  He  would  prudently  contrive  a  Aveighty  undertaking, 
and  then  patiently  pursue  it  unto  the  end.  He  was  of  an  inclination  cut- 
ting rather  like  a  hatchet  than  like  a  razor;  he  Avould  propose  very  consid- 
erable matters  to  himself,  and  then  so  cut  through  them,  that  no  difficulties 
could  put  by  the  edge  of  his  resolutions.  Being  thu^  of' the  true  temper 
for  doing  of  great  things,  he  betakes  himself  to  the  sea,  the  right  scene  for 
such  things;  and  upon  advice  of  a  Spanish  wreck  about  the  Bahamas,  he 
took  a  voyage  thither;  but  with  little  more  success  than  what  just  served 
him  a  little  to  furnish  him  for  a  voyage  to  England;  whither  he  went  in 
a  vessel,  not  much  unlike  that  which  the  Dutchmen  stamped  on  their  first 
coin,  with  these  words  about  it:  Jnccrium  quo  Fata  ferant.^'  Having  first 
informed  himself  that  there  was  another  Spanish  wreck,  wherein  was  lost 
a  mighty  treasure,  hitherto  undiscovered,  he  had  a  strong  impression  upon 

•  None  can  toll  where  Fate  will  bear  me. 


OK,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  jgQ 

his  mind  tliat  he  must  be  the  discoverer ;  and  he  made  such  representations 
of  his  design  at  White-Hall,  that  by  the  year  1683  he  became  the  cajptain 
of  a  Kimfs  ship,  and  arrived  at  New-England  commander  of  the  Algier- 
Rose,  a  frigot  of  eighteen  guns  and  ninety-live  men. 

§  5.  To  relate  all  the  dangers  through  which  he  passed,  both  by  sea 
and  land,  and  all  the  tiresome  trials  of  his  patience,  as  well  as  of  his  cour- 
age, while  year  after  year  the  most  vexing  accidents  imaginable  delayed 
the  success  of  his  design,  it  would  even  tire  the  patience  of  the  reader: 
for  very  great  was  the  experiment  that  Captain  Phips  made  of  the  Italian 
observation,  "He  that  cannot  suffer  both  good  and  evil,  will  never  come 
to  any  great  preferment."  Wherefore  I  shall  supersede  all  journal  of  his 
voyages  to  and  fro,  with  reciting  one  instance  of  his  conduct,  that  showed 
him  to  be  a  person  of  no  contemptible  capacity.  While  he  was  captain 
of  the  Algier-Rose,  his  men  growing  weary  of  their  unsuccessful  enterprize, 
made  a  mutiny,  wherein  they  approached  him  on  the  quarter-deck,  with 
drawn  swords  in  their  hands,  and  required  him  to  join  with  them  in  run- 
ning away  with  the  ship,  to  drive  a  trade  of  piracy  on  the  South  Seas. 
Captain  Phips,  though  he  had  not  so  much  of  a  weapon  as  an  ox-goad,  or 
a  jaw-bone  in  his  hands,  yet,  like  another  Shamgar  or  Samson,  with  a 
most  undaunted  fortitude,  he  rushed  in  upon  them,  and  with  the  blows 
of  his  bare  hands,  felled  many  of  them,  and  qudled  all  the  rest.  But  this 
is  not  the  instance  which  I  intended:  that  which  I  intend  is,  that  (as  it 
has  been  related  unto  me)  one  day  while  his  frigot  lay  careening,  at  a  des- 
olate Spanish  island,  by  the  side  of  a  rock,  from  whence  they  had  laid  a 
bridge  to  the  shoar,  the  men,  whereof  he  had  about  an  hundred,  went  all 
but  about  eight  or  ten  to  divert  themselves,  as  they  pretended,  in  the 
■woods;  where  they  all  entred  into  an  agreement,  which  they  signed  in  a 
ring,  That  about  seven  o'clock  that  evening  they  would  seize  the  captain, 
and  those  eight  or  ten  which  they  knew  to  be  true  unto  him,  and  leave 
them  to  perish  on  this  island,  and  so  be  gone  away  unto  the  South  Sea  to 
seek  their  fortune.  Will  the  reader  now  imagine  that  Captain  Phips,  having 
advice  of  this  plot  but  about  an  hour  and  half  before  it  was  to  be  put  in 
execution,  yet  within  two  hours  brought  all  these  rogues  down  upon  their 
knees  to  bes:  for  their  lives?  But  so  it  was!  for  these  knaves  considering- 
that  they  should  want  a  carpenter  with  them  in  their  villanous  expedition, 
sent  a  messenger  to  fetch  unto  them  the  carpenter,  who  was  then  at  work 
upon  the  vessel;  and  unto  him  they  shewed  their  articles;  telling  him 
what  he  must  look  for  if  he  did  not  subscribe  among  them.  The  cai-penter 
l)eing  an  honest  fellow,  did  with  much  importunity  prevail  for  one  half 
hour's  time  to  consider  of  the  matter;  and  returning  to  work  upon  the 
vessel,  with  a  spy  by  them  set  upon  him,  he  feigned  himself  taken  with  a 
fit  of  the  cholick,  for  the  relief  whereof  he  suddenly  run  unto  the  captain 
in  the  great  cabbin  for  a  dram;  where,  when  he  came,  his  business  was 
only,  in  brief,  to  tell  the  captain  of  the  horrible  distress  which  he  was 


j^^-Q  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

fallen  into;  but  tlic  captain  bid  him  as  briefly  return  to  the  rogues  in  the 
Avoods,  and  sign  their  articles,  and  leave  him  to  provide  for  the  rest.     The 
carpenter  was  no  sooner  gone  but  Captain  Pliips,  calling  together  the  few 
friends  (it  may  be  seven  or  eight)  that  were  left  him  aboard,  whereof  the 
gunner  was  one,  demanded  of  them,  whether  they  would  stand  by  him 
in  the  extremity  which   he   informed  them  was  now  come   upon   him: 
whereto  they  replied,  "They  would  stand  by  him,  if  he  could  save  them;"' 
and  he  answered,  "By  the  help  of  God  he  did  not  fear  it."     All  their 
provisions  had  been  carried  ashoar  to  a  tent,  made  for  that  purpose  there; 
about  which  they  had  placed  several  great  guns  to  defend  it,  in  case  of 
any  assault  from  Spaniards,  that  might  happen  to  come  that  way.  Where- 
fore Captain  Phips  immediately  ordered  those  guns  to  be  silently  drawned 
and  turned;   and  so  pulling  up  the  bridge,  he  charged  his  great  guns 
aboard,  and  brought  them  to  bear  on  every  side  of  the  tent.     By  this  time 
the  army  of  rebels  comes  out  of  the  woods ;  but  as  they  drew  near  to  the 
tent  of  provisions,  they  saw  such  a  change  of  circumstances,  that  they 
cried  out,  "We  are  betrayed!"     And  they  were  soon  confirmed  in  it,  when 
they  heard  the  captain  with  a  stern  fury  call  to  them,  "Stand  off,  ye 
wretches,  at  your  peril!"     He  quickly  saw  them  cast  into  a  more  than 
ordinary  confusion,  when  they  saw  him  ready  to  fire  his  great  guns  upon 
them,  if  they  offered  one  step  further  than  he  permitted  them:  and  when 
he  had  signified  unto  them  his  resolve  to  abandon  them  unto  all  the  des- 
olation which  they  had  purposed  for  him,  he  caused  the  hridge  to  be  again 
laid,  and  his  men  begun  to  take  the  provisions  aboard.    When  the  wretches 
beheld  Avhat  was  coming  upon  them,  they  fell  to  very  humble  entreaties; 
and  at  last  fell  down  upon  their  knees,  protesting,  "That  they  never  had 
any  thing  against  him,  except  only  his  unwillingness  to  go  away  with  the 
King's  ship  upon  the  South-Sea  design :  but  upon  all  other  accounts,  they 
would  chusc  rather  to  live  and  die  with  him  than  with  any  man  in  the 
world:  however,  since  they  saw  how  much  he  was  dissatisfied  at  it,  they 
would  insist  upon  it  no  more,  and  humbly  begged  his  pardon."     And  when 
he  judged  that  he  had  kept  them  on  their  hnees  long  enough,  he  having 
first  secured  their   arms^   received   them   aboard;   but   he  immediately 
weighed  anchor,  and  arriving  at  Jamaica,  he  turned  them  off.     Now,  with 
a  small  company  of  other  men  he  sailed  from  thence  to  Hispaniola,  where, 
by  the  policy  of  his  address,  he  fished  out  of  a  very  old  Spaniard  (or  Por- 
tuguese) a  little  advice  about  the  true  spot  where  lay  the  wreck  wkich  he 
had  been  hitherto  seeking,  as  unprosperously  as  the  ch3'mists  have  their 
aurisick  stone:  that  it  was  upon  a  reef  of  shoals^  a  few  leagues  to  the  north- 
ward of  Port  de  la  Plata,  upon  Hispaniola,  a  port  so  called,  it  seems,  from 
the  landing  of  some  of  the  shijnvrecked  company,  with  a  boat  full  of  plate, 
saved  out  of  their  sinking  frigot:  nevertheless,  when  he  had  searched  very 
narrowly  the  spot,  whereof  the  old  Spaniard  had  advised  him,  he  had  not 
hitherto  exactly  lit  upon  it.     Such  thorns  did  vex  his  affairs. while  he 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  17]^ 

was  in  the  Eose-frigot;  but  none  of  all  these  things  could  retund  the  edge 
of  his  expectations  to  find  the  ivreck;  with  such  expectations  he  returned 
then  into  England,  that  he  might  there  better  furnish  himself  to  prosecute 
a  nevj  discovery ;  for  though  he  judged  he  might,  by  proceeding  a  little 
further,  have  come  at  the  right  spot;  yet  he  found  his  present  company 
too  ill  a  crew  to  be  confided  in. 

§  6.  So  proper  was  his  behaviour,  that  the  best  noblemen  in  the  king- 
dom now  admitted  him  into  their  conversation ;  but  yet  he  was  opposed 
by  powerful  enemies,  that  clogged  his  affairs  with  such  demurrages,  and 
such  disappointments,  as  would  have  wholly  discouraged  his  designs,  if 
his  patience  had  not  been  invincible.  "He  who  can  wait,  hath  what  he 
desireth."  Thus  his  indefatigable  ^a^i'ence,  with  a  proportionable  diligence, 
at  length  overcame  the  difficulties  that  had  been  thrown  in  his  way ;  and 
prevailing  with  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  and  some  other  persons  of  quality, 
to  fit  him  out,  he  set  sail  for  the  fishing -ground,  which  had  been  so  well 
baited  half  an  hundred  years  before:  and  as  he  had  already  discovered 
his  capacity  for  business  in  many  considerable  actions,  he  now  added  unto 
those  discoveries,  by  not  only  providing  all,  but  also  by  inventing  many 
of  the  instruments  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  his  intended  fisfiery. 
Captain  Phips  arriving  with  a  ship  and  a  tender  at  Port  de  la  Plata,  made 
a  stout  canoo  of  a  stately  cotton-tree,  so  large  as  to  carry  eight  or  ten 
oars,  for  the  making  of  which  periaga  (as  thej  call  it)  he  did,  with  the 
same  industry  that  he  did  every  thing  else,  imploy  his  own  hand  and  adse, 
and  endure  no  little  hardship,  lying  abroad  in  the  woods  many  nights 
together.  This  periaga,  with  the  tender,  being  anchored  at  a  place  con- 
venient, the  periaga  kept  busking  to  and  again,  but  could  only  discover  a 
reef  of  rising  shoals  thereabouts,  called  "The  Boilers," — which,  rising  to 
be  within  two  or  three  foot  of  the  surface  of  the  sea,  were  yet  so  steep, 
that  a  ship  striking  on  them,  would  immediately  sink  down,  who  could 
say  how  many  fathom,  into  the  ocean?  Here  they  could  get  no  other  pay 
for  their  long  peeping  among  the  boilers,  but  only  such  as  caused  them  to 
think  upon  returning  to  their  captain  with  the  bad  news  of  their  total  dis- 
appointment. Nevertheless,  as  they  were  upon  the  return,  one  of  the 
men  looking  over  the  side  of  the  periaga,  into  the  calm  water,  he  spied  a 
sea  feather,  growing,  as  he  judged,  out  of  a  rock;  whereupon  they  bad  one 
of  their  Indians  to  dive,  and  fetch  this  feather,  that  they  might,  however, 
carry  home  something  with  them,  and  make,  at  least,  as  fair  a  triumph  as 
Caligula's.  The  diver  bringing  up  the  feather,  brought  therewithal  a  sur- 
prizing story,  that  he  perceived  a  number  of  great  guns  in  the  ivatery 
v'orld  where  he  had  found  his  feather;  the  repjort  of  which  great  guns 
exceedingly  astonished  the  whole  company;  and  at  once  turned  their  des- 
pondencies for  their  ill  success  into  assurances  that  they  had  now  lit  upon 
the  true  spot  of  ground  which  they  had  been  looking  for;  and. they  were 
further  confirmed  in  these  assurances,  when,  upon  further  diving,  the 


272  MAGNALIA    CHRIST!    AMERICANA; 

Indian  fctcht  up  a  soiv,  as  they  stiled  it,  or  a  lump  of  silver  wortli  perhaps 
two  or  three  hundred  pounds.  Upon  this  they  prudently  buoyed  the  place, 
that  they  might  readily  find  it  again ;  and  they  went  back  unto  their  cap- 
tain, Avhom  for  some  while  they  distressed  with  nothing  but  such  had  news 
as  they  formerly  thought  they  must  have  carried  him:  nevertheless,  they 
so  slipt  in  the  sow  of  silver  on  one  side  under  the  table,  where  they  were 
now  sitting  with  the  captain,  and  hearing  him  express  his  resolutions  to 
wait  still  patiently  upon  the  providence  of  God  under  these  disappoint- 
ments, that  when  he  should  look  on  one  side,  he  might  see  that  odd  thing 
before  him.  At  last  he  saw  it ;  seeing  it,  he  cried  out  with  some  agony, 
"Why!  what  is  this?  whence  comes  this?"  And  then,  with  changed 
countenances,  they  told  him  how  and  where  they  got  it.  "Then,"  said 
he,  "thanks  be  to  God!  we  are  made;"  and  so  away  they  went,  all  hands 
to  work;  wherein  they  had  this  one  further  piece  of  remarkable  prosperity, 
that  whereas  if  they  had  first  fallen  upon  that  part  of  the  Spanish  wreck 
where  the  pieces  of  eight  had  been  stowed  in  bags  among  the  ballast, 
they  had  seen  a  more  laborious,  and  less  enriching  time  of  it :  now,  most 
happil}',  they  first  fell  upon  that  room  in  the  wreck  where  the  bullion 
had  been  stored  up;  and  they  so  prospered  in  this  neio  fishery^  that  in  a 
little  while  they  had,  without  the  loss  of  any  man's  life,  brought  up  thirty- 
two  tuns  of  silver;  for  it  was  now  come  to  measuring  of  silver  by  tuns. 
Besides  which,  one  Adderly,  of  Providence,  who  had  formerly  been  very 
helpful  to  Captain  Phips  in  the  search  of  this  wreck,  did,  upon  former 
agreement,  meet  him  now  with  a  little  vessel  here;  and  he,  with  his  few 
hands,  took  up  about  six  tuns  of  silver;  whereof,  nevertheless,  he  made 
so  little  use,  that  in  a  year  or  two  he  died  at  Bermudas,  and,  as  I  have  heard, 
he  ran  distracted  some  while  before  he  died.  Thus  did  there  once  again 
come  into  the  light  of  the  sun  a  treasure  which  had  been  half  an  hun- 
dred years  groaning  under  the  waters:  and  in  this  time  there  was  grown 
upon  the  plate  a  crust  like  limestone,  to  the  thickness  of  several  inches; 
which  crust  being  broken  open  by  iron  contrived  for  that  purpose,  they 
knocked  out  whole  bushels  of  rusty  pieces  of  eight  which  were  grown 
thereinto.  Besides  that  incredible  treasure  of  plate  in  various  forms, 
thus  fetched  up,  from  seven  or  eight  fathom  under  water,  there  were  vast 
i-iches  of  gold,  and  '^tearh  and  jewels,  which  they  also  lit  upon ;  and,  indeed, 
for  a  more  comprehensive  invoice,  I  must  but  summarily  say,  "All  that  a 
Spanish  frigot  uses  to  be  enriched  withal."  Thus  did  they  continue  yi^Vun^ 
till  their  provisions  failing  them,  'twas  time  to  be  gone;  but  before  they 
went,  Captain  Phips  caused  Adderly  and  his  folk  to  swear,  that  they 
would  none  of  them  discover  the  place  of  the  wreck,  or  come  to  the  place 
any  more  till  the  next  year,  when  he  expected  again  to  be  there  himself. 
And  it  was  also  remarkable,  that  though  the  sows  came  up  still  so  fast, 
that  on  the  very  last  day  of  their  being  there  they  took  up  twenty,  yet  it 
was  afterwards  found,  that  they  had  in  a  manner  wholly  cleared  that  room 
of  the  ship  where  those  massy  tJdngs  were  stowed. 


OE,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ]^Y3 

But  there  was  one  extraordinary  distress  which  Captain  Phips  now 
found  himself  plunged  into:  for  his  men  were  come  out  with  him  upon 
seamen's  wages,  at  so  much  per  month;  and  when  they  saw  such  vast 
litters  of  silver  soios  and  pigs^  as  they  called  them,  come  on  board  them  at 
the  captain's  call,  they  knew  not  how  to  bear  it,  that  they  should  not  share 
all  among  themselves,  and  be  gone  to  lead  "a  short  life  and  a  merry,"  in 
a  climate  where  the  arrest  of  those  that  had  hired  them  should  not  reach 
them.  In  this  terrible  distress  he  made  his  vows  unto  Almighty  God,  that 
if  the  Lord  would  carry  him  safe  home  to  England  with  what  he  had  now 
given  him,  "to  suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas,  and  of  the  treasures  hid 
in  the  sands,"  he  would  for  ever  devote  himself  unto  the  interests  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  of  his  people,  especially  in  the  country  which  he  did 
himself  originally  belong  unto.  And  he  then  used  all  the  obliging  arts 
imaginable  to  make  his  men  true  unto  him,  especially  by  assuring  them 
that,  besides  their  wages,  they  should  have  ample  requitals  made  unto 
them ;  which  if  the  rest  of  his  employers  would  not  agree  unto,  he  would 
himself  distribute  his  own  share  among  them.  Eelying  upon  the  word  of 
one  whom  they  had  ever  found  worthy  of  their  foye,  and  of  their  trust, 
they  declared  themselves  content;  but  still  keeping  a  most  careful  eye  upon 
them,  he  hastened  back  for  England  with  as  much  money  as  he  thought  he 
could  then  safely  trust  his  vessel  withal;  not  counting  it  safe  to  supply 
himself  with  necessary  provisions  at  any  nearer  port,  and  so  return  unto 
the  wreck,  by  which  delays  he  wisely  feared  lest  all  might  be  lost,  more 
ways  than  one.  .Though  he  also  left  so  much  behind  him,  that  many  from 
divers  parts  made  very  considerable  voyages  of  gleanings  after  his  harvest; 
which  came  to  pass  by  certain  Bermudians  compelling  of  Adderly's  boy, 
whom  they  spirited  away  with  them,  to  tell  them  the  exact  place  where  the 
wreck  was  to  be  found.  Captain  Phips  now  coming  up  to  London  in  the 
year  1687,  with  near  three  huiidred  thousand  pounds  sterling  aboard  him,  did 
acquit  himself  with  such  an  exemplary  honesty,  that  partly  by  his  fulfilling 
his  assurances  to  the  seamen,  and  partly  by  his  exact  and  punctual  care  to 
have  his  employers  defrauded  of  nothing  that  might  conscientiously  belong 
unto  them,  he  had  less  than  sixteen  thousand  pounds  left  unto  himself;  as 
an  acknowledgment  of  which  honesty  in  him,  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  made 
unto  his  wife,  whom  he  never  saw,  a  present  of  a  golden  cup,  near  a  thou- 
sand pound  in  value.  The  character  of  an  honest  man  he  had  so  merited  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  life,  and  especially  in  this  last  act  of  it,  that  this, 
in  conjunction  with  his  other  serviceable  qualities,  procured  him  the  favours 
of  the  greatest  persons  in  the  nation;  and  "he  that  had  been  so  diligent 
in  his  business,  must  now  stand  before  Kings,  and  not  stand  before  mean 
men."  There  were  indeed  certain  mean  men — if  base,  little,  dirty  tricks, 
will  entitle  men  to  meanness — who  urged  the  King  to  seize  his  whole  cargo, 
instead  of  the  tenths,  upon  his  first  arrival ;  on  this  pretence,  that  he  had 
not  been  rightly  informed  of  the  true  state  of  the  case  when  he  granted 


174  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

the  patent,  under  the  protection  whereof  these  particular  men  had  made 
themselves  masters  of  all  this  mighty  treasure;  but  the  King  replied,  that 
he  had  been  rightly  informed  by  Captain  Phips  of  the  whole  matter,  as 
it  now  proved;  and  that  it  was  the  slanders  of  one  then  present  which 
had,  imto  his  damage,  hindred  him  from  hearkning  to  the  information ; 
wherefore  he  would  give  them,  he  said,  no  disturbance;  they  might  keep 
what  they  had  had  got;  but  Captain  Phips,  he  saw,  was  a  person  of  that 
honesty,  fidelity  and  ability,  that  he  should  not  want  his  countenance. 
Accordingly  the  King,  in  consideration  of  the  service  done  by  him,  in 
bringing  such  a  treasure  into  the  nation,  conferred  upon  him  the  honour 
of  knighthood;  and  if  we  now  reckon  him  a  hnight  of  the  golden  fleece,  the 
stile  might  pretend  unto  some  circumstances  that  would  justifie  it.  Or 
call  him,  if  you  please,  "the  knight  of  honesty;"  for  it  was  honesty  with 
indn.'itry  that  raised  him;  and  he  became  a  mighty  river,  without  the  run- 
ning in  of  muddy  water  to  make  him  so.  Reader,  now  make  a  pause,  and 
behold  one  raised  hy  God! 

§  7.  I  am  willing  to  employ  the  testimonies  of  others,  as  much  as  may 
be,  to  support  the  credit  of  my  history :  and  therefore,  as  I  have  hitherto 
related  no  more  than  what  there  are  others  enough  to  avouch ;  thus  I  shall 
chuse  the  words  of  an  ingenious  person,  printed  at  London  some  years 
ago,  to  express  the  sum  of  what  remains,  whose  words  are  these : 

"  It  has  always  been  Sir  William  Phips'  disposition  to  seek  the  u-ealth  of  his  people  with 
as  great  zeal  and  unwe.-irii'dnoss,  as  our  publicans  use  to  seek  tlieir  loss  and  ruin.  At  first 
it  seems  they  were  in  hoprs  to  gain  this  gentleman  to  their  party,  as  thinking  him  good- 
natured,  and  easie  to  be  flattered  out  of  his  understanding;  and  the  more,  because  they  had 
the  advantage  of  some  no  very  good  treatment,  that  Sir  William  had  formerly  met  with 
from  the  people  and  government  of  New-England.  But  Sir  William  soon  siiewed  them  that 
what  they  expected  would  be  his  temptation  to  lead  them  into  their  little  tricks,  he  embraced 
as  a  glorious  opportunity  to  shew  his  generosity  and  greatness  of  mind;  for  in  imitation  of 
the  greatest  worthies  that  have  ever  been,  he  rather  chose  to  join  in  the  defence  of  his  coun- 
try, with  some  persons  who  formerly  were  none  of  his  friends,  than  become  the  head  of  a 
/ac^jor?,  to  its  ruin  and  desolation.  It  seems  this  noble  disposition  of  Sir  William,  joined 
with  that  capacity  and  good  success  wherewith  he  hath  been  attended,  in  raising  himself  by 
such  an  occasion  as  it  may  be,  all  things  considered,  has  nexer  happened  to  any  before  him, 
makes  these  men  apprehensive; — and  it  must  needs  heighten  their  trouble  to  see  that  ho 
neither  h.ath,  nor  doth  spare  himself,  nor  any  thing  that  is  near  and  dear  unto  him,  in  pro- 
moting the  good  of  his  native  country." 

When  Sir  William  Phips  was,  ^;er  ardua  et  aspera*  thus  raised  into  an 
higher  orb,  it  might  easily  be  thought  that  he  could  not  be  without  charm- 
ing temptations  to  take  the  way  on  the  left  hand.  But  as  the  grace  of 
God  kept  him,  in  the  midst  of  none  of  the  strictest  company,  unto  which 
his  affairs  daily  led  him,  from  abandoning  himself  to  the  lewd  vices  of 
gaming,  drinking,  swearing,  and  whoring,  which  the  men  "that  made 
England  to  sin"  debauched  so  many  of  the  gentry  into,  and  he  deserved 
the  salutations  of  the  Roman  poet: 

*  Along  steep  and  rugged  paths. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I75 

Cum   Tu,  inter  scaliem  tantam  et  Contagia  Lucri, 
Nil  purvuin  sapias,  et  adhuc  Suhlimia  cures.* 

Thus  he  was  worthy  to  pass  among  the  instances  of  heroick  vertue  for 
that  humility  that  still  adorned  him:  he  was  raised,  and  though  he  pru- 
dently accommodated  himself  to  the  quality  whereto  he  was  now  raised, 
yet  none  could  perceive  him  to  be  lifted  up.  Or,  if  this  were  not  heroic]:, 
yet  I  will  relate  one  thing  more  of  him  that  must  certainly  be  accounted 
so.  He  had,  in  his  own  country  of  New-England,  met  with  provocations 
that  were  enough  to  have  alienated  any  man  living,  that  had  no  more 
than  flesh  and  blood  in  him,  from  the  service  of  it;  and  some  that  were 
enemies  to  that  country  now  lay  hard  at  him  to  join  with  them  in  their 
endeavours  to  ravish  away  their  ancient  liberties.  But  this  gentleman 
had  studied  another  way  to  revenge  himself  upon  his  country,  and  that 
was  to  serve  it,  in  all  its  interests,  with  all  of  his,  even  with  his  estate,  his 
time,  his  care,  his  friends,  and  his  very  life!  The  old  heathen  vertue  of 
PiETAS  IN  PATRIAM,  or,  Lovc  to  one's  country,  he  turned  into  Christian; 
and  so  notably  exemplified  it,  in  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  that  it  will  be  an 
essential  thread  which  is  to  be  now  interwoven  into  all  that  remains  of 
his  history  and  his  character.  Accordingly,  though  he  had  the  offers  of  a 
very  gainful  place  among  the  commissioners  of  the  navy,  with  many  other 
invitations  to  settle  himself  in  England,  nothing  but  a  return  to  New- 
England  would  content  him.  And  whereas  the  charters  of  New-England 
being  taken  away,  there  was  a  governour  imposed  upon  the  territories 
with  as  arbitrary  and  as  treasonahle  a  commission,  perhaps,  as  ever  was 
heard  of — a  commission,  by  which  the  governour,  with  three  or  four 
more,  none  of  whom  were  chosen  by  the  people,  had  power  to  make  what 
laws  they  would,  and  Iqyj  taxes,  according  to  their  own  humours,  upon 
the  people — and  he  himself  had  power  to  send  the  best  men  in  the  land 
more  than  ten  thousand  miles  out  of  it,  as  he  pleased ;  and  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  j^ower,  tlie  country  was  every  day  suffering  intollerable  inva- 
sions upon  their  |;rqp?•^eif^e5,  yea,  and  the  lives  of  the  best  men  in  the 
territory  began  to  be  practised  upon:  Sir  William  Phips  applied  himself 
to  consider  what  was  the  most  significant  thing  that  could  be  done  by 
him  for  that  poor  people  in  their  present  circumstances.  Indeed,  when 
King  James  offered,  as  he  did,  unto  Sir  William  Phips  an  opportunity  to 
ask  what  he  pleased  of  him,  Sir  William  generously  prayed  for  nothing 
but  this,  "That  New-England  might  have  its  lost  priviledges  restored." 
The  King  then  replied,  "  Any  thing  but  that!"  Whereupon  he  set  him- 
self to  consider  what  was  the  next  thing  that  he  might  ask  for  the  service, 
not  of  himself,  but  of  his  country.  The  result  of  his  consideration  was, 
that  by  petition  to  the  King,  he  obtained,  with  expence  of  some  hundreds 
of  guineas,  a  Patent,  which  constituted  him  the  high-sheriff  of  that  country; 

•  That  spreading  leprosy,  the  Ltist  of  Rain,  I        But  wiser  wishes  in  thy  lieart  remain, 

Thy  nobler  spirit  dares  not  to  pollute  ;  |  And  dignify  thy  life's  sublime  pursuit.— HoR. 


■j^-jrg  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

hoping,  by  his  deputies  in  that  office,  to  supply  the  country  still  with 
consciencious  juries,  which  was  the  only  method  that  the  New-Englanders 
had  left  them  to  secure  any  thing  that  was  dear  unto  them.  Furnished 
with  this  patent,  after  he  had,  in  company  with  Sir  John  Narborough, 
made  a  second  visit  unto  the  loreck^  (not  so  advantageous  as  the  former, 
for  a  reason  already  mentioned,)  in  his  way  he  returned  unto  New-Eng- 
land in  the  summer  of  the  year  1688,  able,  after  five  years'  absence, 
to  entertain  his  lady  with  some  accomplishment  of  his  predictions;  and 
then  built  himself  a  "fair  brick  house"  in  the  yqvj place  which  we  fore- 
told, the  reader  can  tell  how  many  sections  ago.  But  the  infamous  gov- 
ernment then  rampant  there,  found  a  way  wholly  to  put  by  the  execution 
of  his  2Kdent;  yea,  he  was  like  to  have  had  his  j)erson  assassinated  in  the 
face  of  the  sun,  before  his  own  door,  which,  with  some  further  designs 
then  in  his  mind,  caused  him  within  a  few  weeks  to  take  another  voyage 
for  England. 

§  8,  It  would  require  a  long  summer's  day  to  relate  the  miseries  which 
were  come,  and  coming  in  upon  poor  New-England,  by  reason  of  the 
arbitrary  government  then  imposed  on  them;  a  government  wherein, 
as  old  Wendover  says  of  the  time,  when  strangers  were  domineering  over 
subjects  in  England,  Judicia  committebantur  I?ijustis,  Leges  Exhgihus,  Pax 
Discordantihus^  Justitia  Injuriosis ;^  oxidi  foxes  were  made  the  administrators 
of  justice  to  the  poidtrey ;  yet  some  abridgment  o^  them  is  necessary  for 
the  better  understanding  of  the  matters  yet  before  us.  Now,  to  make 
this  abridgment  impartial,  I  shall  only  have  recourse  unto  a  little  book, 
printed  at  London,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Revolution  of  New-England 
Justified f  wherein  we  have  a  "narrative  of  the  grievances"  under  the 
maleadministrations  of  that  government,  written  and  signed  by  the  chief 
gentlemen  of  the  governour's  council ;  together  with  the  sworn  testimo- 
nies of  many  good  men,  to  prove  the  several  articles  of  the  declaration, 
which  the  New-Englanders  published  against  their  oppressors.  It  is  in 
that  book  demonstrated : 

"Thiit  the  governour,  neglecting  the  greater  number  of  his  council,  did  adhere  principally 
to  the  advice  of  a  few  strangers,  who  were  persons  without  any  interest  in  the  country,  but 
of  declared  prejudice  against  it,  and  had  plainly  laid  their  designs  to  make  an  unreasonable 
profit  of  the  poor  people:  and  four  or  five  persons  had  the  absolute  rule  over  a  territory, 
the  most  considerable  of  any  belonging  to  the  crown. 

That  when  laws  were  proposed  in  the  council,  though  the  major  part  at  any  time  dissented 
from  them,  yet,  if  the  governour  were  positive,  tliere  was  no  fair  counting  the  number  of 
counsellors  consenting,  or  dissenting,  but  the  laws  were  immediately  engrossed,  published 
and  executed. 

That  this  Junto  made  a  law,  which  prohibited  the  inhabitants  of  any  town  to  meet  about 
their  town  afi'airs  above  once  in  a  year;  for  fear,  you  must  note,  of  their  having  any  oppor- 
tunity to  complain  of  grievances. 

That  they  made  another  law,  requiring  ajl  masters  of  vessels,  even  shallops  and  wood- 
boats,  to  give  security  that  no  man  should  be  transported  in  them,  except  his  name  had  been 
•  Rights  were  entrusted  to  invmlers  of  right— laws  to  the  lawless— peace  to  pence-breakers— and  justice  lo  the  iuijii9t. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I77 

so  many  days  posted  up:  whereby  the  pockets  of  a  few  leeches  had  been  filled  with  /ees, 
but  the  whole  trade  of  the  country  destroyed ;  and  all  attempts  to  obtain  a  redress  of  these 
things  obstructed ;  and  when  this  act  had  been  strenuously  opposed  in  council  at  Boston, 
they  carried  it  as  far  as  New-York,  where  a  crew  of  them  enacted  it. 

That  without  any  assembly,  they  levied  on  the  people  a  p«piny  in  the  pound  of  all  their 
estates,  and  twenty-pence  per  head  as  poll-money,  with  a  penny  in  the  pound  for  goods 
imported,  besides  a  vast  excise  on  wine,  rum,  and  other  liquors. 

That  when  among  the  inhabitants  of  Ipswich,  some  of  the  principal  persons  modestly 
gave  reasons  why  they  could  not  chuse  a  commissioner  to  tax  the  town,  until  the  King 
should  first  be  petitioned  for  the  liberty  of  an  assembly,  they  were  committed  unto  gnol 
for  it,  as  an  "high  misdemeanor,"  and  were  denied  an  habeas  corpus,  and  were  dragged  many 
miles  out  of  their  own  county  to  answer  it  at  a  court  in  Boston;  where  jurors  were  pickt  for 
the  turn,  that  were  not  freeholders — nay,  that  were  meer  sojourners;  and  when  the  prisoners 
pleaded  the  priviledges  of  Englishmen,  "That  they  should  not  be  taxed  without  their  own 
consent;"  they  were  told,  "Thsit  those  things  would  not  follow  them  to  the  ends  of  tlie 
earth;"  as  it  had  been  before  told  them  in  open  council,  no  one  in  the  council  contradicting 
it,  "  You  have  no  more  priviledges  left  you  but  this,  that  you  are  not  bought  and  sold  for 
slaves:"  and,  in  fine,  they  were  all  fined  severely,  and  laid  under  great  bonds  for  their  good 
behaviour;  besides  all  which,  the  hungry  officers  extorted  fees  from  them  that  amounted 
unto  an  hundred  and  threescore  pounds;  whereas  in  England,  upon  the  like  prosecution,  the 
fees  would  not  have  been  ten  pounds  in  all.  After  which  fashion  the  townsmen  of  many 
other  places  were  also  served. 

Tliat  these  men,  giving  out  that  the  charters  being  lost,  all  the  title  that  the  people  had 
unto  their  lands  was  lost  with  them;  they  began  to  compel  the  people  every  where  to  take 
patenls  for  their  lands:  and  accordingly  wrils  of  intrusion  were  issued  out  against  the  chief 
gentlemen  in  the  territory,  by  the  terror  whereof,  many  were  actually  driven  to  petition  for 
patents,  that  they  might  quietly  enjoy  the  lands  that  had  been  fifty  or  sixty  years  in  their 
possession ;  but  for  these  patents  there  were  such  exorbitant  prices  demanded,  that  fifty 
pounds  could  not  purchase  for  its  owner  an  estate  worth  two  hundred,  nor  could  all  the 
money  and  moveables  in  the  territory  have  defrayed  the  charges  of  patenting  the  lands 
at  the  hands  of  these  crocodiles ;  besides  the  considerable  quit-rents  for  the  King.  Yen, 
the  governour  caused  the  lands  of  particular  persons  to  be  measured  out,  and  given  to  his 
creatures:  and  some  of  his  council  petitioned  for  the  commons  belonging  to  several  towns; 
and  the  agents  of  the  towns  going  to  get  a  voluntary  subscription  of  the  inhabitants  to 
maintain  their  title  at  law,  they  have  been  dragged  forty  or  fifty  miles  to  answer  as  criminals 
at  the  next  assizes;  the  officers  in  the  mean  time  extorting  three  pounds  per  man  for 
fetching  them. 

That  if  these  harpies,  at  any  time,  were  a  little  out  of  money,  they  found  ways  to  imprison 
the  best  men  in  the  country;  and  there  appeared  not  the  least  information  of  any  crime 
exhibited  against  them,  yet  they  were  put  unto  intolerable  expences  by  these  greedy 
oppressors,  and  the  benefit  of  an  habeas  corpus  not  allowed  unto  them. 

That  packt  and  pickt  juries  were  commonly  made  use  of  when,  under  a  pretended /o?-?;;  of 
laiv,  the  trouble  of  some  honest  and  worthy  men  was  aimed  at;  and  these  also  were  hurried 
out  of  their  ov;n  counties  to  be  tried,  when  juries  for  the  turn  were  not  like  to  be  foun<l 
there.  The  greatest  rigour  being  used  still  towards  the  soberest  sort  of  people,  whilst  ia 
the  mean  time  the  most  horrid  enormities  in  the  world,  committed  by  others,  were  overlooked. 

That  the  publick  ministry  of  the  gospel,  and  all  schools  of  learning  were  discountenanced 
unto  the  utmost." 

And  several  more  sucli  abominable  things,  too  notorious  to  be  denied, 
even  by  a  Eandolphian  impudence  it  self,  are  in  that  book  proved  against 
that  unhappy  government.     Nor  did  that  most  ancient  set  of  the  Phoeni- 
YoL.  I.— 12 


178  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA;. 

cian  shepherds,  who  scrued  the  government  of  Egypt  into  their  hands,  as 
old  Mancthon  tells  us,  by  their  villanies,  during  the  reigns  of  those  tyrants, 
make  a  shepherd  more  of  an  abomination  to  the  Egyptians  in  all  after 
ages,  than  these  wolves  \inder  the  name  of  shepherds  have  made  the  remem- 
brance of  their  French  government  an  abomination  to  all  posterity  among 
the  New-Englanders:  a  government,  for  which,  now,  reader,  as  fast  as 
thou  wilt,  get  ready  this  epitaph : 

Nulla  qucesita   Scelere  Potentia  diuturna* 

It  was  under  the  resentments  of  these  things  that  Sir  William  Phips 
returned  into  England  in  the  year  1688,  in  which  twice  iconderf id-year  such 
a  revolution  was  wonderfully  accomplished  upon  the  whole  government 
of  the  English  nation,  that  New-England,  which  had  been  a  specimen  of 
what  the  whole  nation  was  to  look  for,  might  justly  hope  for  a  share  in 
the  general  deliverance.  Upon  this  occasion  Sir  William  offered  his  best 
assistances  unto  that  eminent  person  who  a  little  before  this  revolution 
betook  himself  unto  White-Hall,  that  he  migiit  there  lay  hold  on  all 
opportunities  to  procure  some  relief  unto  the  oppressions  of  that  afflicted 
country.  But  seeing  the  New-English  affairs  in  so  able  an  hand,  he 
thought  the  best  stage  of  action  for  him  would  now  be  New-England  it 
self;  and  so  with  certain  instructions  from  none  of  the  least  considerable 
persons  at  White-Hall,  what  service  to  do  for  his  country,  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  1689  he  hastened  back  unto  it.  Before  he  left  London,  a 
messenger  from  the  abdicated  king  tendered  him  the  government  of  New- 
England,  if  he  would  accept  it;  but  as  that  excellent  attorney  general, 
Sir  William  Jones,  when  it  was  proposed  that  the  plantations  might  be 
governed  without  assemhlies,  told  the  King  "that  he  could  no  more  grant 
a  commission  to  levy  money  on  his  subjects  there,  without  their  consent 
by  a'n  assembly,  than  they  could  discharge  themselves  from  their  allegiance 
to  the  English  crown;"  so  Sir  William  Phips  thought  it  his  duty  to 
refuse  a  government  without  an  assembly,  as  a  thing  that  was  treason  in  the 
very  essence  of  it;  and  instead  of  petitioning  the  succeeding  princes,  that 
his  patent  for  high  sheriff  might  be  rendered  effectual,  he  joined  in  peti- 
tions, that  New-England  might  have  its  own  old  patent  so  restored,  as  to 
render  ineffectual  that,  and  all  other  grants  that  might  cut  short  any  of  its 
ancient  priviledges.  But  when  Sir  William  arrived  at  New-England,  he 
found  anew  face  of  things;  for  about  an  hundred  Indians  in  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  countr}^,  had  unaccountably  begun  a  war  upon  the  English  in 
July,  1688,  and  though  the  governour  then  in  the  ivestern  parts  had  imme- 
diate advice  of  it,  yet  he  not  only  delayed  and  neglected  all  that  was 
necessary  for  the  publick  defence,  but  also  when  he  at  last  returned,  he 
manifested  a  most  furious  displeasure  against  those  of  the  council,  and  all 
others  that  had  forwarded  any  one  thing  for  the  security  of  the  jnhabit- 

•  Power  tfbhicved  by  wicked  Buccesaes,  can  never  be  lasting. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  170 

ants;  while  at  the  same  time  he  dispatched  some  of  his  creatures  upon 
secret  errands  unto  Canada,  and  set  at  liberty  some  of  the  most  murder- 
ous Indians  which  the  English  had  seized  upon. 

This  conduct  of  the  governour,  which  is  in  o.  printed  remonstrance  of 
some  of  the  best  gentlemen  in  the  Council  complained  of,  did  extreamly 
dissatisfie  the  suspicions  people;  who  were  doubtless  more  extream  in  some 
of  their  suspicions,  than  there  was  any  real  occasion  for:  but  the  governour 
at  length  raised  an  army  of  a  thousand  English  to  conquer  this  hundred 
Indians;  and  this  army,  whereof  some  of  the  chief  commanders  were 
Papists,  underwent  the  fatigues  of  a  long  and  a  cold  winter,  in  the  most 
Caucasian  regions  of  the  territory,  till,  without  the  killing  of  one  Indian, 
there  were  more  of  the  poor  people  killed  than  they  had  enemies  there 
alive !  This  added  not  a  little  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  people,  and  it 
would  much  more  have  done  so,  if  they  had  seen  what  the  world  had  not 
yet  seen  of  the  suggestions  made  by  the  Irish  Catholicks  unto  the  late  King, 
pubHshed  in  the  year  1691,  in  the  "Account  of  the  state  of  the  Protestants 
in  Ireland,  licensed  by  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,"  whereof  one  article  runs 
in  these  express  terms,  "That  if  any  of  the  Irish  cannot  have  their  lands 
in  specie,  but  money  in  lieu,  some  of  them  may  transport  themselves  into 
America,  possibly  near  New-England,  to  check  the  growing  Indepeyidants 
that  country:"  or  if  they  had  seen  what  was  afterwards  seen  in  a  letter 
from  K.  James  to  his  Holiness  (as  they  stile  his  foolishness)  the  Pope  of 
Rome ;  that  it  was  his  full  piu'pose  to  have  set  up  Roman-Catholick  religion 
in  the  English  plantations  of  America:  though,  after  all,  there  is  cause  to 
think  that  there  was  more  made  of  the  susjncions  then  flying  like  wild-fire 
about  the  country,  than  a  stroiig  charity  would  have  countenanced.  When 
the  people  were  under  these/rights,  they  had  got  by  the  edges  a  little  intima- 
tion of  the  then  Prince  of  Orange's  glorious  undertaking  to  deliver  England 
from  the  feared  evils,  which  were  already^//!  by  New-England;  but  Avhen 
the  person  who  brought  over  a  copy  of  the  Prince's  declaration  was  impris- 
oned for  bringing  into  the  country  a  treasonable  pap)er,  and  the  governour, 
by  his  proclamation,  required  all  persons  to  use  their  utmost  endeavours 
to  hinder  the  landing  of  any  whom  the'  Prince  might  send  thither,  this  put 
them  almost  out  of  patience.  And  one  thing  that  plunged  the  more  con- 
siderate persons  in  the  territory  into  uneasie  thoughts,  was  the  faulty  action 
of  some  soldiers,  who  upon  the  common  suspicions,  deserted  their  stations 
in  the  army,  and  caused  their  friends  to  gather  together  here  and  there  in 
little  bodies,  to  protect  from  the  demands  of  the  governour  their  poor 
children  and  brethren,  whom  they  thought  bound  for  a  bloody  sacrifice; 
and  there  were  also  belonging  to  the  Rose-frigot  some  that  buzzed  sur- 
prising stories  about  Boston,  of  many  mischiefs  to  be  thence  expected. 
Wherefore,  some  of  the  principal  gentlemen  in  Boston,  consulting  what 
was  to  be  done  in  this  extraordinary  juncture,  they  all  agreed  they  would, 
if  it  were  possible,  extinguish  all  essays  in  the  people  towards  an  insurrec- 


^80  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

tion,  in  daily  hopes  of  orders  from  England  for  their  safety :  but  that  if  the 
country  people,  by  any  violent  motions,  pushed  the  matter  on  so  fiir  as  to 
make  a  revolution  unavoidable,  then,  to  prevent  the  shedding  of  blood  by 
an  ungoverned  mobile,  some  of  the  gentlemen  present  should  appear  at 
the  head  of  the  action  with  a  declaration  aecordingly  prepared.  By  the 
eighteenth  of  April,  1689,  things  were  pushed  on  so  far  by  the  people,  that 
certain  persons  first  seized  the  captain  of  the  frigot,  and  the  rumor  thereof 
running  like  lightning  through  Boston,  the  whole  town  was  immediately 
in  arms,  with  the  most  unanimous  resolution  perhaps  that  ever  was  known 
to  have  inspired  any  people.  They  then  seized  those  wretched  men,  who 
by  their  innumerable  extortions  and  abuses  had  made  themselves  the 
objects  of  universal  hatred;  not  giving  over  till  the  governour  himself 
was  become  their  prisoner;  the  whole  action  being  managed  without  the 
least  bloodshed  or  plunder,  and  with  as  much  order  as  ever  attended  any 
tumidf,  it  may  be,  in  the  world.  Thus  did  the  New-Englanders  assert  their 
title  to  the  common  rights  of  Englishmen ;  and  except  the  plantations  are 
willing  to  degenerate  from  the  temper  of  true  Englishmen,  or  except  the 
revolution  of  the  whole  English  nation  be  condemned,  their  action  must  so 
far  be  justified.  On  their  late  oppressors,  now  under  j  ust  confinement,  they 
took  no  other  satisfaction,  but  sent  them  over  unto  White-Hall  for  the  justice 
of  the  King  and  Parliament.  And  when  the  day  for  the  anniversary  elec- 
tion, by  their  vacated  charter,  drew  near,  they  had  many  debates  into  what 
form  they  should  cast  the  government,  which  was  till  then  administred  by 
a  "committee  for  the  conservation  of  the  peace,"  composed  of  gentlemen 
whose  haj:)  it  was  to  appear  in  the  head  of  the  late  action ;  but  their  debates 
issued  in  this  conclusion:  that  the  governour  and  magistrates,  which  were 
in  power  before  the  late  usurpation,  should  resume  their  places,  and  apply 
themselves  unto  the  "conservation  of  the  peace,"  and  put  forth  what  "acts 
of  government"  the  emergencies  might  make  needful  for  them,  and  thus 
to  wait  for  further  directions  from  the  authority  of  England.  So  was  there 
accomplished  a  revolution  which  delivered  New-England  frorti  grievous 
oppressions,  and  which  was  most  graciously  accepted  by  the  King  and 
Queen,  when  it  was  reported  unto  their  Majesties,  But  there  were  new 
matters  for  Sir  William  Phips,  in  a  little  while,  now  to  think  upon. 

§  9.  Behold  the  great  things  which  were  done  by  the  sovereign  God, 
for  a  person  once  as  little  in  his  own  eyes  as  in  other  inen^s.  All  the  returns 
which  he  had  hitherto  made  unto  the  God  of  his  mercies,  were  but  prelimi- 
naries to  what  remain  to  be  related.  It  has  been  the  custom,  in  the  churches 
of  New-England,  still  to  expect  from  such  persons  as  they  admitted  unto 
constant  communion  with  them,  that  they  do  not  only  publickl}'  and 
solemnly  declare  their  consent  unto  the  "Covenant  of  grace,"  and  particu- 
larly to  those  duties  of  it,  wherein  Vi  particular  church-state  is  more  imme- 
diately concerned,  but  also  first  relate  unto  the  pastors,  and  by  them  unto 
the  brethren,  the  special  impressions  which  the  grace  of  God  has  made 


OK,    THE    III  S  TOE  Y    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  281 

upon  tlieir  souls  in  bringing  them  to  this  consent.  Bj  this  custom  and 
caution^  though  they  cannot  keep  hypocrites  from  their  sacred  fellowship, 
yet  they  go  as  far  as  they  can  to  render  and  preserve  themselves  "churches 
of  saints,"  and  they  do  further  very  much  edifie  one  another.  When  Sir 
William  Phips  was  now  returned  unto  his  own  house,  he  began  to  bethink 
himself,  like  David,  concerning  the  house  of  the  God  who  had  surrounded 
him  with  so  many  favours  in  his  oion;  and  accordingly  he  applied  himself 
unto  the  North  Church  in  Boston,  that  with  his  open  profession  of  his  hearty 
subjection  to  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  might  have  the 
ordinances  and  priviledges  of  the  gospel  added  untO  his  other  enjoyments. 
One  thing  that  quickned  his  resolution  to  do  what  might  be  in  this  matter 
expected  from  him,  was  a  passage  which  he  heard  from  a  minister  preach- 
ing on  the  title  of  the  fifty- first  Psalm: 

"To  make  a  publick  and  an  open  profession  of  repentance,  is  a  tiling  not  misbecoming 
the  greatest  man  alive.  It  is  an  honour  to  be  found  among  the  repenting  people  of  God, 
though  they  be  in  circumstances  never  so  full  of  suffering.  A  famous  Knight  going  with 
other  Christians  to  be  crowned  with  martyrdom,  observed  that  his  fellow-sufferers  were  in 
chains,  from  which  the  sacrificers  had,  because  of  his  quality,  excused  him ;  whereupon  he 
demanded,  that  he  might  wear  chains  as  well  as  they.  'For,'  said  he,  'I  would  be  a  Knight 
of  tiiat  order  to.'  There  is  among  ourselves  a  repenting  people  of  God,  who  by  their  con- 
fessions at  their  admissions  to  his  table,  do  signalize  their  being  so;  and  thanks  be  to  God 
that  we  have  so  little  of  suffering  in  our  circumstances.  But  if  any  man  count  himself 
grown  too  big  to  be  a  Knight  of  that  order,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  will  one  day  be 
ashamed  of  that  man !" 

Upon  this  excitation,  Sir  William  Phips  made  his  address  unto  a  Con- 
gregational-church, and  he  had  therein  one  thing  to  propound  unto  himself, 
which  few  persons  of  his  age,  so  well  satisfied  in  infant-baptism  as  he  was, 
have  then  to  ask  for.  Indeed,  in  the  primitive  times,  although  the  lawful- 
ness of  infant-baptism,  or  the  precept  and  pattern  of  Scripture  for  it,  was 
never  so  much  as  once  made  a  question,  yet  we  find  baptism  was  fre- 
quently delayed  by  persons  upon  several  superstitious  and  unreasonable 
accounts,  against  which  we  have  such  fathers  as  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
Gregory  Nyssen,  Basyl,  Chrj^sostom,  Ambrose,  and  others,  employing  a 
variety  of  argument.  But  Sir  William  Phips  had  hitherto  delayed  his 
baptism,  because  the  years  of  his  childhood  were  spent  where  there  was 
no  settled  minister,  and  therefore  he  was  now  not  only  willing  to  attain  a 
good  satisfaction  of  his  own  internal  and  practical  Christianity,  before  his 
receiving  that  mark  thereof,  but  he  was  also  willing  to  receive  it  among 
those  Christians  that  seemed  most  sensible  of  the  honds  which  it  laid  them 
under.  Offering  himself  therefore,  first  unto  the  baptism,  and  then  unto 
the  supper  of  the  Lord,  he  presented  unto  the  pastor  of  the  church,  with 
his  own  hand- writing,  the  following  instrument;  which,  because  of  the 
exemplary  devotion  therein  expressed,  and  the  remarkable  history  which 
it  gives  of  several  occurrences  in  his  life,  I  will  here  faithfully  transcribe 
it,  without  adding  so  much  as  one  word  unto  it 


132  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"The  first  of  CnnVs  making  mo  sensiljle  of  my  sins,  was  in  tiie  yt'-'H"  1674,  by  lu'arinjf 
your  fatlier  preach  concerning,  'The  day  of  trouljle  near.'  It  pleased  Almighty  Gud  to 
smite  me  with  a  deep  scnee  of  my  miserable  condition,  who  had  lived  until  tiien  in  the 
world,  and  had  done  nothing  for  God.  I  did  then  begin  to  think  'what  I  should  do  to  be 
saved?'  and  did  bewail  my  youthful  days,  which  I  had  spent  in  ram;  I  did  think  that  I 
would  begin  to  mind  the  things  of  God.  Being  then  sometime  under  your  father's  ministry, 
much  troubled  with  my  burden,  but  thinking  on  that  scripture,  'Come  unto  me,  you  thi.t 
are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest;'  I  had  some  thoughts  of  drawing  a8 
near  to  the  communion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  I  ct)uld;  but  the  ruins  which  the  Indian  wars 
brougiit  on  my  affairs,  and  the  entanglements  which  my  following  the  sea  laid  upon  me, 
hindred  my  pursuing  the  welfare  of  my  own  soul  as  I  ought  to  have  done.  At  length  God 
was  pleased  to  smile  upon  my  outward  concerns.  The  various  j^rov 'deuces,  both  merciful 
and  afflictive,  which  attended  me  in  my  travels,  were  sanctified  unto  me,  to  make  me  acknowl- 
edge God  in  all  my  ways.  I  have  divers  times  been  in  danger  of  my  life,  and  I  have  b.'en 
brought  to  see  that  I  owe  my  life  to  him  that  has  given  a  life  so  often  to  me:  I  thank  God 
he  hath  brought  me  to  see  my  self  altogetiior  unhappy  without  an  interest  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  close  heartily  with  him,  desiring  him  to  execute  all  his  offices  on  my  behalf. 
I  have  now,  for  some  time,  been  under  serious  resolutions  that  I  would  avoid  whatever  I 
should  know  to  be  displeasing  unto  God,  and  that  I  would  'serve  him  all  the  days  of  ray 
life.'  I  believe  no  man  will  repent  the  service  of  such  a  master.  I  find  my  self  unable  to 
keep  such  resolutions,  but  my  serious  prayers  are  to  the  Most  High,  that  lie  would  enable 
me.  God  iiath  done  so  much  for  me,  that  I  am  sensible  I  owe  my  self  to  him;  'to  him 
would  I  give  my  self,  and  all  that  he  has  given  to  me.'  I  can't  e.xpress  his  mercies  to  me. 
But  as  soon  as  ever  God  had  smiled  upon  me  with  a  turn  of  my  affairs,  I  had  laid  my  self 
under  the  vows  of  tlie  Lord,  'That  I  would  set  my  self  to  serve  his  people  and  churches 
here  unto  tiie  utmost  of  my  capacity.'  Ihave  had  great  offers  made  me  in  England;  but  the 
churches  of  New-England  were  those  which  my  heart  was  most  set  upon.  I  knew  that  if 
God  had  a  people  any  where,  it  was  here:  and  I  resolved  to  rise  and  fall  with  them; 
neglecting  very  great  advant  'ges  for  my  worldly  interest,  that  I  might  come  and  enjoy  the 
ordinances  of  the  Lord  Jesus  here.  It  has  been  my  trouble  that,  since  I  came  home,  I  have 
made  no  more  haste  to  get  into  the  house  of  God,  where  I  desire  to  be:  especially  having 
heard  so  much  about  the  evil  of  that  omission.  I  can  do  little  for  God,  but  I  desire  to  wait 
upon  him  in  his  ordinances,  and  to  live  to  his  honour  and  glory.  My  being  born  in  a  p:<rt 
of  the  country  where  I  had  not  in  my  infancy  enjoyed  the  first  sacrament  of  the  New-Testa- 
ment, has  been  something  of  a  stumbling-block  unto  me.  But  though  I  have  h:id  profers 
of  baptism  elsewhere  made  unto  me,  I  resolved  rather  to  defer  it,  until  I  might  enjoy  it  in 
the  communion  of  these  churches ;  and  I  have  had  awful  impressions  from  those  words  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  Matth.  viii.  38,  'Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me,  and  of  my  words, 
of  him  also  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed.'  When  God  had  blessed  me  with  something 
of  the  world,  1  had  no  trouble  so  great  as  this,  'lest  it  should  not  be  in  mercy;'  and  I  trembled 
at  nothing  mure  than  being  'put  off  with  a  portion  here.'  That  I  may  make  sure  of  better 
things,  I  now  offer  my  self  unto  the  communion  of  this  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Accordingly  on  March  23,  1690,  after  lie  liacl  in  the  congregation  of 
North-Boston  given  himself  up,  "first  unto  the  Lord,  and  then  unto  his 
people,"  he  was  baptized,  and  so  received  into  the  communion  of  the 
faithful  there. 

§  10.  Several  times,  about,  before  and  after  this  time,  did  I  hear  him 
express  himself  unto  this  purpose : 

"I  have  no  need  at  all  to  look  after  any  further  adv.antages  for  my  self  in  this  world;  I 
may  sit  still  at  home,  if  I  will,  and  enjoy  my  case  for  the  rest  of  my  life;  but  I  believe  that 


OR,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  IQ^ 

I  should  offend  God  in  my  doing  so:  for  I  am  now  in  the  prime  of  my  age  and  strength, 
and,  I  thank  God,  I  can  undergo  hurdsliip:  he  only  knows  how  long  I  have  to  live;  but  1 
think  'tis  my  duty  to  venture  my  life  in  doing  of  good,  before  an  useless  old  age  comes 
upon  me:  wherefore  I  will  now  expose  my  self,  while  I  am  able,  and  as  far  as  I  am  able, 
for  the  service  of  my  country:  I  was  born  for  others,  as  well  as  my  self." 

I  say,  many  a  time  have  I  beard  him  so  express  himgelf;  and  agreeable 
to  this  generous  disposition  and  resolution  was  all  the  rest  of  his  life. 
About  this  time  New-England  was  miserably  hr tared  in  the  perplexities  of 
an  Indian  war;  and  the  salvages,  in  the  east  part  of  the  country,  issuing 
out  from  their  inaccessible  swamps,  had  for  many  months  made  tlieir  cruel 
depredations  upon  the  poor  English  planters,  and  surprized  many  of  the 
plantations  on  the  frontiers  into  ruin.  The  New-Englanders  found  that 
while  they  continued  only  on  the  defensive  part,  their  people  were  thinned, 
and  their  treasures  wasted,  without  any  hopes  of  seeing  a  period  put  unto 
the  Indian  tragedies :  nor  could  an  army  greater  than  Xerxes'  have  easily 
come  at  the  seemingly  contemptible  handful  of  taicnies  which  made  all  this 
disturbance;  or  Tamerlain,  the  greatest  conqueror  that  ever  the  world 
saw,  have  made  it  a  business  of  no  trouble  to  have  conquered  them :  they 
found  that  they  were  like  to  make  no  weapons  reach  their  enswamped 
adversaries,  except  Mr.  Milton  could  have  shown  them  how 

To  have  pluckt  up  the  hills  with  all  their  load — 
Rocks,  waters,  woods — and  by  their  shaggy  tops, 
Up-lifting,  bore  them  in  their  hands,  therewith 
The  rebel  host  to  've  over-whelni'd. 

So  it  was  thought  that  the  English  subjects,  in  these  regions  of  America, 
might  very  properly  take  this  occasion  to  make  an  attempt  upon  the 
French,  and  by  reducing  them  under  the  English  government,  put  an 
eternal  period  at  once  unto  all  their  troubles  from  the  Frenchified  pagans. 
This  was  a  motion  urged  by  Sir  William  Phips  unto  the  General  Court 
of  the  Massachuset-colony ;  and  he  then  made  unto  the  court  a  brave  offer 
of  his  own  person  and  estate,  for  the  service  of  the  publick  in  their  pres- 
ent extremity,  as  far  as  they  should  see  cause  to  make  use  thereof. 
Whereupon  they  made  a  first  essay  against  the  French,  by  sending  a  naval 
force,  with  about  seven  hundred  men,  under  the  conduct  of  Sir  William 
Phips,  against  L'Acady  and  Nova  Scotia;  of  which  action  we  shall  give 
only  this  general  and  summary  account:  that  Sir  William  Phips  set  sail 
from  Nantascot,  April  28,  1690,  arriving  at  Port  Roj'al,  May  11,  and  had 
the  fort  quickly  surrendered  into  his  hands  by  the  French  enemy,  who 
despaired  of  holding  out  against  him.  He  then  took  possession  of  that 
province  for  the  English  Crown,  and  having  demolished  the  fort,  and  sent 
away  the  garrison,  administred  unto  the  planters  an  oath  of  allegiance  to 
King  AVilliam  and  Queen  Mary,  he  left  what  order  he  thought  convenient 
for  the  government  of  the  place,  imtil  further  order  should  be  taken  by 
the   governour  and  council  of  the  Massachuset-colony,  unto  whom  he 


IQ^  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

returned  May  30,  with  au  acceptable  account  of  his  expedition,  and  accepted 
a  place  among  the  magistrates  of  that  colony,  to  which  the  freemen  had 
chosen  him  at  their  anniversary  election  two  days  before. 

Thus  the  country,  once  given  by  King  James  the  First  unto  Sir  "William 
Alexander,  was  now  by  another  Sir  William  recovered  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  French,  who  had  afterwards  got  the  possession  of  it ;  and  there  was 
added  unto  the  English  empire  a  territory,  whereof  no  man  can  read  Mon- 
sieur Denys'  ^^Description  Geograijhique  et  Ilistorique  des  Costes  de  V  Artie- 
rique  Sejitetitrionale,"*  but  he  must  reckon  the  conquest  of  a  region  so 
improvable,  for  lumber,  for  fishing,  for  mines,  and  for  furrs,  a  very  con- 
siderable service.  But  if  a  smaller  service  has,  e'er  now,  ever  merited  a 
knighthood.  Sir  William  was  willing  to  repeat  his  merits  by  actions  of 
the  greatest  service  possible : 

Nil  Actum  credens,  si  quid  superesset  agendum.i 

§  11.  The  addition  of  this  French  colony  to  the  English  dominion,  was 
no  more  than  a  little  step  towards  a  greater  action^  which  was  first  in  the 
design  of  Sir  William  Phips,  and  which  was,  indeed,  the  greatest  action 
that  ever  the  New-Englanders  attempted.  There  was  a  time  when  the 
Philistines  had  made  some  inroads  and  assaults  from  the  northward  upon 
the  skirts  of  Goshen,  where  the  Israelites  had  a  residence,  before  tlieir 
coming  out  of  Egypt.  The  Israelites,  and  especially  that  active  colony 
of  the  Ephraimites,  were  willing  to  revenge  these  injuries  upon  their 
wicked  neighbours;  they  presumed  themselves  powerful  and  numerous 
enough  to  encounter  the  Canaanites,  even  in  their  own  country;  and  they 
formed  a  brisk  expedition,  but  came  off  unhappy  losers  in  it ;  the  Jewish 
Eabbins  tell  us,  they  lost  no  less  than  eight  thousand  men.  The  time  was 
not  yet  come;  there  was  more  haste  than  good  speed  in  the  attem])t;  they 
were  not  enough  concerned  for  the  counsel  and  presence  of  God  in  the 
undertaking;  they  mainly  propounded  the  plunder  to  be  got  among  a 
people  whose  trade  was  that  wherewith  beasts  enriched  them;  so  the 
business  miscarried.  This  history  the  Psalmist  going  to  recite  says,  "I 
will  utter  dark  sayings  of  old."  Now,  that  what  befel  Sir  William  Phips, 
with  his  whole  country  of  New-England,  may  not  be  almost  forgotten 
among  "the  dark  sayings  of  old,"  I  will  here  give  the  true  report  of  a 
very  memorable  matter. 

It  was  Canada  that  was  the  chief  source  of  New-England's  miseries. 
There  was  the  main  sti-ength  of  the  French ;  there  the  Indians  were  mostly 
supplied  with  ammunition ;  thence  issued  parties  of  men,  who,  uniting  with 
tlie  salvages,  barbarously  murdered  many  innocent  New-Englanders,  with- 
out any  provocation  on  the  New-English  part,  except  this,  that  New- 
England  had  proclaimed  King  William  and  Q.  Mary,  Avhich  they  said 

•  "Geoginpliionl  niul  riistoricnl  Description  of  tlie  Soa-Coast  of  North  America." 
+  Calling  nothing  done  while  any  thing  remained  to  be  done. 


OE,   THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I35 

were  usurpers;  and  as  Cato  could  make  no^speecli  in  the  senate  without 
that  conclusion,  Delenda  est  Carthago^^  so  it  was  the  general  conclusion  of 
all  that  argued  sensibly  about  the  safety  of  that  country,  "  Canada  must 
be  reduced."  It  then  became  the  concurring  resolution  of  all  New-Eng- 
land, with  New- York,  to  make  a  vigorous  attack  upon  Canada  at  once, 
both  by  sea  and  land. 

And  a  fleet  was  accordingly  fitted  out  from  Boston,  under  the  command 
of  Sir  William  Phips,  to  fall  upon  Quebeque,  the  chief  city  of  Canada. 
They  waited  until  August  for  some  stores  of  war  from  England,  whither 
they  had  sent  for  that  purpose  early  in  the  spring;  but  none  at  last 
arriving,  and  the  season  of  the  year  being  so  far  spent.  Sir  William  could 
not,  without  many  discouragements  upon  his  mind,  proceed  in  a  voyage, 
for  which  he  found  himself  so  poorly  provided.  However,  the  ships 
being  taken  up,  and  the  men  on  board,  his  usual  courage  would  not  permit 
him  to  desist  from  the  enterprize;  but  he  set  sail  from  Hull  near  Boston, 
August  9,  1690,  with  a  fleet  of  thirty-two  ships  and  tenders;  whereof 
one,  called  the  Six  Friends,  carrying  forty-four  great  guns,  and  two  hun- 
dred men,  was  admiral.  Sir  William,  dividing  the  fleet  into  several 
squadrons,  whereof  there  was  the  Six  Friends,  Captain  Gregory  Sugars 
commander,  with  eleven  more  of  the  admiral's  squadron,  of  which  one 
was  also  a  capital  ship,  namely.  The  John  and  Thomas,  Captain  Thomas 
Carter  commander;  of  the  vice-admirals,  the  Swan,  Captain  Thomas  Gil- 
bert commander,  with  nine  more;  of  the  rear-admirals,  the  America-Mer- 
chant, Captain  Joseph  Eldridge  commander,  with  nine  more,  and  above 
twenty  hundred  men  on  board  the  whole  fleet;  he  so  happily  managed 
his  charge,  that  they  every  one  of  them  arrived  safe  at  anchor  before 
Quebeck,  although  they  had  as  dangerous,  and  almost  untrodden  a  path^ 
to  take  im-piloted,  for  the  whole  voyage,  as  ever  any  voyage  was  under- 
taken with.  Some  small  French  prizes  he  took  by  the  way,  and  set  up 
English  colours  upon  the  coast,  here  and  there,  as  he  went  along;  and 
before  the  month  of  August  was  out,  he  had  spent  several  days  as  far 
onward  of  his  voyage  as  between  the  island  of  Antecosta  and  the  Main. 
But  when  they  entred  the  mighty  river  of  Canada,  such  adverse  winds 
encountred  the  fleet,  that  they  were  three  weeks  dispatching  the  way, 
which  might  otherwise  have  been  gone  in  three  days,  and  it  was  the  fifth 
of  October,  when  a  fresh  breeze  coming  up  at  east,  carried  them  along  by 
the  north  shore,  up  to  the  isle  of  Orleans;  and  then  haling  southerly  they 
passed  by  the  east  end  of  that  island,  with  the  whole  fleet  approaching 
the  city  of  Quebeck.  This  loss  of  time,  which  made  it  so  late  before  the 
fleet  could  get  into  the  country,  where  a  cold  and  fierce  winter  was  already 
very  far  advanced,  gave  no  very  good  prospect  of  success  to  the  expedition ; 
but  that  which  gave  a  much  ivorse,  was  a  most  horrid  mismanagement^ 
which  had,  the  mean  while,  happened  in  the  west.     For  a  thousand  Eng- 

*  Carthage  must  be  destroyed. 


1QQ  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

lisli  from  New- York  and  Albany,  and  Connecticut,  with  fifteen  hundred 
Indians,  were  to  have  gone  over-land  m  the  west,  and  fallen  upon  Mount- 
Royal,  while  the  fleet  was  to  visit  Quebeck  in  the  east;  and  no  expedition 
could  have  been  better  laid  than  this,  which  was  thus  contrived.  But  those 
English  companies  in  the  west,  marching  as  far  as  the  great  Lake  that  was 
to  be  passed,  found  their  canoos  not  provided,  according  to  expectation ; 
and  the  Indians  also  were  [how?  God  knows,  and  will  one  day  judge!] 
dissuaded  from  joining  with  the  English;  and  the  army  met  with  such 
discouragements,  that  they  returned. 

Had  this  icestern  army  done  but  so  much  as  continued  at  the  lake,  the 
diversion  thereby  given  to  the  French  quartered  at  Mount-Royal,  would 
have  rendred  the  conquest  of  Quebeck  easie  and  certain ;  but  the  govern- 
our  of  Canada  being  informed  of  the  retreat  made  by  the  western-army, 
had  opportunity,  by  the  cross  winds  that  kept  back  the  fleet,  unhappily 
to  get  the  whole  strength  of  all  the  country  into  the  city  before  the  fleet 
could  come  up  unto  it.  However,  none  of  these  difficulties  hindred  Sir 
William  Phips  from  sending  on  shear  the  following  summons,  on  Monday 
the  sixth  of  October: 

"  Sir  William  Phips,  Knight,  General  and  Commander  in  Chief,  in  and  over  their  Majesties^ 
Forces  of  New-England,  iy  Sea  and  Land,  to  Count  Frontenac ,  Lieutennni-Gcnernl  and 
Governour  for  the  French  King  at  Canada;  or,  in  his  absence,  to  his  Deputy,  or  him  or 
them  in  chief  command  at  Quebeck  : 

"The  war  between  the  crowns  of  England  and  France  doth  not  only  sufficiently  warrant, 
but  the  destruction  made  by  the  French  and  Indians,  under  your  command  and  encourage- 
ment, upon  the  persons  and  estiites  of  their  Majesties'  subjects  of  New-England,  without 
provocation  on  their  part,  hath  put  them  under  the  necessity  of  tliis  expedition,  for  their  ■ 
own  security  and  satisfaction.  And  although  the  cruelties  and  barbarities  used  against 
llicm  liy  the  French  and  Indians  might,  upon  the  present  opportunity,  prompt  unto  a  severe 
'  revenge,  yet,  being  desirous  to  avoid  all  iidiumane  and  unchristian-like  actions,  and  to  pre- 
vent shedding  of  blood  as  much  as  may  be: 

"I,  the  aforesiiid  William  Phips,  Knight,  do  hereby,  in  the  name  and  in  the  behalf  of  their 
most  excellent  Majesties  Willaim  and  Mary,  King  and  Queen  of  England,  Scotland,  France 
and  Ireland,  Defenders  of  the  Faith,  and  by  order  of  their  said  Majesties"  government  of  the 
Massachusit-colony  in  New-England,  demand  a  present  surrender  of  your  forts  and  castles, 
undemolished,  and  the  King's  and  other  stores,  unimbezzled,  with  a  seasonable  delivery  of 
all  captives;  together  with  a  surrender  of  all  your  persons  and  estates  to  my  dispose:  upon 
the  doing  whereof  you  may  expect  mercy  from  me,  as  a  Christian,  according  to  what  shall 
be  found  for  their  ]Majesties'  service  and  the  subjects'  security.  Which  if  you  refuse  forthwith 
to  do,  I  am  come  provided,  and  am  resolved,  by  the  help  of  God,  in  whom  I  trust,  by  force  of 
arms  to  revenge  all  wrongs  and  injuries  oflered,  and  bring  you  under  suT)jection  to  the  crown 
of  England;  and,  when  too  late,  make  you  wish  you  had  accepted  of  the  favour  tendered. 

"  Yoiu-  answer  jtositive  in  an  hour,  returned  by  your  own  trumpet,  with  the  return  of  mine, 
is  required,  upon  the  peril  that  will  ensue." 

The  summons  being  delivered  unto  Count  Frontenac,  his  answer  was: 

"That  Sir  William  Phips  and  those  with  him  were  heivtickx  and  traitors  to  their  King,  and 
■  had  taken  up  with  that  I'sitrper  (he  Prince  of  Orange,  and  had  made  a  revolviion,  which,  if  it 
had  not  been  made,  New-England  and  the  French  had  been  all  one:  and  that  no  other  answer 
was  to  be  expected  from  hiiii  but  what  should  be  from  the  mouth  of  his  camion." 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.    '  lg7 

General  Phips  now  saw  that  it  must  cost  him  dry  hloivs,  and  that  he  must 
roar  his  perswasions  out  of  the  mouths  of  great  guns,  to  make  himself 
master  of  a  city  which  had  certainly  surrendered  it  self  unto  him,  if  he 
had  arrived  but  a  little  sooner,  and  summoned  it  before  the  coming  down 
of  Count  Frontenac  with  all  his  forces,  to  command  the  oppressed  people 
there,  who  would  have  been,  many  of  them,  glader  of  coming  under  the 
English  government.  Wherefore  on  the  seventh  of  October,  the  English, 
that  were  for  the  land  service,  went  on  board  the  idlser  vessels,  in  order 
to  land;  among  which  there  was  a  bark,  wherein  was  Captain  Ephraim 
Savage,  with  sixty  men,  that  ran  a-ground  upon  the  north  shoar,  near  two 
miles  from  Quebeck,  and  could  not  get  off,  but  lay  in  the  same  distress 
that  Scasva  did,  when  the  Britains  poured  in  their  numbers  upon  the  bark 
\^'herein  he,  with  a  few  more  soldiers  of  Coesar's  army  were,  by  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  tide,  left  ashoar:  the  French,  with  Indians,  that  saw  them 
lye  there,  came  near,  and  fired  thick  upon  them,  and  were  bravely  answered; 
and  when  two  or  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  at  last  planted  a  field-piece 
against  the  bark,  while  the  wind  blew  so  hard  that  no  help  could  be  sent 
unto  his  men,  the  general  advanced  so  far  as  to  level  two  or  three  great 
guns  conveniently  enough  to  make  the  assailants  fly;  and  when  the  flood 
came,  the  bark  happily  got  off,  without  the  hurt  of  one  man  aboard.  But 
so  violent  was  the  storm  of  wind  all  this  day,  that  it  was  not  possible  for 
them  to  land  until  the  eighth  of  October:  when  the  English,  counting 
every  hou7-  to  be  a  week  until  they  were  come  to  battel,  vigorously  got 
ashoar,  designing  to  enter  the  east  end  of  the  city.  The  small-pox  had 
got  into  the  fleet,  by  which  distemper  prevailing,  the  number  of  effective 
men  which  now  went  ashoar,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  General 
A^'alley,  did  not  amount  unto  moi'e  than  fourteen  hundred ;  but  four  com- 
panies of  these  were  drawn  out  asfoi'Iorns,  whom,  on  every  side,  the  enemy 
fired  at;  nevertheless, the  English  rushing  with  a  shout  at  once  upon  them, 
caused  them  to  run  as  fast  as  legs  could  carry  them :  so  that  the  whole 
English  army,  expressing  as  much  resolution  as  was  in  Ca?sar's  army, 
■when  they  first  landed  on  Britain,  in  spight  of  all  opposition  from  the 
inhabitants,  marched  on  until  it  was  dark,  having  first  killed  many  of  the 
French,  with  the  loss  of  hnt /our  men  of  their  own;  and  frighted  about 
seven  or  eight  hundred  more  of  the  French  from  an  ambuscado,  where 
they  lay  ready  to  fall  upon  them.  But  some  thought  that  by  staying  in 
the  valley,  fl^iey  took  the  way  never  to  get  over  the  hill:  and  yet  for  them  to 
stay  where  they  were  till  the  smaller  vessels  came  up  the  river  before 
them,  so  far  as  by  their  guns  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  army  in  their 
getting  over,  was  what  the  council  of  \yiir  had  ordered.  But  the  violence 
of  the  weather,  with  the  general's  being  sooner  plunged  into  the  heat  of 
action  than  was  intended,  hindred  the  smaller  vessels  from  attending 
that  order.  And  this  evening  a  French  deserter  coming  to  them,  assured 
them  that  nine  hundred  men  were  on  their  march  from  Quebeck  to  meet 


288  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

tliem,  already  passed  a  little  rivulet  that  lay  at  the  end  of  the  city,  but 
seeing  them  land  so  suddenly,  and  so  valiantly  run  down  those  that 
first  encountered  them,  they  had  retreated:  nevertheless,  that  Count 
Frontenac  was  come  down  to  Quebeck  with  no  fewer  than  thirty  hundred 
men  to  defend  the  city,  having  left  but yz/i'y  soldiers  to  defend  Mount-Eeal, 
because  they  had  understood,  that  the  English  army  on  that  side  were 
gone  back  to  Albany.  Notwithstanding  this  dis-spiriting  information, 
the  common  soldiers  did  with  much  vchemency  beg  and  pray  that  they 
might  be  led  on ;  professing  that  they  had  rather  lose  their  lives  on  the 
spot,  than  fail  of  taking  the  cityj*,  but  the  more  wary  commanders  con- 
sidered how  rash  a  thing  it  would  be  for  about  fourteen  hundred  raw 
men,  tired  with  a  long  voyage,  to  assault  more  than  twice  as  many  expert 
soldiers,  who  were  Oalli  in  suo  sterquilinio,  or  "cocks  growing  on  their 
own  dunghil."  They  were,  in  truth,  now  gotten  into  the  grievous  case 
which  Livy  describes  when  he  says,  Ibi  grave  est  helium  gerere,  uhi  non 
consistendi  aut  procedendi  locus,  quocumque  aspexeris  Hostilia  sunt  omnia;* 
look  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  all  was  full  of  hostile  difficulties.  And, 
indeed,  whatever  popular  clamour  has  been  made  against  any  of  the  com- 
manders, it  is  apparent  that  they  acted  considerately,  in  making  a  p)ause 
upon  what  was  before  them;  and  they  did  a  greater  kindness  to  their 
soldiers  than  they  have  since  been  thanked  for.  But  in  this  time  General 
Phips  and  his  men  of  war,  with  their  canvas  wings,  flew  close  up  unto  the 
west-end  of  the  city,  and  there  he  behaved  himself  with  the  greatest 
bravery  imaginable;  nor  did  the  other  men  of  war  forbear  to  follow  his 
brave  example;  who  never  discovered  himself  more  in  his  element  than 
when,  (as  the  poet  expresseth  it,) 

The  slaughter-breathing  brass  grew  hot,  and  spoke 
In  flames  of  lightning,  and  in  clouds  of  smoke. 

He  lay  within  pistol-shot  of  the  enemies'  cannon,  and  beat  them  from 
thence,  and  very  much  battered  the  town,  having  his  own  ship  shot 
through  in  almost  an  hundred  places  with  four-and-twenty  pounders,  and 
yet  but  one  man  was  killed,  and  only  two  mortally  wounded  aboard  him 
in  this  hot  engagement,  which  continued  the  greatest  part  of  that  night 
and  several  hours  of  the  day  ensuing.  But  wondring  that  he  saw  no 
signed  of  any  effective  action  ashore  at  the  east-end  of  the  city,  he  sent 
that  he  might  know  the  condition  of  the  army  there;  and  received  answer 
that  several  of  the  men  were  so  frozen  in  their  hands  and  feet  as  to  be 
disabled  from  service,  and  others  were  apace  falling  sick  of  the  small-pox. 
Whereupon  he  ordered  them  on  board  immediately  to  refresh  themselves, 
and  he  intended  then  to  have  renewed  his  attack  upon  the  cit}^,  in  the 
method  of  landing  his  men  in  the  face  of  it,  under  the  shelter  of  his  great 
guns;  having  to  that  purpose  provided  also  a  considerable  number  of  well 

•  It  becomes  a  grievous  thing  to  prosecute  a  war,  when  there  is  no  opportunity  either  to  go  forward  or 
draw  buck ;  and  when,  wherever  we  look,  wu  are  confronted  with  signs  of  hostility. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  289 

shaped  wheel-harrows^  each  of  them  carrj'ing  two  Petarraros  apiece,  to 
march  before  the  men,  and  make  the  enemy  fly,  with  as  much  contempt 
as  overwhelmed  the  Philistines,  when  undone  hy  foxes  with  torches  in  their 
tails;  (remembred  in  an  anniversary  diversion  every  April  among  the 
ancient  Eomans,  taught  by  the  Phenicians.) 

While  the  measures  to  be  further  taken  were  debating,  there  was  made 
an  exchange  of  prisoners,  the  English  having  taken  several  of  the  French 
in  divers  actions,  and  the  French  having  in  their  hands  divers  of  the 
English,  whom  the  Indians  had  brought  captives  unto  them.  The  army 
now  on  board  continued  still  resolute  and  courageous,  and  on  fire  for  the 
conquest  of  Quebeck ;  or  if  they  had  missed  of  doing  it  by  storm,  they  knew 
that  they  might,  by  possessing  themselves  of  the  isle  of  Orleans,  in  a  little 
while  have  starved  them  out.  Incredible  damage  they  might  indeed  have 
done  to  the  enemy  before  they  embarked,  but  they  were  willing  to  preserve 
the  more  undefensible  parts  of  the  country  in  such  a  condition  as  might 
more  sensibly  encourage  the  submission  of  the  inhabitants  unto  the  Crown 
of  England,  whose  protection  was  desired  by  so  many  of  them.  And  still 
the}^  were  loth  to  play  for  any  lesser  game  than  the  immediate  surrender 
of  Quebeck  it  self  But  ere  a  full  council  of  war  could  conclude  the  next 
steps  to  be  taken,  a  violent  storm  arose  that  separated  the  fleet,  and  the 
snow  and  the  cold  became  so  extream,  that  they  could  not  continue  in 
those  quarters  any  longer. 

Thus,  by  an  evident  hand  of  Heaven,  sending  one  unavoidable  disaster 
after  another,  as  well-formed  an  enterprize  as  perhaps  was  ever  made  by 
the  New-Englanders,  most  happily  miscarried;  and  General  Phips  under- 
went a  very  mortifying  disappointment  of  a  design  which  his  mind  was, 
as  much  as  ever  any,  set  upon.  He  arrived  November  19,  at  Boston, 
where,  although  he  found  himself,  as  well  as  the  publick,  thrown  into 
very  uyieasie  circumstances,  yet  he  had  this  to  comfort  him,  that  neither 
his  courage  nor  his  conduct  could  reasonably  have  been  taxed ;  nor  could 
it  be  said  that  any  man  could  have  done  more  than  he  did,  under  so  many 
emharassments  of  his  husinesSj  as  he  was  to  light  withal.  He  also  relieved 
the  uneasiness  of  his  mind  by  considering  that  his  voyage  to  Canada 
diverted  from  his  country  an  horrible  tempest  from  an  army  of  Boss-Lojjers, 
which  had  prepared  themselves,  as  'tis  affirmed,  that  winter,  to  fall  upon 
the  Xew-English  colonies,  and,  by  falling  on  them,  would  probably  have 
laid  no  little  part  of  the  country  desolate.  And  he  further  considered 
that,  in  this  matter,  like  Israel  engaging  against  Benjamin,  it  may  be,  we 
saw  yet  but  the  beginning  of  i\\Q  matter:  and  that  the  way  to  Canada  now 
being  learnt,  the  foundation  of  a  victory  over  it  might  be  laid  in  what  had 
been  already  done.  Unto  this  purpose  likewise  he  was  heard  sometimes 
applying  the  remarkable  story  reported  by  Bradwardine: 

"There  was  an  hermit,  who,  being  vexed  with  blaspliemous  injections  about  the  justice 
and  wisdom  of  Divine  Providence,  an  angel  in  humane  shape  invited  him  to  travel  with 


]^9Q  MA  ON  ALIA    enRlSTI    AMERICANA; 

liim, 'that  he  might  see  the  hidden  judjfmonts  of  God.'  Lodging  all  niglit  at  the  house 
of  a  man  who  kindly  entertained  them,  the  angel  took  away  ;v  valuable  eup  from  their  host, 
:it  their  going  away  in  the  morning,  and  bestowed  this  cup  upon  a  very  wicked  man,  with 
whom  they  lodged  the  night  ensuing.  The  third  night  they  were  most  lovingly  treated  at 
the  house  of  a  very  godly  man,  from  whom,  when  they  went  in  the  morning,  the  angel, 
meeting  a  servant  of  his,  threw  him  over  the  bridge  into  the  water,  where  he  was  drowned. 
And  the  fourth,  being  in  like  manner  most  courteously  treated  at  the  house  of  a  very  godly 
man,  the  aufTel  before  morning  did  unaccountably  kill  his  only  child.  The  companion  of 
the  journey  being  wonderfully  offended  at  these  things,  would  have  left  his  guardian:  but 
the  angi'l  tiien  thus  addressed  him:  'Understand  now  the  secret  judgments  of  God!  The 
first  man  that  entertained  us,  did  inordinately  affect  that  cup  which  1  took  from  him;  "twas 
for  the  advantage  of  his  interiour  that  I  took  it  away,  and  I  gave  it  unto  the  impious  man, 
as  the  present  reward  of  his  good  works,  which  is  all  the  reward  lie  is  like  to  have.  As  for 
our  third  host,  the  servant  which  I  slew  had  formed  a  bloody  design  to  have  slain  his  mas- 
ter; but  now,  you  see,  I  have  saved  the  life  of  the  master,  and  prevented  something  of 
rrrowth  unto  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  murderer^  As  for  our  fourth  host,  before  his 
child  was  born  unto  him,  he  was  a  very  liberal  and  bountiful  person,  and  he  did  abundance 
of  good  with  his  estate;  but  when  he  saw  he  was  like  to  leave  such  an  heir,  he  grew  covet- 
ous; wherefore  the  soul  of  the  infjint  is  translated  into  paradise,  but  the  occasion  of  sin  is, 
you  see,  mercifully  taken  away  from  the  parent.'" 

Thus  General  Phips,  though  he  had  been  used  unto  diving  in  his  time, 
•would  say,  "That  the  things  which  had  beflxllen  him  in  this  expedition, 
were  too  deep  to  be  dived  into!" 

§  12.  From  the  time  that  General  Pen  made  his  attempt  upon  Hispaniola, 
with  an  army  that,  like  the  New-English  forces  against  Canada,  miscarried 
after  an  expectation  of  having  little  to  do  but  to  possess  and  pi uitdcr ;  even 
to  this  day,  the  general  disaster  which  hath  attended  almost  every  attempt 
of  the  European  colonies  in  America  to  make  any  considerable  encroach- 
ments upon  their  neighbours,  is  a  matter  of  some  close  reflection.  But  of 
the  disaster  which  now  befel  poor  New-England  in  particular,  every  one 
will  easily  conclude  none  of  the  least  consequences  to  have  been  the  extream 
debts  which  that  country  was  now  plunged  into;  there  hemg  forty  thousana 
pounds,  more  or  less,  now  to  be  paid,  and  not  a  penny  in  the  treasury  to 
pay  it  withal.  In  this  extremity  they  presently  found  out  an  expedient, 
which  may  serve  as  an  example  for  any  people  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
whose  distresses  may  call  for  a  sudden  supply  of  money  to  carry  them 
through  any  important  expedition.  The  general  assembly  first  passed  an 
act  for  the  levying  of  such  a  sum  of  money  as  was  wanted,  within  such  a 
term  of  time  as  was  judged  convenient;  and  this  ad  was  a  fund,  on  which 
the  credit  of  such  a  sum  should  be  rendered  passable  among  the  ])eo})le. 
Hereupon  there  was  appointed  an  able  and  faithful  committee  of  gentletnen, 
who  printed,  from  copper-plates,  a  just  number  of  bills,  and  flourished, 
indented,  and  contrived  them  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  it  impossible 
to  counterfeit  any  of  them,  Avithout  a  speedy  discovery  of  the  counterfeit: 
besides  which,  they  Avere  all  signed  by  the  hands  of  three  belonging  to  that 
committee.     These  bills  being  of  several  sums,  from  two  shillings  to  ten 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  Xg^ 

pounds,  did  confess  the  Massachuset-colony  to  be  endebted  unto  tbe  person 
in  wliose  hands  they  were,  the  sums  therein  expressed;  and  provision 
"was  made,  that  if  any  particular  bills  were  irrecoverably  lost,  or  torn,  or 
worn  by  the  owners,  they  might  be  recruited  without  any  damage  to  the 
whole  in  general.  The  publick  debts  to  the  sailors  and  soldiers^  now  upon 
the  point  of  mutiny^  (for,  Arma  Tenenti^  Omnia  dat,  qui  Jiista  negat!)"^  were 
in  these  bills  paid  immediately :  but  that  further  credit  might  be  given 
thereunto,  it  was  ordered  that  they  should  be  accepted  by  the  treasurer, 
and  all  officers  that  were  subordinate  unto  him,  in  all  publick  payments, 
at  five  per  cent,  more  than  the  value  expressed  in  them.  The  people 
knowing  that  the  tax-act  would,  in  the  space  of  two  years  at  least,  fetch 
into  the  treasury  as  much  as  all  the  bills  of  credit  thence  emitted  would 
amount  unto,  were  willing  to  be  furnished  with  bills,  wherein  it  was  their 
advantage  to  pay  their  taxes,  rather  than  in  any  other  specie ;  and  so  the 
sailors  and  soldiers  put  off  their  bills,  instead  of  money,  to  those  with 
whom  they  had  any  dealings,  and  they  circulated  through  all  the  hands 
m  the  colony  pretty  comfortably.  Had  the  government  been  so  settled, 
that  there  had  not  been  any  doubt  of  any  obstruction,  or  diversion  to  be 
given  to  the  prosecution  of  the  tax-act,  by  a  total  change  of  their  affairs, 
then  depending  at  White-Hall,  'tis  very  certain,  that  the  bills  of  credit 
had  been  better  than  so  much  ready  silver;  yea,  the  invention  had  been 
of  more  use  to  the  New-Englanders,  than  if  all  their  copper  mines  had 
been  opened,  or  the  mountains  of  Peru  had  been  removed  into  these  parts 
of  America.  The  Massachuset  bills  of  credit  had  been  like  the  bank  bills 
of  Venice,  where,  though  there  were  not,  perhaps,  a  ducat  of  money  in  the 
bank,  yet  the  bills  were  esteemed  more  than  twenty  per  cent,  better  than 
money,  among  the  body  of  the  people,  in  all  their  dealings.  But  many 
people  being  afraid  that  the  government  would  in  half  a  year  be  so  over- 
turned as  to  convert  their  bills  of  credit  altogether  into  ivaste  paper ^  the 
credit  of  them  was  thereby  very  much  impaired ;  and  they  who  first  received 
them  could  make  them  yield  little  more  than  fourteen  or  sixteen  shillings 
in  the  pound;  from  whence  there  arose  those  idle  suspicions  in  the  heads 
of  many  more  ignorant  and  unthinking  folks  concerning  the  use  thereof, 
which,  to  the  incredible  detriment  of  the  province,  are  not  wholly  laid  aside 
unto  this  day.  However,  this  method  of  paying  the  publick  debts  did 
no  less  than  save  the  publick  from  a  perfect  ruin :  and  ere  many  months 
were  expired,  the  governour  and  council  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the 
treasurer  burn  before  their  eyes  many  a  thousand  pounds  worth  of  the  bills 
which  had  passed  about  until  they  were  again  returned  unto  the  treasury; 
but  before  their  being  returned,  had  happily  and  honestl}^,  without  a  far- 
thing of  silver  coin,  discharged  the  debts  for  which  they  were  intended. 
But  that  which  helped  these  bills  unto  much  of  their  credit,  was  the  gener- 
ous offer  of  many  worthy  men  in  Boston  to  run  the  risque  of  selling  their 

*  Those  who  refuse  just  indemnity  when  it  is  simply  demanded,  are  ready  to  surrender  every  thing  to  armed  force. 


-j^p2  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

goods  reasonably  for  them;  and  of  these  I  think  I  may  say  that  General 
Phips  was  in  some  sort  the  leader ;  who,  at  the  very  beginning,  meerly  to 
recommend  the  credit  of  the  bills  unto  other  persons,  cheerfully  laid  down 
a  considerable  quantity  of  ready  money  for  an  equivalent  parcel  of  them. 
And  thus  in  a  little  time  the  country  waded  through  the  terrible  debts  which 
it  was  fallen  into:  in  this,  though  unhappy  enough,  yet  not  so  unhappy  as 
in  the  loss  o/meii,  by  which  the  country  was  at  the  same  time  consumed. 
'Tis  true,  there  was  very  little  blood  spilt  in  the  attack  made  upon  Quebeck, 
and  there  was  a  great  hand  of  Heaven  seen  in  it.  The  churches,  upon  the 
call  of  the  government,  not  only  observed  a  general  fast  through  the 
Colony,  for  the  welfare  of  the  army  sent  unto  Quebeck,  but  also  kept  the 
wheel  of  prayer  in  a  continual  motion,  by  repeated  and  successive  agreements 
for  days'  of  prayer  with  fasting  in  their  several  vicinities.  On  these  days 
the  ferventest  prayers  were  sent  up  to  the  God  of  armies,  for  the  safety 
and  success  of  the  New-English  army  gone  to  Canada:  and  though  I  never 
understood  that  any  of  the  faithful  did  in  their  prayers  arise  to  any  assu- 
rance that  the  expedition  should  prosper  in  all  respects^  yet  they  sometimes, 
in  their  devotions  on  these  occasions,  uttered  their  perswasion  that  Almighty 
God  had  heard  them  in  this  thing,  "  that  the  Evglish  army  should  not 
fall  by  the  hands  of  the  French  enemy."  Now  they  were  marvellously 
delivered  from  doing  so;  though  the  enemy  had  such  unexpected  advan- 
tages over  them ;  yea,  and  though  the  horrid  ivinter  was  come  on  so  far, 
that  it  is  a  wonder  the  English  fleet,  then  riding  in  the  river  of  Canada, 
fared  any  better  than  the  army  which  a  while  since  besieged  Poland, 
wherein,  of  seventy  thousand  invaders,  no  less  i\iQ.n  forty  thousand  suddenly 
perished  by  the  severity  of  the  cold^  albeit  it  were  but  the  month  of 
November  with  them.  Nevertheless,  a  kind  of  camp-fever^  as  well  as  the 
small-pox,  got  into  the  fleet,  whereby  some  hundreds  came  short  of  home. 
And  besides  this  calamity,  it  was  also  to  be  lamented  that  although  the 
most  of  the  fleet  arrived  safe  at  New-England,  whereof  some  vessels  indeed 
were  driven  ofl"  by  cross  winds  as  far  as  the  West-Indies  before  such  arrival, 
yet  there  were  three  or  four  vessels  which  totally  miscarried:  one  was  never 
heard  of,  a  second  was  wrecked,  but  most  of  the  men  were  saved  by  another 
in  company ;  a  third  was  wrecked,  so  that  all  the  men  were  either  starved, 
or  drowned,  or  slain  by  the  Indians,  except  one^  which  a  long  while  after 
was  by  means  of  the  French  restored;  and  o.  fourth  met  with  accidents 
which,  it  may  be,  my  reader  will  by  and  by  pronounce  not  unworthy  to 
have  been  related. 

A  brigantinc,  whereof  Captain  John  Rainsford  was  commander,  having 
about  threescore  men  aboard,  was  in  a  very  stormy  night,  October  28, 
1090,  stranded  upon  the  desolate  and  hideous  island  of  Antecosta,  an 
island  in  the  mouth  of  the  mighty  river  of  Canada;  but  through  the 
singular  mercy  of  God  unto  them,  the  vessel  did  not  immediately  stave 
to  pieces,  which,  if  it  had  happened,  they  must  have  one  way  or  another 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ig^ 

quickly  perished.  There  they  lay  for  divers  days,  under  abundance  of 
bitter  weather,  trying  and  hoping  to  get  off  their  vessel ;  and  they  sol- 
emnly set  apart  one  day  for  prayer  with  fasting,  to  obtain  the  smiles  of 
Heaven  upon  them  in  the  midst  of  their  distresses ;  and  this  especially, 
that  if  they  must  go  ashoar,  they  might  not,  by  any  stress  of  storm,  lose 
the  provisions  which  they  were  to  carry  with  them.  They  were  at  last 
convinced  that  they  must  continue  no  longer  on  board,  and  therefore,  by 
the  seventh  of  November,  they  applied  themselves,  all  hands,  to  get  their 
provisions  ashoar  upon  the  dismal  island,  where  they  had  nothing  but  a 
sad  and  cold  winter  before  them ;  which  being  accomplished,  their  vessel 
overset  so  as  to  take  away  from  them  all  expectation  of  getting  off  the 
island  in  it.  Here  they  now  built  themselves  nine  small  chimneyless  things 
that  they  called  houses;  to  this  purpose  employing  such  boai'ds  and  planks 
as  they  could  get  from  their  shattered  vessel,  witli  the  help  of  trees, 
whereof  that  squalid  wilderness  had  enough  to  serve  them;  and  they 
built  a  particular  store-house,  wherein  they  carefully  lodged  and  locked  the 
poor  quantity  of  provisions,  which,  though  scarce  enough  to  serve  a  very 
abstemious  company  for  one  month,  must  now  be  so  stinted  as  to  hold  out 
six  or  seven;  and  the  allowance  agreed  among  them  could  be  no  better 
than  for  one  man,  "two  biskets,  half  a  pound  of  pork,  half  a  pound  of 
flower,  one  pint  and  a  quarter  of  pease,  and  two  salt  fishes  per  week." 
This  little  handful  of  men  were  now  a  sort  of  commomvealth,  extraordi- 
narily and  miserably  separated  from  all  the  rest  of  mankind ;  (but  I  believe 
they  thought  little  enough  of  an  Utopia:)  wherefore  they  consulted,  and 
concluded  such  laws  among  themselves  as  they  judged  necessary  to  their 
subsistence,  in  the  doleful  condition  whereinto  the  providence  of  God  had 
cast  them ;  now 

— Pcnitus  toto  divisos  Orbe,* 

they  set  up  good  orders,  as  well  as  they  could,  among  themselves;  and 
besides  their  daily  devotions,  they  observed  the  Lord's  days  with  more 
solemn  exercises  of  religion. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  they  began  to  feel  the  more  mortal  effects 
of  the  straits  whereinto  they  had  been  reduced:  their  short  commons, 
their  drink  of  snow-water,  their  hard,  and  wet,  and  smoaky  lodgings,  and 
their  grievous  despair  of  mind,  overwhelmed  some  of  them  at  such  a  rate, 
and  so  ham-stringed  them,  that  sooner  than  be  at  the  pains  to  go  abroad, 
and  cut  their  own  fuel,  they  would  We  after  a  sottish  manner  in  the  cold; 
these  things  quickly  brought  sicknesses  among  them.  The  first  of  their 
number  who  died  was  their  doctor,  on  the  20th  of  December;  and  then 
they  dropt  away,  one  after  another,  till  between  thirty  and  forty  of  the 
sixty  were  buried  by  their  disconsolate  friends,  whereof  every  one  looked 
still  to  be  the  next  that  should  lay  his  bones  in  that  forsaken  region. 
These  poor  men  did  therefore,  on  Monday,  the  27th  of  January,  keep  a 

•  Separated  from  the  whole  world. 

Vol.  I.— 13 


"I^p^  M  A  G  N  A  T.  I  A     C  II  E  I S  T I    AMERICANA; 

sacred  fast  (as  they  diil,  in  some  sort,  a  civil  one,  every  day,  all  this  while) 
to  beseech  of  Alrnitrhty  Ood  that  his  anger  miglit  be  turned  from  them,  that 
he  would  not  go  on  to  cut  them  off  in  his  anger,  that  the  extremity  of  the 
season  might  be  mitigated,  and  that  they  might  be  prospered  in  some  essay 
to  f^et  relief  as  the  spring  should  advance  upon  them ;  and  they  took  notice 
that  God  gave  them  a  gracious  answer  to  every  one  of  these  petitions. 

But  while  the  hand  of  God  was  killing  so  many  of  this  little  nation 
(and  yet  uncapable  to  become  a  nation,  for  it  was  Res  unius  yFtatis,  pojju- 
lus  virorum/)*  they  apprehended  that  they  must  have  been  under  a  most 
uncomfortable  necessity  to  kill  one  of  their  compan3^ 

Whatever  penalties  they  enacted  for  other  crimes,  there  was  one  for 
which,  like  that  of  parricide  among  the  antients,  they  would  have  prom- 
ised themselves  that  there  should  not  have  been  occasion  for  any  jj'tnii's/i- 
vients ;  and  that  was  the  crime  of  stealing  from  the  common-stock  of  their 
provisions.  Nevertheless  they  found  their  store-house  divers  times  broken 
open,  and  their  provisions  therefrom  stolen  by  divers  unnatural  children 
of  the  Leviathan,  while  it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  preserve  their 
feeble  store-house  from  the  stone-ivall-hreaking  madness  of  these  unreason- 
able creatures.  This  trade  of  stealing,  if  it  had  not  been  stopped  by  some 
exemplary  severity,  they  must  in  a  little  while,  by  lot  ov  force,  have  come  to 
have  cannihally  devoured  one  another;  for  there  was  nothing  to  be  done, 
either  at  fishing,  or  fowling,  or  hunting,  upon  that  rueful  island,  in  the 
depth  of  a  frozen  winter;  and  though  they  sent  as  far  as  they  could  upon 
discovery,  they  could  not  find  on  the  island  any  living  thing  in  the  world 
besides  themselves.  Wherefore,  though  by  an  act  they  made  stealing  to 
be  so  criminal  that  several  did  run  the  gauntlet  for  it,  yet  they  were  not 
far  from  being  driven,  after  all,  to  make  one  degree  and  instance  of  it 
capital.  There  was  a  wicked  Irishman  among  them,  who  had  such  a  vora- 
cious devil  in  him,  that  after  divers  burglaries  upon  the  store-house,  com- 
mitted by  him,  at  last  he  stole,  and  eat  with  such  apt^Hyj/iajo'/.s  fury,  as  to 
cram  himself  with  no  less  than  eigJdeen  biskets  at  one  stolen  meal,  and  he  was 
fain  to  have  his  belly  stroked  and  bathed  before  the  fire,  lest  he  should  other- 
wise have  burst.  This  amazing,  and  indeed  murderous  villany  of  the  Irish- 
man brought  them  all  to  their  wit's  ends  how  to  defend  themselves  from  the 
ruin  therein  threatened  unto  them;  and  whatever  methods  were  proposed, 
it  was  feared  that  there  could  be  no  stop  given  to  his  furacious  exorbi- 
tancies  any  way  but  one;  he  could  not  be  past  stealing,  unless  he  were  past> 
eating  too.  Some  think  therefore  they  might  have  sentenced  the  wretch 
to  die,  and  after  they  had  been  at  pains,  upon  Christian  and  spiritual 
accounts,  to  prepare  him  for  it,  have  executed  the  sentence  by  shooting 
him  to  death :  concluding  matters  come  to  that  pass,  that  \Uliey  had  not  shot 
him,  he  must  have  starved  them  unavoidably.  Such  an  action,  if  it  were 
done,  will  doubtless  meet  with  no  harder  a  censure,  than  that  of  the  seven 

•  A  conunouwonllli  but  a  single  century  old— yet  a  n:ition  of  heroes. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I95 

Englishmen,  who,  being  in  a  boat  carried  off  to  sea  from  St,  Christophers, 
with  but  one  day's  provision  aboard  for  seventeen,  singled  out  some  of  their 
number  by  lot,  and  slew  them,  and  ate  them;  for  which,  when  they  were 
afterwards  accused  of  murder^  the  court,  in  consideration  of  the  inevitahla 
necessity^  acquitted  them.  Truly  the  inevitable  necessity  of  starving^  without 
such  an  action,  sufficiently  grievous  to  them  all,  will  very  much  plead  for 
what  was  done  (whatever  it  were!)  by  these  -^ioov  A atecostians.  And  starved 
indeed  thej^  must  have  been  for  all  this,  if  they  had  not  contrived  and  per- 
formed a  very  desperate  adventure,  which  now  remains  to  be  related. 
There  v;as  a  very  diminutive  kind  of  boat  belonging  to  their  brigantine, 
which  the}^  recovered  out  of  the  wreck,  and  cutting  this  boat  in  two,  thej 
made  a  shift,  with  certain  odd  materials  preserved  among  them,  to  lengthen 
it  so  far,  that  they  could  form  a  little  cuddy,  \vhere  two  or  three  men  might 
be  stowed,  and  they  set  up  a  little  mast,  whereto  they  fastened  a  little  sail, 
and  accommodated  it  with  some  other  little  circumstances,  according  to 
their  present  poor  capacity. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  five  of  the  company  shipped  themselves 
upon  this  doughty  fly-hoat,  intending,  if  it  were  possible,  to  carry  unto 
Boston  the  tidings  of  their  woeful  plight  upon  Antecosta,  and  by  help 
from  their  friends  there,  to  return  with  seasonable  succours  for  the  rest. 
They  had  not  sailed  long  before  they  were  hemmed  in  by  prodigious 
cakes  of  ice,  whereby  their  boat  sometimes  was  horribly  wounded,  and  it 
was  a  miracle  that  it  was  not  crushed  into  a  thou.sand  pieces,  if  indeed  a 
thousand  pieces  could  have  been  splintered  out  of  so  minute  a  coch-hoat. 
They  kept  labouring,  and  fearfully  weather-beaten,  among  enormous  rands 
of  ice,  which  would  ever  now  and  then  rub  formidably  upon  them,  and 
were  enough  to  have  broken  the  ribs  of  the  strongest  frigot  that  ever  eu-t 
the  seas;  and  yet  the  sigiuxl  hand  of  Heaven  so  preserved  this  petty  boat, 
that  by  the  eleventh  of  A})ril  they  had  got  a  quarter  of  their  way,,  and 
came  to  an  anchor  under  Cape  St.  Lawrence,  having  seen  land  bu^„07jce 
before,  and  that  about  seven  leagues  off,  ever  since  their  first  setting;  out; 
and  vet  having  seen  the  open  and  ocean  sea  not  so  much  as  once  in  all, this 
while,  for  the  ice  that  still  encompassed  them.  For  their  su})port  in.  this 
time,  the  little  provisions  they  brought  with  them  would  not  hav.©'  kept 
them  alive ;  only  they  killed  seale  upon  the  ice,  and  they  mcLtjed:  the 
upper  part  of  the  ice  for  drink ;  but  fierce,  wild,  ugly  sea-ho7\p}s  would 
often  so  approach  them  upon  the  ice,  that  the  fear  of  being  dcvoujred 
by  them  was  not  the  least  of  their  exercises.  The  day  ibllowing, 
they  weighed  anchor  betimes  in  the  morning,  but  the  norwest  winds 
persecuted  them,  with  the  raised  and  raging  waves  of  the  sea,,  which 
almost  continually  poured  into  them ;  and  monstrous  islands  of  ice,  that 
seemed  almost  as  big  as  Antecosta  it  self,  would  ever  now  and  then  come 
athwart  them.  In  such  a  sea  they  lived  by  the  special  assistance  of  God, 
until;  by  the  thirteenth  of  April,  they  got  into  an  island  of  land^  where 


IQQ  MAGNALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

they  made  a  fire,  and  killed  some  fowl  and  some  scale,  and  found  some 
goose-eggs,  and  supplied  themselves  with  what  billets  of  wood  were  neces- 
sary and  carriageable  for  them;  and  there  they  stayed  until  the  seven- 
teenth. Here  their  boat  lying  near  a  rock,  a  great  sea  hove  it  upon  the 
rock,  so  that  it  was  upon  the  very  point  of  oversetling^  which  if  it  had,  she 
had  been  utterly  disabled  for  any  further  service,  and  they  must  have 
called  that  harbour  by  the  name  which,  I  think,  one  a  little  more  north- 
ward bears,  "the  Cape  without  hope."  There  they  must  have  ended  their 
weary  days!  But  here  the  good  hand  of  God  again  interposed  for  them; 
they  got  her  off;  and  though  they  lost  their  compass  in  this  hurry,  they 
sufficiently  repaired  another  defective  one  they  had  aboard.  Sailing  from 
thence,  by  the  twenty -fourth  of  April,  they  made  Cape  Brittoon ;  when  a 
thick  fog  threw  them  into  a  new  perplexity,  until  they  were  safely  gotten 
into  the  Bay  of  Islands,  where  they  again  wooded,  and  watred,  and  killed 
a  few  fowl,  and  catched  some  fish,  and  began  to  reckon  themselves  as  good 
as  half  tcay  home.  They  reached  Cape  Sables  by  the  third  of  May,  but 
by  the  fiflh  all  their  provision  was  again  spent,  and  they  were  out  of  sight 
of  land;  nor  had  they  any  prospect  of  catching  any  thing  that  lives  in 
the  Atlantick:  which,  while  they  were  lamenting  one  unto  another,  a  stout 
halibut  comes  up  to  the  top  of  the  water,  by  their  side;  whereupon  they 
threw  out  the  fishing-line,  and  the  fish  took  the  hook;  but  he  proved  so 
heavy,  that  it  required  the  help  of  several  hands  to  hale  him  in,  and  a 
thankful  supper  they  made  on  it.  By  the  seventh  of  May  seeing  no  land, 
but  having  once  m^ore  spent  all  their  provision,  they  were  again  grown 
almost  wholly  hopeless  of  deliverance,  but  then  a  fishing  shallop  of  Cape 
Ann  came  up  with  them,  fifteen  leagues  to  the  eastward  of  that  cape.  And 
yet  before  they  got  in,  they  had  so  tempestuous  a  night,  that  they  much 
feared  perishing  upon  the  rocks  after  all :  but  God  carried  them  into  Boston 
harbour  the  ninth  of  May,  unto  the  great  surprize  of  their  friends  that  were 
in  mourning  for  them :  and  there  furnishing  themselves  with  a  vessel  fit 
for  their  undertaking,  they  took  a  course  in  a  few  weeks  more  to  fetch 
home  their  brethren  that  they  left  behind  them  at  Antecosta. 

But  it  is  now  time  for  us  to  return  unto  Sir  William! 

§  13.  All  this  while  Canada  was  as  much  written  upon  Sir  William's 
heart  as  Callice,  they  said  once,  was  upon  Queen  Mary's.  He  needed  not 
one  to  have  been  his  daily  monitor  about  Canada;  it  lay  down  with  him, 
it  rose  up  with  him,  it  engrossed  almost  all  his  thoughts;  he  thought  the 
subduing  of  Canada  to  be  the  greatest  service  that  could  be  done  for  New- 
England,  or  for  the  crown  of  England,  iu  America.  In  pursuance  whereof, 
after  he  had  been  but  a  few  Aveeks  at  home,  he  took  another  voyage  for 
England,  in  the  very  depth  of  winter,  when  sailing  was  now  dangerous; 
conflicting  with  all  the  difficulties  of  a  tedious  and  terrible  passage,  in  a  very 
little  vessel,  which  iiideed  was  like  enough  to  have  perished,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  help  of  his  generous  hand  aboard,  and  Ids  fortunes  in  the  bottom. 


OR,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  ^^97 

Arriving— ^;('?-  tot  Discrlrnhut^ — at  Bristol,  he  hastned  up  to  London; 
and  made  his  applications  to  their  Majesties  and  the  principal  Ministers  of 
State  for  assistance  to  renew  an  expedition  against  Canada,  concluding  his 
representation  to  the  King  with  such  words  as  these: 

"If  your  ]\I:ijusty  shall  jri-aciously  please  to  commission  and  assist  me,  I  am  ready  to  ven- 
ture my  life  again  in  your  service.  And  I  doubt  not,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  Canada  may 
be  added  nnto  the  rest  of  your  dominions,  which  will  (all  circumstances  considered)  be  of 
more  advantage  to  tiie  crown  of  England,  than  all  the  territories  in  the  West  Indies  are. 

"  The  Reasons  here  suhjoined,  are  huvilly  offered  unto  your  Majesty's  consideration: 

^^  First,  The  success  of  this  design  will  greatlv  add  to  the  glory  and  interest  of  the  Eng- 
lish crown  and  nation;  by  the  addition  of  the  Bever-trade,  and  securing  the  Hudson's  bay 
company,  some  of  whose  factories  have  lately  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  French;  and 
increase  of  Englisii  shipping  and  seamen,  by  gaining  the  fishery  of  Newfoundland;  and  by 
consequence  diminish  the  number  of  French  seamen,  and  cut  off"  a  great  revenue  from  the 
French  crown. 

"  Secotidly,  The  cause  of  the  English  in  New-England,  their  failing  in  the  late  attempt 
upon  Canada,  was  their  waiting  for  a  supply  of  amnmnition  from  England  until  August; 
their  long  passage  up  that  river;  the  cold  season  coming  on,  and  the  small-pox  and  fevers 
being  in  the  army  and  fleet,  so  that  they  could  not  stay  fourteen  days  longer;  in  which  time 
probably  they  miglit  have  taken  Quebeck ;  yet,  if  a  few  frigots  be  speedily  sent,  they  doubt 
not  of  an  h.ippy  success ;  the  strength  of  the  French  being  small,  and  the  planters  desirous 
to  be  under  the  English  government. 

"  Thirdhj,  The  Jesuites  endeavour  to  seduce  the  Maquas,  and  other  Indians  (as  is  by  them 
affirmed),  suggesting  the  greatness  of  King  Lewis,  and  tiie  inability  of  King  William  to  do 
any  thing  against  the  French  in  those  parts,  thereby  to  engage  them  in  their  interests:  in 
wiiich,  if  they  should  succeed,  not  only  New-England,  but  all  our  American  plantations, 
would  be  endangered  by  the  great  increase  of  shipping,  for  the  French  (built  in  New-England 
at  easie  rates)  to  the  infinite  dishonour  and  prejudice  of  the  English  nation." 

But  now,  for  the  success  of  these  applications,  I  must  entreat  the  patience 
of  my  reader  to  wait  until  we  have  gone  thro'  a  little  more  of  our  history. 

§  1-i.  The  Reverend  Increase  Mather  beholding  his  country  of  New- 
England  in  a  very  deplorable  condition,  under  a  governour  that  acted  by 
an  illegal,  arbitrary,  treasonable  commission,  and  invaded  liberty  and  prop- 
erty after  such  a  manner,  as  that  no  man  could  say  anything  was  his  oion, 
he  did,  with  the  encouragement  of  the  principal  gentlemen  in  the  country, 
but  not  without  much  trouble  and  hazard  unto  his  own  person,  go  over  to 
Whitehall  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1688,  and  wait  upon  King  James, 
with  a  full  representation  of  their  miseries.  That  King  did  give  him  liberty 
of  access  unto  him,  whenever  he  desired  it,  and  with  many  good  ivords 
promised  him  to  relieve  the  oppressed  people  in  many  instances  that  were 
proposed:  but  when  the  revolution  had  brought  the  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Orange  to  the  throne,  Mr.  Mather  having  the  honour  divers  times  to  wait 
u})on  the  King,  he  still  prayed  for  no  less  a  favour  to  New-England,  than 
the  fall  restoration  of  their  charter-priviledges:  and  Sir  William  Phips 

*  After  so  niiiiiy  varielies  of  fortune. 


198  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

happening  to  be  then  in  England,  very  generously  joined  with  ^[r.  Mather 
in  some  of  those  addresses:  whereto  his  ^fajesty's  answers  were  always 
very  expressive  of  his  gracious  inclinations.  Mr.  Mather,  herein  assisted 
also  by  the  Eight  Worshipful  Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  a  most  hearty  friend  of 
all  such  good  men  as  those  that  once  filled  New-England,  solicited  the 
leading  men  of  both  houses  in  the  Convention-Parliament,  until  a  bill  for 
,^-4he  restoring  of  the  charters  belonging  to  New-England,  was  fully  passed 
by  the  Commons  of  England:  but  that  Parliament  being  prorogued,  and 
then  dissolved,  all  that  Sisypha^an  labour  came  to  nothing.  The  disap- 
pointments which  afterwards  most  wonderfully  blasted  all  the  hopes  of 
the  petitioned  restoration,  obliged  Mr.  Mather,  not  without  the  concurrence 
of  other  agents,  now  also  come  from  New-England,  unto  that  method  of 
petitioning  the  King  for  a  new  charter,  that  should  contain  more  than  all  the 
priviledges  of  the  old;  and  Sir  William  Phips,  now  being  again  returned 
into  England,  lent  his  utmost  assistance  hereunto. 

The  King  taking  a  voyage  for  Holland  before  this  petition  was  answered : 
Mr.  Mather,  in  the  meanwhile,  not  only  waited  upon  the  greatest  part  of 
the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  most  honourable  Privy  Council,  offering  them 
a  paper  of  "reasons  for  the  confirmation  of  the  charter-priviledges  granted 
unto  the  Massachuset-colony ;"  but  also  having  the  honour  to  be  introduced 
unto  the  Queen,  he  assured  her  Majesty  that  there  were  none  in  the  world 
better  affected  unto  their  Majesties'  government  than  the  people  of  New- 
England,  who  had  indeed  been  exposed  unto  great  hardships  for  their 
being  so;  and  entreated  that,  since  the  King  had  referred  the  New-English 
affair  unto  the  two  Lord  Chief  Justices,  with  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor 
General,  there  might  be  granted  unto  us  what  they  thought  was  reasonable. 
Whereto  the  Queen  replied,  that  the  request  w^as  reasonable:  and  that  she 
had  sj)oken  divers  times  to  the  King  on  the  behalf  of  New-England;  and 
that  for  her  own  part,  she  desired  that  the  people  there  might  not  meerly 
have  justice,  but  favour  done  to  them.  When  the  King  was  returned, 
Mr.  Mather,  being  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  brought  into  the  King's 
presence  on  April  28,  1691,  humbly  prayed  his  Majesty's  favour  to  New- 
England;  urging,  that  if  their  old  charter-priviledges  might  be  restored 
unto  them,  his  name  would  be  great  in  those  parts  of  the  w^orld  as  long  as 
the  world  should  stand ;  adding, 

"Sir:  Your  subjects  there  have  been  willing  to  venture  their  lives,  that  they  may  enlarge 
your  dominions;  the  expedition  to  Canada  was  a  great  and  noble  undertaking. 

*'^Iay  it  please  your  Majesty,  in  your  great  wisdom  also  to  consider  the  circumstances  of 
that  people,  as  in  your  wisdom  yuu  have  considered  the  circumstances  of  England  and  of 
Scotland.  In  New-England  they  difier  from  other  plantations;  they  are  called  'Congrega- 
tional'  and  'Presbyterian.'  So  that  such  a  governor  will  not  suit  with  the  people  of  New- 
England  as  may  be  very  proper  for  other  English  plantations." 

Two  days  after  this,  the  King,  upon  what  was  proposed  by  certain 
Lords,  was  very  inquisitive,  whether  he  might,  without  breach  of  law, 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  I99 

set  a  governour  over  New-England ;  whereto  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  and 
some  others  of  the  council,  answered,  that  whatever  might  be  the  merit 
of  the  cause,  inasmuch  as  the  charter  of  New-England  stood  vacated  hy 
a  judgment  against  them,  it  was  in  the  King's  power  to  put  them  under 
yvhat  form  of  government  he  should  think  best  for  them. 

The  King  then  said,  "That  he  believed  it  would  be  for  the  advantage 
of  the  people  in  that  colony,  to  be  under  a  governour  appointed  by  him- 
self: nevertheless,  (because  of  what  Mr.  Mather  had  spoken  to  him,)  he 
would  have  the  agents  of  New-England  nominate  a  person  that  should  be 
agreeable  unto  the  inclinations  of  the  people  there:  and  notwithstanding 
this  he  would  have  charter-priviledges  restored  and  confirmed  unto  them." 

The  day  following,  the  King  began  another  voyage  to  Holland;  and 
when  the  attorney  general's  draught  of  a  charter,  according  to  what  he 
took  to  be  his  Majesty's  mind,  as  expressed  in  council,  was  presented  at 
the  council-board,  on  the  eighth  of  June,  some  objections  then  made,  pro- 
cured an  order  to  prepare  mi7iutes  for  another  draught,  which  deprived 
the  New-Englanders  of  several  essential  inlviledges  in  their  other  charter. 
Mr.  Mather  put  in  his  objections,  and  vehemently  protested,  that  he  would 
sooner  part  with  his  life  than  consent  unto  those  minutes^  or  anything  else 
that  should  infringe  any  liberty  or  privilege  of  right  belonging  unto  his 
country:  but  he  was  answered,  that  the  agents  of  New-England  were  not 
plenijjotentiaries  from  another  sovereign  state;  and  that  if  they  would  not 
submit  unto  the  King's  pleasure  in  the  settlement  of  the  country,  they 
must  "take  what  would  follow." 

The  dissatisfactory  minutes  were,  by  Mr.  Mather's  industry,  sent  over 
unto  the  King  in  Flanders;  and  the  ministers  of  state  then  with  the  King 
were  earnestly  applied  unto,  that  every  mistake  about  the  good  settlement 
of  New-England  might  be  prevented;  and  the  Queen  her  self,  with  her 
own  royal  hand,  wrote  unto  the  king  that  the  charter  of  New-England 
might  either  pass  as  it  was  drawn  by  the  attorney  general,  or  be  deferred 
until  his  own  return. 

But  after  all,  his  Majesty's  principal  secretary  of  state  received  a  signi- 
fication of  the  King's  pleasure  that  the  charter  of  New-England  should 
run  in  the  main  points  of  it  as  it  was  now  granted:  only  there  were  sev- 
eral important  articles  which  Mr.  Mather  by  his  unwearied  solicitation 
obtained  afterwards  to  be  inserted. 

There  were  some  now  of  the  opinion,  that  instead  of  submitting  to  this 
new  settlement,  they  should,  in  hopes  of  getting  a  reversion  of  the  judg- 
ment against  the  old  charter,  declare  to  the  ministers  of  state  that  they 
had  rather  have  no  charter  at  all,  than  such  an  one  as  was  now  proposed 
unto  acceptance.  But  Mr.  Mather  advising  with  many  unprejudiced  per- 
sons, and  men  of  the  greatest  abilities  in  the  kingdom,  noblemen,  gentle- 
men, divines  and  lawyers,  the}''  all  agreed  that  it  was  not  only  a  lawful, 
but,  all  circumstances  then  considered,  a  needful  thing,  and  a  part  of  duty 


200  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

and  wisdom  to  accept  what  was  now  offered,  and  that  a  peremptory  refusal 
would  not  only  bring  an  inconveniency,  but  a  fatal  and  perhaps  a  final  ruin 
upon  the  country;  whereof  mankind  would  lay  the  blame  upon  the  agents. 

It  was  argued,  that  such  a  submission  was  no  surrender  of  any  thing: 
that  the  judgment,  not  in  the  court  of  King's-bench,  but  in  chancery  against 
the  old  charter,  standing  on  record,  the  patent  was  thereby  annihilated ; 
that  all  attempts  to  have  the  judgment  against  the  old  charter  taken  olf, 
would  be  altogether  in  vain,  as  men  and  things  were  then  disposed. 

It  was  further  argued,  that  the  ancient  charter  of  New-England  was 
in  the  opinion  of  the  lawyers  very  defective,  as  to  several  poicers,  which 
vet  were  absolutely  necessary  to  the  subsistence  of  the  plantations ;  it  gave 
the  government  there  no  more  power  than  the  corporations  have  in  Eng- 
land; power  in  capital  cases  was  not  therein  particularly  expressed. 

It  mentioned  not  an  house  of  deputies^  or  an  assembly  of  representatives ; 
the  governour  and  company  had  thereby  (they  said)  no  power  to  impose 
taxes  on  the  inhabitants  that  were  not  freemen,  or  to  erect  courts  of  admi- 
ralty. Without  such  powers  the  colon}^  could  not  subsist;  and  yet  the 
best  friends  that  New-England  had  of  persons  most  learned  in  the  law, 
professed,  that  suppose  the  judgment  agaiiist  the  Massachuset-charter  might 
be  reversed,  yet,  if  they  should  again  exert  such  powers  as  they  did  before 
the  Quo  Warranto  against  their  charter,  a  new  writ  of  Scire  Facias  would 
undoubtedly  be  issued  out  against  them. 

It  was  yet  further  argued,  that  if  an  act  of  parliament  should  have 
reversed  the  judgment  against  the  Massachuset-charter,  without  a  grant  of 
some  other  advantages,  the  whole  territory  had  been,  on  many  accounts, 
very  miserably  incommoded:  the  Province  of  Main,  with  Hampshire, 
would  have  been  taken  from  them ;  and  Plymouth  would  have  been 
annexed  unto  New-York;  so  that  this  colony  would  have  been  squeezed 
into  an  atom^  and  not  only  have  been  rendered  insignificant  in  its  trade, 
but  by  having  its  militia  also,  which  was  vested  in  the  King,  taken  away, 
its  insignificancies  would  have  become  out  of  measure  humbling;  whereas 
now,  instead  of  seeing  any  relief  by  act  of  parliament,  they  would  have 
been  put  under  a  governour,  with  a  commission,  whereby  ill  men,  and  the 
King's  and  country's  enemies  might  probably  have  crept  into  opportuni- 
ties to  have  done  ten  thousand  ill  things,  and  have  treated  the  best  men 
in  the  land  after  a  very  uncomfortable  manner. 

It  was  lastly  argued,  that  by  the  new  charter  very  great  privileges  were 
granted  unto  New-England;  and  in  some  respects  greater  than  what  they 
formerly  enjoyed.  The  colony  is  now  made  a  province,  and  their  general 
court  has,  with  the  King's  approbation,  as  much  power  in  New-England, 
as  the  King  and  parliament  have  in  England.  They  have  all  English 
liberties,  and  can  be  touched  by  no  law,  by  no  tax,  but  of  their  own 
making.  All  the  liberties  of  their  holy  religion  are  for  ever  secured,  and 
their  titles  to  their  lands,  once  for  want  of  some  forms  of  legal  convey- 


OK,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  201 

ance,  contested,  are  now  confirmed  unto  them.  If  an  ill  governour  should 
happen  to  be  imposed  on  them,  what  hurt  could  he  do  to  them?  None, 
except  they  themselves  pleased;  for  he  cannot  make  one  counsellor,  one 
judge,  or  one  justice,  or  one  sheriff" to  serve  his  turn :  disadvantages  enough, 
one  would  think,  to  discourage  any  ill  governour  from  desiring  to  be  sta- 
tioned in  those  uneasie  I'cgions.  The  people  have  a  negative  upon  all  the 
executive  part  of  the  civil  government,  as  well  as  the  legislative,  which  is 
a  vast  priviledge,  enjoyed  by  no  other  plantation  in  America,  nor  by  Ire- 
land— no,  nor  hitherto  by  England  it  self  Why  should  all  of  this  good 
be  refused  or  despised,  because  of  somewhat  not  so  good  attendin.?  it? 
The  despisers  of  so  much  good  will  certainly  deserve  a  censure,  not  unlike 
that  of  Causabon,  upon  some  who  did  not  value  what  that  learned  man 
counted  highly  valuable:  Vix  ilUs  opiari  quidquam  pejus  p)otest,  qiiam  ut 
fatuitate  sua  fruantur :* — Much  good  may  do  them  with  their  madness! 
All  this  being  well  considered,  Sir  William  Phips,  who  had  made  so  many 
addresses  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  charter,  under  which  he  had  seen 
his  country  many  years  flourishing,  will  be  excused  by  all  the  world  from 
any  thing  of  a  fault,  in  a  most  unexpected  passage  of  his  life,  which  is 
now  to  be  related. 

Sir  Henry  Ashurst  and  Mr.  Mather,  well  knowing  the  agreeable  dispo- 
sition to  do  good,  and  the  King  and  his  country  service,  which  was  in  Sir 
William  Phips,  whom  they  now  had  with  them,  all  this  while  prosecuting 
his  design  for  Canada,  they  did  unto  the  council-board  nominate  him  for 
the  GOVERNOUR  of  New-Eugland.  And  Mr.  Mather  being  by  the  Earl  of 
Nottingham  introduced  unto  his  Majesty,  said: 

"Sir:  I  do,  in  the  behalf  of  New-Enghmd,  most  humbly  thank  your  Majesty,  in  that 
you  have  been  pleased  by  a  Charter  to  restore  English  Liberties  unto  them,  to  contirm  them 
in  their  properties,  and  to  grant  them  some  peculiar  priviledges.  I  doubt  not,  but  that  your 
subjects  there  will  demean  themselves  with  that  dutiful  affection  and  loyalty  to  your  Majesty, 
us  that  you  will  see  cause  to  enlarge  your  royal  favours  towards  them.  And  I  do  most 
humbly  thank  your  Majesty  in  that  you  have  been  pleased  to  give  leave  unto  those  that  are 
concerned  for  New-England  to  nominate  their  Governour. 

"Sir  William  Phips  has  been  accordingly  nominated  by  us  at  the  Council-Board.  He 
hath  done  a  good  service  for  the  crown,  by  enlarging  your  dominions,  and  reducing  of  Nova 
Scotia  to  your  obedience.  I  know  that  he  will  faithfully  serve  your  Majesty  to  the  utmost 
of  his  capacity;  and  if  your  Majesty  shall  think  fit  to  confirm  him  in  that  place,  it  will  be  a 
further  obligation  on  your  subjects  there." 

The  effects  of  all  this  was,  that  Sir  William  Phips  was  now  invested 
with  a  commission  under  the  King's  broad-seal  to  be  captain-general  and 
governour  in  chief  over  the  province  of  the  Massachuset-bay  in  New-Eng- 
land: nor  do  I  know  a  person  in  the  world  that  could  have  been  proposed 
more  accepta,ble  to  the  body  of  the  people  throughout  New-England,  and 
on  that  score  more  likely  and  able  to  serve  the  King's  interests  among  the 

•  One  could  hardly  wish  them  any  worse  fortune  than  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  own  folly. 


202  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

people  there,  under  the  changes  in  some  things  unacceptable,  now  brought 
upon  them.  He  had  been  a  Gideon,  who  had  more  than  once  ventured 
his  life  to  save  his  country  from  their  enemies:  and  they  now,  with  uni- 
versal satisfaction  said,  "Tiiou  shalt  rule  over  us."  Accordingly,  having 
with  Mr.  Mather  kissed  the  King's  hand  on  January  3d,  1691,  he  hastned 
away  to  his  government;  and  arriving  at  New-England  the  l-lth  of  May 
following,  attended  with  the  Non-such  frigot,  both  of  them  were  welcomed 
with  the  loud  acclamations  of  the  long  shaken  and  shattered  country ,  whereto 
they  were  now  returned  with  a  settlement  so  full  of  happy  priviledges. 

§  15.  Wiien  Titus  Flaminius  had  freed  the  poor  Grecians  from  the 
bondage  which  had-long  oppressed  them,  and  the  herald  ])roclaimed  among 
them  the  articles  of  their  freedom,  they  cried  out,  "  A  saviour!  a  saviour!" 
with  such  loud  acclamations,  that  the  very  birds  fell  down  from  heaven 
astonished  at  the  cry.  Truly,  when  Mr.  Mather  brought  with  him  unto 
the  poor  New-Eiiglandcrs,  not  only  a  charter,  which  though  in  divers 
points  wanting  what  both  he  and  they  had  wished  for,  yet  for  ever  delivers 
them  from  oppressions  on  their  Christian  and  English  liberties,  or  their 
ancient  possessions,  wherein  ruining  writs  of  intrusion  had  begun  to  invade 
them  all,  but  also  a  GOVERNOUR  who  might  call  New-England  his  own 
country,  and  who  was  above  most  men  in  it,  full  of  affection  to  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country;  the  sensible  part  of  the  people  then  caused  the  sence 
of  the  salvations  thus  brought  them  to  reach  as  far  as  heaven  it  self.  The 
various  little  humours  then  working  among  the  people,  did  not  hinder 
the  great  and  general  court  of  the  province  to  appoint  a  day  of  solemn 
Thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  for  "granting"  (as  the  printed  order 
expressed  it)  "a  safe  arrival  to  his  Excellency  our  Governour,  and  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Increase  Mather,  who  have  industriously  endeavoured  the 
service  of  this  people,  and  have  brought  over  with  them  a  settlement  of 
government,  in  which  their  Majesties  have  graciously  given  us  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  their  royal  favour  and  goodness." 

And  as  the  obliged  people  thus  gave  thanks  unto  the  God  of  heaven,  so 
they  sent  an  address  oi"  thanks  unto  their  Majesties,  with  other  letters  of 
titanks  unto  some  chief  ministers  of  state,  for  the  favourable  aspect  herein 
cast  upon  the  province. 

Nor  were  the  people  mistaken,  when  they  promised  themselves  all  the 
kindness  imaginable  from  this  governour,  and  expected,  "  under  his  shadow 
■we  sliall  live  easie  among  the  heathen :"  why  might  they  not  look  for  hal- 
cyon-days, when  they  had  such  a  Kinr/s-Ji^her  for  their  governour? 

Governour  Phips  had,  as  every  raised  and  useful  person  must  have,  his 
envious  enemies;  but  the  palest  envy  of  them  who  turned  their  worst  enmity 
upon  him,  could  not  hinder  them  from  confessing,  "That,  according  to  the 
best  of  his  apprehension,  he  ever  sought  the  good  of  his  country:"  his 
country  quickly  felt  this  on  innumerable  occasions;  and  they  had  it  emi- 
nently demonstrated,  as  well  in  his  promoting  and  approving  the  council's 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  203 

choice  of  good  judges,  justices  and  sheriffs,  which,  being  once  established, 
no  successor  could  remove  them,  as  in  his  urging  the  general  assembly  to 
make  themselves  happy  by  preparing  a  body  of  good  laws  as  fast  as  they 
could,  which  being  passed  by  him  in  his  time,  could  not  be  nulled  by  any 
other  after  him. 

He  would  often  speak  to  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  in  such 
terms  as  these:  "Gentlemen,  you  may  make  your  selves  as  easie  as-  you 
will  for  ever;  consider  what  may  have  any  tendency  to  your  welfare;  and 
you  may  be  sure,  that  whatever  bills  you  offer  to  me,  consistent  with  the 
honour  and  interest  of  the  Crown,  I'll  pass  them  readily;  I  do  but  seek 
opportunities  to  serve  you:  had  it  not  been  for  the  sake  of  this  thing,  I 
had  never  accepted  the  government  of  this  province;  and  whenever  you 
have  settled  such  a  body  of  good  laws,  that  no  person  coming  after  me 
may  make  you  uneasie,  I  shall  desire  not  one  day  longer  to  continue  in 
the  government." — Accordingly  he  ever  passed  every  act  for  the  welfare 
of  the  province  proposed  unto  him ;  and  instead  of  ever  putting  them  upon 
buying  his  assent  unto  any  good  act,  he  was  much  forwarder  to  give  it, 
than  they  were  to  ask  it;  nor  indeed  had  the  hunger  of  a  salary  any  such 
impression  upon  him  as  to  make  him  decline  doing  all  possible  service  for 
the  publick,  while  he  was  not  sure  of  having  any  proportionable  or  hon- 
ourable acknowledgments. 

But  yet  he  minded  the  preservation  of  the  King's  rights  with  as  careful 
and  faithful  a  zeal  as  became  a  good  steward  for  the  crown;  and,  indeed, 
he  studied  nothing  more  than  to  observe  such  a  temper  in  all  things  as 
to  extinguish  what  others  have  gone  to  distinguish — even  the  pernicious 
notion  of  a  separate  interest.  There  was  a  time  when  the  Roman  empire 
was  infested  with  a  vast  number  of  governours,  who  were  infamous  for 
infinite  avarice  and  villany;  and,  referring  to  this  time,  the  apostle  John 
had  a  vision  of  "people  killed  with  the  beasts  of  the  earth." 

But  Sir  William  Phips  was  none  of  those  governours;  wonderfully  con- 
trary to  this  wretchedness  was  the  happiness  of  New-England,  when  they 
had  Governour  Phips,  using  the  tenderness  of  a  flither  towards  the  people; 
and  being  of  the  opinion,  IJitare  magis  esse  Regium  quam  Ditescere^'^  that  it 
was  a  braver  thing  to  enrich  the  people,  than  to  grow  rich  himself  A 
father^  I  said;  and  what  if  I  had  said  an  angel  too?  If  I  should  from 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  from  Theodoret,  and  from  Jerom,  and  others 
among  the  ancients,  as  well  as  from  Calvin,  and  Bucan,  and  Peter  Martyr, 
and  Chemnitius,  and  Bullinger,  and  a  thousand  more  among  the  moderns, 
bring  authorities  for  the  assertion,  "That  each  country  and  province  is 
under  the  special  care  of  some  angel,  by  a  singular  deputation  of  heaven 
assigned  thereunto;  "  I  could  back  them  with  a  far  greater  authority  than 
any  of  them  all.  The  Scripture  it  self  does  plainly  assert  it:  and  hence 
the  most  learned  Grotius,  writing  of  commonwealths,  has  a  passage  to  this 

*  It  is  more  truly  priucely  to  enrich  than  to  be  enriched. 


204: 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


I^urpose:  His  singulis,  suos  AUribidos,  esse  Angelas,  ex  Damete,  magno  con- 
sensii,  et  Jiidcei  et  Christiani  veteres  colligehant.^ 

But  Now-Engl;iiul  had  now,  besides  the  guardian-angel  who  more  invis- 
ibly intended  its  welfare,  a  gouernour  that  beeanie  wonderfully  agreeable 
thereunto,  by  his  whole  imitation  of  sueh  a  guardian-angel.  He  employed 
his  whole  strength  to  guard  his  people  from  all  disasters  which  threatned 
them  either  by  sea  or  land ;  and  it  was  remarked  that  nothing  remarkably 
disastrous  did  befal  that  people  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  to  the  govern- 
ment, until  there  arrived  an  order  for  his  leaving  it:  (except  one  thing 
which  was  begun  before  he  entred  upon  the  government:)  but  instead 
thereof,  the  Indians  were  notably  defeated  in  the  assaults  which  they  now 
made  upon  the  English,  and  several  French  ships  did  also  very  advan- 
tat^eously  fall  into  his  hands;  yea,  there  was  by  his  means  a  peace  restored 
unto  the  province,  that  had  been  divers  years  languishing  under  the  hectic 
leaver  of  a  lingring  war. 

And  there  was  this  one  thing  more  that  rendred  his  government  the 
more  desirable:  that  whereas  'tis  impossible  for  a  meer  man  to  govern 
without  some  error,  whenever  this  governour  was  advised  of  any  error  ia 
any  of  his  administrations,  he  would  immediately  retract  it,  and  revoke  it 
Avith  all  possible  ingenuity ;  so  that  if  any  occasion  of  just  complaint  arose, 
it  was  usually  his  endeavour  that  it  should  not  long  be  complained  of. 

— 0,  falices  nimium,  sua  si  Bona,  norint,  Nov-Angli-i — 

But  having,  in  a,  parenthesis,  newly  intimated  that  his  Excellency,  when 
he  entered  on  his  government,  found  one  thing  that  was  remarkably  dis- 
astrous begun  upon  it;  of  that  one  thing  we  will  now  give  some  account. 

Header,  prepare  to  be  entertained  with  as  prodigious  matters  as  can  be 
])Ut  into  any  history !  And  let  him  that  writes  the  next  Thaumatographia 
Pneumatica,X  allow  to  these  prodigies  the  chief  place  among  the  wonders. 

§  16.  About  the  time  of  our  blessed  Lord's  coming  to  reside  on  earth, 
we  read  of  so  many  "possessed  with  devils,"  that  it  is  commonly  thought 
the  nuinher  of  such  miserable  energumens  was  then  encreased  above  what 
has  been  usual  in  other  ages;  and  the  reason  of  that  increase  has  been 
made  a  matter  of  some  enquiry.  Now,  though  the  devils  might  herein 
design  by  preternatural  operations  to  blast  the  miracles  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  point  they  gained  among  the  blasphemous  Pharisees;  and 
the  devils  might  herein  also  design  a  villanous  imitation  of  what  was  com- 
ing to  pass  in.the  incarnation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  wherein  God  came 
to  dwell  in  flesh;  yet  I  am  not  without  suspicion,  that  there  may  be  some- 
thing further  in  the  conjecture  of  the  learned  Bartholin  us  hereupon,  who 
says.  It  was  Quod  judtei  2)}'i-(^ter  modum,  Artibus  Magicis  dcditi  Vcemonem 

*  That  to  i!»ch  of  these  its  own  Kunrdinn-nnKel  is  assigned,  is  plainly  to  be  inferred  from  the  book  of  Daniel 
accordlhf;  to  tlio  utmiiiinoiiH  jiidRnuMit  of  both  the  Jews  and 'the  Christians  of  the  early  ages, 
t  O  thrlcf-blfH8«-il  Nfw-Knglanilfrs,  if  Ihey  but  understood  their  own  good  fortune! 
J  The  Wondrous  Works  of  the  Spirit. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  205 

Advocaverint — the  Jews,  by  the  frequent  use  of  magical  tricks^  called  in  the 
devils  among  them. 

It  is  very  certain,  there  were  hardly  any  people  in  the  world  grown 
more  fond  of  sorceries  than  that  unhappy  people:  the  Talmuds  tell  us  of 
the  little  parchments  with  words  upon  them,,  which  were  their  common 
amulets,  and  of  the  charms  which  they  muttered  over  ivounds,  and  of  the 
various  enchantments  which  they  used  against  all  sorts  of  disasters  whatso- 
ever. It  is  affirmed  in  the  Talmuds,  that  no  less  than  twenty-four  scholars 
in  one  school  were  killed  by  ivitchcraft;  and  that  no  less  than  fourscore 
persons  were  hanged  for  ivitchcraft  by  one  judge  in  one  day.  The  gloss 
adds  upon  it,  "That  the  women  of  Israel  had  generally  fallen  to  the  prac- 
tice of  witchcrafts;"  and  therefore  it  was  required,  that  there  should  be 
still  chosen  into  the  council  one  skilful  in  the  arts  of  sorcerers,  and  able 
thereby  to  discover  who  might  be  guilty  of  those  black  arts  among  such 
as  were  accused  before  them. 

Now,  the  arrival  of  Sir  William  Phips  to  the  government  of  New-Eng- 
land, was  at  a  time  when  a  governour  would  have  had  occasion  for  all 
the  skill  in  sorcery  tiiat  was  ever  necessary  to  a  Jewish  Counsellor;  a 
time  when  scores  of  poor  people  had  newly  fallen  under  a  prodigious 
possession  ofjlevils,  which  it  was  then  generally  thought  had  been  by 
witchcrafts  introduced.  It  is  to  be  confessed  and  bewailed,  that  many 
inhabitants  of  New-England,  and  young  people  especially,  had  been  led 
away  with  little  sorceries,  wherein  they  "did  secretly  those  things  that 
were  not  right  against  the  Lord  their  God;"  they  would  often  cure  hurts 
with  sjjelb,  and  practice  detestable  conjurations  with  sieves,  and  keys,  and 
pease,  and  nails,  and  horse-shoes,  and  other  implements,  to  learn  the  things 
for  which  they  had  a  forbidden  and  impious  curiosity.  Wretched  books 
had  stoln  into  the  land,  wherein  fools  were  instructed  how  to  become  able 
fortune-tellers :  among  which,  I  wonder  that  a  blacker  brand  is  not  set  upon 
that  fortune-telling  wheel,  which  that  sham-scribler  that  goes  under  the 
letters  of  B.  B.  has  promised  in  his  ^'■Delights  for  the  Ingenious,''''  as  an 
honest  and  pleasant  recreation:  and  by  these  books,  the  minds  of  many  had 
been  so  poisoned,  that  they  studied  this  finer  ivitchcraft;  until  'tis  well  if 
some  of  them  were  not  betrayed  into  what  is  grosser,  and  more  sensible 
and  capital.  Although  these  diaboliccd  divinations  are  more  ordinarily 
committed  perhaps  all  over  the  ivhole  world,  than  they  are  in  the  country 
of  New-England,  yet,  that  being  a  country  devoted  unto  the  worship  and 
service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  above  the  rest  of  the  ivorld,  he  signalized 
his  vengeance  against  these  wickednesses,  with  such  extraordinary  dispen- 
sations as  have  not  been  often  seen  in  other  places. 

The  devils  which  had  been  so  played  withal,  and,  it  may  be,  by  some 
few  criminals  more  explicitly  engaged  and  imployed,  now  broke  in  upon 
the  country,  after  as  astonishing  a  manner  as  was  ever  heard  of  Some 
scores  of  people,  first  about  Salem,  the  centre  and  first-born  of  all  the 


2QQ  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

towns  ill  the  colony,  and  afterwards  in  several  other  places,  were  arrested 
with  many  prefrrnatnrd  vexations  upon  their  bodies,  and  a  variety  of  cruel 
torments,  which  were  evidently  inflicted  from  the  dwrnons  of  the  invmble 
inorJd.  The  people  tliat  were  infected  and  infested  with  such  daemons,  in 
a  few  davs'  time  arrived  unto  such  a  refining  alteration  upon  their  eyes, 
that  thev  could  see  their  tormentors:  they  saw  a  devil  of  ^a  little  stature^ 
and  of  a  tawny  colour,  attended  still  with  spectres  that  appeared  in  more 
humane  circumstances. 

These  tormentors  tendrod  unto  the  afflicted  a  loolc^  requiring  them  to  sign 
ir,  or  to  toucli  it  at  least,  in  token  of  their  consenting  to  be  listed  in  the 
service  of  the  devil;  which  they  refusing  to  do,  the  spectres  under  the 
command  of  that  hlachnan,  as  they  called  him,  would  apply  themselves  to 
torture  them  with  prodigious  molestations. 

The  afllicted  wretches  were  horribly  distorted  and  convulsed;  they  were 
pinched  black  and  blue:  pins  would  be  run  every  where  in  their  flesh; 
they  would  be  scalded  until  they  had  blisters  raised  on  them ;  and  a  thou- 
sand other  things  before  hundreds  of  witnesses  were  done  unto  them, 
Qvidently  pi'eternatural :  for  if  it  were  preternatural  to  keep  a  rigid  fiitst  for 
nine,  yea,  ^ov  fifteen  days  together;  or  if  liweve  preternaturcd  to  have  one's 
hands  /^yetZ  close  together  with  a  rope  to  be  plainly  seen,  and  then  by  unseen 
/lands  presently  pulled  up  a  great  way  from  the  earth  before  a  croud  of 
pcojjle;  such  jveternatural  things  were  endured  by  them. 

But  of  all  the  preternatural  things  which  befel  these  people,  there  were 
none  more  unaccountable  than  those  wherein  the  prestigious  dsemons  would 
ever  now  and  then  cover  the  most  corp)oreal  things  in  the  world  A\ith  a 
fascinating  mist  of  invisibility.  As  now;  a  person  Avas  cruelly  assaulted 
by  a  spectre,  that,  she  said,  run  at  her  with  a  spindle,  though  no  body  else 
in  the  room  could  see  either  the  spectre  or  the  spindle:  at  last,  in  her  ago- 
nies, giving  a  snatch  at  the  spectre,  she  pulled  the  sjnn die  away;  and  it 
was  no  sooner  got  into  her  hand,  but  the  other  folks  then  present  beheld 
that  it  was  indeed  a  real,  proper,  iron  spindle;  which,  when  they  locked 
up  very  safe,  it  was  nevertheless  by  the  dcemons  taken  away  to  do  farther 
mischief 

Again,  a  person  was  haunted  by  a  most  abusive  spectre,  which  came  to 
lier,  she  said,  with  a  slieet  about  her,  though  seen  to  none  but  her  self 
After  she  had  undergone  a  deal  of  teaze  from  the  annoyance  of  the  spectre, 
she  gave  a  violent  snatch  at  the  sheet  that  was  upon  it;  where-from  she 
tore  a  corner,  which  in  her  hand  immediately  was  beheld  by  all  that  were 
present,  a  palpable  corner  of  a  sheet:  and  her  father,  which  was  now  hold- 
ing of  her,  catrhed,  that  he  might  kec})  what  his  daughter  had  so  strangely 
seized ;  but  the  spectre  had  like  to  have  wrung  his  hand  off,  by  endeav- 
ouring to  wrest  it  from  him;  however,  he  still  held  it,  and  several  times 
this  odd  accident  was  renewed  in  the  family.  There  wanted  not  the  oaths 
of  good  credible  ])eople  to  these  particulars. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  OQT 

Also,  it  is  well  known,  that  these  wicked  spectres  did  proceed  so  far  as 
to  steal  several  quantities  of  money  from  divers  people,  part  of  which 
individual  money  was  dropt  sometimes  out  of  the  air,  before  sufficient 
spectators,  into  the  hands  of  the  afflicted,  while  the  spectres  were  urging 
them  to  subscribe  their  covenant  with  death.  Moreover,  poisons  to  the 
standers-by,  wholly  invisible/,  were  sometimes  forced  upon  the  afflicted; 
which  when  they  have  with  much  reluctancy  swallowed,  they  have  siooln 
presently,  so  that  the  common  medicines  for  poisons  have  been  found 
necessary  to  relieve  them:  yea,  sometimes  the  spectres,  in  the  struggles, 
have  so  dropt  the  poisons,  that  the  standers-by  have  smelt  them,  and 
viewed  them,  and  beheld  the  pillows  of  the  miserable  stained  with  them. 

Yet  more:  the  miserable  have  complained  bitterly  of  burning  rags  run 
into  their  forceably  distended  mouths;  and  though  nobody  could  see  any 
such  clothes,  or  indeed  any  fires  in  the  chambers,  yet  presently  the  scalds 
were  seen  plainly  by  every  body  on  the  mouths  of  the  complainers,  and 
not  only  the  synell,  but  the  smoke  of  the  burning  sensibly  filled  the  chambers. 

Once  more:  the  miserable  exclaimed  extreamly  of  branding  irons  heat- 
ing at  the  fire  on  the  hearth  to  mark  them.  Now,  though  the  standers-by 
could  see  no  irons,  yet  they  could  see  distinctly  the  print  of  them  in  the 
ashes,  and  smell  them  too  as  they  were  carried  by  the  not-seen  furies  unto 
the  poor  creatures  for  whom  they  were  intended;  and  tliose  poor  creatures 
were  thereupon  so  stigmatized  with  them,  that  they  will  bear  the  marks 
of  them  to  their  dying  day.  Nor  are  these  the  tenth  part  of  the  invdigies 
that  fell  out  among  the  inhabitants  of  New-England. 

Flashy  people  may  burlesque  these  things,  but  when  hundreds  of  the 
most  sober  people  in  a  country  where  they  have  as  much  motlier-vjit  cer- 
tainl}'  as  the  rest  of  mankind,  know  them  to  be  true,  nothing  but  the 
absurd  and  froward  spirit  of  Sadducism  can  question  them.  I  have  not 
yet  mentioned  so  much  as  one  thing  that  will  not  be  justified,  if  it  be 
required  by  the  oaths  of  more  considerate  persons  than  any  that  can  ridi- 
cule these  odd  phcenomena. 

But  the  worst  part  of  this  astonishing  tragedy  is  yet  behind;  wherein  Sir 
William  Phips,  at  last  beiiig  dropt,  as  it  were  from  the  machin  of  heaven, 
was  an  instrument  of  easing  the  distresses  of  the  land,  now  "so  darkened 
by  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  There  were  very  worthy  men  upon 
the  spot  where  the  assault  from  hell  was  first  made,  who  apprehended 
themselves  called  from  the  God  of  heaven  to  sift  the  business  unto  the 
bottom  of  it;  and,  indeed,  the  continual  impressions,  which  the  outcries 
and  the  havocks  of  the  afflicted  people  that  lived  nigh  unto  them  caused  on 
their  minds,  gave  no  little  edge  to  this  apprehension. 

The  persons  Vv^ere  men  eminent  for  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  they  went 
about  their  enquiry  into  the  matter,  as  driven  unto  it  by  a  conscience  of 
duty  to  God  and  the  world.  They  did  in  the  first  place  take  it  for  granted 
that  there  are  xviiches,  or  wicked  children  of  men,  who  upon  covenanting 


O08  MAGXALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Avitli.  and  commissioninri  of  evil  spirits,  are  attended  by  their  ministry  to 
accomiilish  the  things  desired  of  them:  to  satisfie  them  in  whieh  per- 
svvasicjn,  they  had  not  only  the  assertions  of  the  holy  Scriptures — assertions 
which  the  witch-advocates  cannot  evade  without  shifts,  too  foolish  for  the 
jirudent,  or  too  profane  for  any  honest  man  to  use — and  they  had  not  only 
the  well-attested  relations  of  the  gravest  authors,  from  Bodin  to  Bovet,  and 
from  Binsfield  to  Brombal  and  Baxter — to  deny  all  which,  would  be  as 
reasonable  as  to  turn  the  chronicles  of  all  nations  into  romances  of  ^^ Don 
Ouixote'^  and  the  '■^  Seven  Chamjnons  f  but  they  had  also  an  ocular  demon- 
stration in  one  who,  a  little  before,  had  been  executed  for  witchcraft,  when 
Joseph  Dudley,  Esq.  was  the  chief-judge.  There  was  one  whose  magical 
irnarjes  were  found,  and  who,  confessing  her  deeds,  (Avhen  a  jury  of  doctors 
returned  her  comjjos  mentis)  actually  shewed  the  whole  court  by  what  cer- 
emonies used  unto  them  she  directed  her  familiar  spirits  how  and  where  to 
cruciate  the  objects  of  her  malice;  and  the  experiment  being  made  over 
and  over  again  before  the  whole  court,  the  ejfect  followed  exactly  in  the 
hurts  done  to  the  people  at  a  distance  from  her.  The  existence  of  such 
witches  was  now  taken  for  granted  by  those  good  men,  wherein  so  far  the 
generality  of  reasonable  men  have  thought  they  ran  ivcll;  and  they  soon 
received  the  confessions  of  some  accused  persons  to  confirm  them  in  it:  but 
then  they  took  one  thing  more  for  granted,  wherein  'tis  now  as  generally 
thought  they  ivent  out  of  the  way.  The  afflicted  people  vehemently  accused 
several  persons  in  several  places  that  the  spectres  which  afflicted  them, 
did  exactly  resemble  them;  until  the  importunity  of  the  accusations  did 
provoke  the  magistrates  to  examine  them.  When  many  of  the  accused 
came  upon  their  examination,  it  was  found  that  the  dcemons  then  a  thou- 
sand ways  abusing  of  the  poor  afflicted  people,  had  with  a  marvellous 
exactness  represented  them;  yea,  it  was  found,  that  many  of  the  accused^ 
but  casting  their  eye  on  the  afflicted,  the  afflicted,  though  their  faces  were 
never  so  much  another  way,  would  fall  down  and  lye  in  a  sort  of  a  swoon, 
wherein  they  would  continue,  whatever  hands  were  laid  upon  them,  until 
the  hands  of  the  accused  came  to  touch  them,  and  then  they  would  revive 
immediately;  and  it  was  found,  that  various  kinds  o^ natural  actions,  done 
by  many  of  the  accused  in  or  to  their  own  bodies,  as  leaning,  bending, 
turning  awry,  or  squeezing  their  hands,  or  the  like,  were  presently 
attended  with  the  like  things  preternaturcdly  done  upon  the  bodies  of  the 
afflicted,  though  they  were  so  far  asunder,  that  the  afflicted  could  not  at  all 
observe  the  accused. 

It  was  also  found,  that  the  flesh  of  the  afflicted  was  often  hitlen  at  such 
a  rate,  that  not  only  the  print  of  teeth  would  be  left  on  their  flesh,  but  the 
very  slairr  of  spittle  too;  and  there  would  appear  just  such  a  set  of  teeth  as 
was  in  the  accused,  even  such  as  might  be  clearly  distinguished  from  other 
peoples.  And  usually  the  afflicted  went  through  a  terrible  deal  of  seem- 
ing difficulties  from  the  tormenting  spectres,  and  must  be  long  waited  on 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    N  EW-EXGL  AN  D.  209 

before  they  could  get  a  breatliing  space  from  their  torments  to  give  in  their 
testimonies. 

Now,  man}^  good  men  took  up  an  opinion,  that  the  p'ovid.ence  of  God 
■would  not  permit  an  innocent  person  to  come  under  such  a  spectral  repre- 
sentation; and  that  a  concurrence  of  so  many  circumstances  would  prove 
an  accused  person  to  be  in  a  confederacy  with  the  daemons  thus  afflicting 
of  the  neighbours;  they  judged  that,  except  these  things  might  amount 
unto  a  conviction,  it  would  scarce  be  possible  ever  to  convict  a  ivitch:  and 
they  had  some  j^^i^^^osophical  schemes  of  icitchcraft^  and  of  the  method  and 
manner  wherein  magical  poisons  Operate,  which  further  supported  them  in 
their  opinion. 

Sundry  of  the  accused  persons  were  brought  unto  their  trial,  while  this 
opinion  was  yet  prevailing  in  the  minds  of  the  judges  and  the  juries,  and 
perhaps  the  most  of  the  people  in  the  country,  then  mostly  suffering;  and 
though  against  some  of  them  that  were  tried  there  came  in  so  much  other 
evidence  of  their  diabolical  compacts,  that  some  of  the  most  judicious,  and 
yet  vehement  opposers  of  the  notions  then  in  vogue,  publickly  declared, 
"Had  they  themselves  been  on  the  bench,  they  could  not  have  acquitted 
them;"  nevertheless,  divers  were  condemned,  against  whom  the  chief 
evidence  was  founded  in  the  spectrcd  exhibitions. 

And  it  happening  that  some  of  the  accused  coming  to  confess  them- 
selves guilt  I/,  their  shapes  were  no  more  seen  by  any  of  the  afflicted,  though 
the  confession  had  been  kept  never  so  secret,  but  instead  thereof  the 
accused  themselves  became  in  all  vexations  just  like  the  afflicted;  this  yet 
more  confirmed  many  in  the  opinion  that  had  been  taken  up. 

And  another  thing  that  quickened  them  yet  more  to  act  upon  it,  was, 
that  the  afflicted  were  frequently  entertained  with  apparitions  of  ghosts  at 
the  same  time  that  the  spectres  of  the  supposed  witches  troubled  them; 
which  ghosts  always  cast  the  beholders  into  far  more  consternation  than 
any  of  the  spectres;  and  when  they  exhibited  themselves,  they  cried  out 
of  being  murdered  by  the  witchcrafts,  or  other  violences  of  the  persons 
represented  in  the  spectres.  Once  or  twice  these  apparitions  were  seen  bv 
others  at  the  very  same  time  that  they  shewed  themselves  to  the  afflicted ; 
and  seldom  were  they  seen  at  all  but  when  something  unusual  and  suspi- 
cious had  attended  the  death  of  the  party  thus  appearing. 

The  affl^icted  people  many  times  had  never  heard  any  thing  before  of 
the  persons  appearing  in  ghost,  or  the  persons  accused  by  the  apparitions; 
and  yet  the  accused  upon  examination  have  confessed  the  murders  of  those 
very  persons,  though  these  accused  also  knew  nothing  of  the  apparitions 
that  had  come  in  against  them;  and  the  afflicted  persons  likewise,  without 
any  private  agreement  or  collusion,  when  successively  brought  into  a  room, 
have  all  asserted  the  same  apparitions  to  be  there  before  them:  these 
murders  did  seem  to  call  for  an  enquiry. 

On  the  other  part,  there  were  many  persons  of  great  judgment,  piety 
Vol.  I.— 14 


210 


M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRIST  I     AMERICANA; 


and  experience,  who  from  tlic  beginning  were  very  much  dissatisfied  at 
these  proceedings;  they  feared  lest  the  devil  would  get  so  far  into  the  faith 
of  the  people,  that  for  the  sake  of  many  truths  which  they  might  find  him 
telling  of  them,  they  would  come  at  length  to  believe  all  his  lies;  where- 
upon what  a  desolation  of  names — yea,  and  of  lives  also — would  ensue,  a 
man  might,  without  much  witchcraft,  be  able  to  prognosticate;  and  they 
feared  lest  in  such  an  extraordinary  descent  of  wicked  spirits  from  their 
high  places  upon  us,  there  might  such  2orina'ples  be  taken  up,  as,  when  put 
into  practice,  would  unavoidably  cause  the  righteous  to  perish  ivith  the  ivicked, 
and  procure  the  blood-shed  of  persons  like  the  Gibeonites,  whom  some 
learned  men  suppose  to  be  under  a  false  pretence  of  witchcraft,  by  Saul 
exterminated. 

However  uncommon  it  might  be  for  guiltless  persons  to  come  under  such 
unaccountable  circumstances,  as  were  on  so  many  of  the  accused,  they 
held  "some  things  there  are,  which,  if  suffered  to  be  common,  would  sub- 
vert government,  and  disband  and  ruin  humane  society,  yet  God  sometimes 
may  suffer  such  things  to  evene,  that  we  may  know  thereby  how  much  we 
are  beholden  to  him  for  that  restraint  which  he  lays  upon  the  infernal 
spirits,  who  would  else  reduce  a  world  into  a  chaos."  They  had  already 
known  of  one  at  the  town  of  Groton  hideously  agitated  by  devils,  who  in 
her  fits  cried  out  much  against  a  very  godly  woman  in  the  town,  and  when 
that  woman  approached  unto  her,  though  the  eyes  of  the  creature  were 
never  so  shut,  she  jet  manifested  a  violent  sense  of  her  approach :  but 
when  the  gracious  woman  thus  impeached,  had  prayed  earnestly  with  and 
for  this  creature,  then,  instead  of  crying  out  against  her  any  more,  she 
owned,  that  she  had  in  all  been  deluded  by  the  devil.  They  now  saw,  that 
the  more  the  afflicted  were  hearkened  unto,  the  more  the  number  of  the 
accused  encreased ;  until  at  last  many  scores  were  cried  out  upon,  and  among 
them,  some  who,  by  the  unblameableness — yea,  and  serviceableness — of 
their  whole  conversation,  had  obtained  the  just  reputation  of  good  people 
among  all  that  were  acquainted  with  -them.  The  character  of  the  aiflicted 
likewise  added  unto  the  common  distaste;  for  though  some  of  them  too 
were  good  people,  yet  others  of  them,  and  such  of  them  as  were  most 
flippent  at  accusing,  had  a  far  other  character. 

In  fine,  the  country  was  in  a  dreadful  ferment,  and  wise  men  foresaw  a 
long  train  of  dismal  and  bloody  consequences.  Hereupon  they  first 
advised  that  the  afflicted  might  be  kept  asunder  in  the  closest  privacy ; 
and  one  particular  person,  (whom  I  have  cause  to  know,)  in  pursuance  of 
this  advice,  offered  himself  singly  to  provide  accommodations  for  any  six  of 
them,  that  so  the  success  of  more  than  ordinary  |>m?/er  with  fasting  might, 
with  patience,  be  exjxrienced,  before  any  other  courses  were  taken. 

And  Sir  William  Phips  arriving  to  his  government,  after  this  ensnaring 
horrible  storm  was  begun,  did  consult  the  neighbouring  ministers  of  the 
province,  who  made  unto  his  Excellency  and  the  council  a  return,  (drawn 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  211 

up  at  their  desire  by  Mr.  Mather  the  younger,  as  I  have  been  informed) 
wherein  they  declared: 

"We  judge,  that  in  the  prosecution  of  these  and  all  such  witchcrafts,  there  is  need  of  a 
very  critical  and  exquisite  caution:  lest  by  too  much  credulity  for  things  received  only  upon 
the  devil's  authority,  there  be  a  door  opened  for  a  long  train  of  miserable  consequences,  and 
Satan  get  an  advantage  over  us ;  for  we  should  not  be  ignorant  of  his  devices. 

"  As  in  complaints  upon  loitchcrafts,  there  may  be  matters  of  enquiry,  which  do  not  amount 
unto  matters  of  presumption;  and  there  may  be  matters  of  presumption,  which  yet  may  not 
be  reckoned  matters  oi  conviction;  so  'tis  necessary  that  all  proceedings  thereabout  be  man- 
aged with  an  exceeding  tenderness  towards  those  that  may  be  complained  of:  especially  if 
they  have  been  persons  formerly  of  an  unblemished  reputation. 

"When  i\\e  first  enquiry  is  made  into  the  circumstances  of  such  as  may  lye  under  any  just 
suspicion  of  witchcrafts,  we  could  wish  that  there  may  be  admitted  as  little  as  is  possible  of 
such  noise,  company,  and  openness  as  may  too  hastily  expose  them  that  are  examined :  and 
that  there  may  nothing  be  used  as  a  test  for  the  trial  of  the  suspected,  the  lawfulness  vvliereof 
may  be  doubted  among  the  people  of  God:  but  that  the  directions  given  by  such  judicious 
writers  as  Perkins  and  Bernard,  be  consulted  in  such  a  case. 

"  Presumptions,  whereupon  persons  may  be  committed,  and  much  more  convictions,  where- 
upon persons  may  be  condemned  as  guilty  of  ititchcrafts,  ought  certainly  to  be  more  consider- 
able, than  barely  the  accused  person's  being  represented  by  a  spectre  to  the  afflicted:  inasmuch 
as  it  is  an  undoubted  and  a  notorious  thing,  that  a  dccmon  may,  by  God's  permission,  appear 
oven  to  ill  purposes  in  the  shape  of  an  innocent,  yea,  and  a  virtuous  man:  nor  can  we  esteem 
alterations  made  in  the  sufferers,  by  a  look  or  touch  of  the  accused,  to  be  an  infiillible  evidence 
of  guilt:  but  frequently  liable  to  be  abused  by  the  devifs  legerdemains. 

"We  know  not  whether  some  remarkahle  affronts  given  to  the  devils,  by  our  dis-believing 
of  those  testimonies  whose  whole  force  and  strength  is  from  them  alone,  may  not  put  a  period 
unto  the  progress  of  a  direful  calamity  begun  upon  us,  in  the  accusation  of  so  many  persons, 
whereof,  we  hope,  some  are  yet  clear  from  the  great  transgression  hud  unto  their  charge." 

The  ministers  of  the  province  also  being  jealous  lest  this  counsel  should 
not  be  duly  followed,  requested  the  President  of  Harvard-Colledge  to 
compose  and  publish  (which  he  did)  some  cases  of  conscience  referring  to 
these  difficulties:  in  which  treatise  he  did,  with  demonstrations  of  incom- 
parable reason  and  reading,  evince  it,  that  Satan  may  appear  in  the  shape 
of  an  innocent  and  a  virtuous  person,  to  afilict  those  that  suffer  by  the 
diabolical  molestations:  and  that  the  ordeal  of  the  sight,  and  the  touch,  is  not 
a  conviction  of  a  covenant  with  the  devil,  but  liable  to  great  exceptions 
against  the  lawfulness,  as  well  as  the  evidence  of  it:  and  that  either  a  free 
and  fair  confession  of  the  criminals,  or  the  oath  of  two  credible  persons 
proving  such  things  against  the  person  accused,  as  none  but  such  as  have 
a  familiarity  with  the  devil  can  know,  or  do,  is  necessary  to  the  proof  of 
the  crime.     Thus, 

Cum  misit  Nnfura  Feras,  et  Monstra  per  Orhem, 
Misit  et  Alcidcn  qui  f era  Monstra  domet.* 

The  Dutch  and  French  ministers  in  the  province  of  New- York,  having 
likewise  about  the  same  time  their  judgment  asked  by  the  Chief  Judge  of 

•  'Twas  Nature  senl  these  monsters:  Nature,  too. 
Sent  Hercules,  the  monsters  to  subdue. 


212 


M  A  C,  N  A  L  I  A    C  II  K  I  S  TI     AM  E  K  I  C  A  IS  A ; 


that  province,  who  was  then  a  gentleman  of  New-England,  tney  gave  it 
in  under  their  hands,  that  if  we  believe  no  venejich  wikhcraft^  we  must 
renounce  the  Scripture  of  God,  and  the  consent  of  almost  all  the  world; 
but  that  yet  the  apparition  of  a  person  afflicting  another,  is  a  very  insuffi- 
cient proof  of  a  witch;  nor  is  it  inconsistent  with  the  holy  and  righteous 
government  of  God  over  men,  to  permit  the  affliction  of  the  neighbours, 
bv  devils  in  the  shape  of  good  men;  and  that  a  good  name,  obtained  by  a 
good  JiYc,  should  not  be  lost  by  meer  spectral  accusations. 

Now,  upon  a  deliberate  review  of  these  things,  his  Excellency  first 
reprieved,  and  then  j^ardoned  many  of  them  that  had  been  condemned;  and 
there  fell  out  several  strange  things  that  caused  the  spirit  of  the  country 
to  run  as  vehemently  upon  the  acquitting  of  all  the  accused,  as  it  by  mis- 
take ran  at  first  upon  the  condemning  of  them.  Some  that  had  been  zeal- 
ously of  the  mind,  that  the  devils  could  not  in  the  shapes  of  good  men 
afflict  other  men,  were  terribly  confuted,  by  having  their  own  shapes,  and 
the  shapes  of  their  most  intimate  and  valued  friends,  thus  abused.  And 
though  more  than  twice  twenty  had  made  such  voluntary,  and  harmonious, 
and  uncontroulable  confessions,  that  if  they  were  all  sham,  there  was  therein 
the  greatest  violation  made  by  the  efficacy  of  the  invisible  tvorld,  upon  tlie 
rules  of  understanding  humane  affairs,  that  was  ever  seen  since  "God  made 
man  upon  the  earth,"  yet  they  did  so  recede  from  their  confessions,  that  it 
was  very  clear,  some  of  them  had  been  hitherto,  in  a  sort  of  a.  preternatural 
dream,  wherein  they  had  said  of  themselves,  they  knew  not  ivhat  themselves. 

In  fine,  the  Inst  courts  that  sate  upon  this  thorny  husi7iess,  finding  that 
it  was  impossible  to  penetrate  into  the  whole  meaning  of  the  things  that 
had  happened,  and  that  so  many  utisearchahle  cheats  were  interwoven  into 
the  conclusion  of  a  mysterious  business,  which  perhaps  had  not  crept  there- 
into at  the  beginning  of  it,  they  cleared  the  accused  as  fast  as  they  tried  them ; 
and  within  a  little  while  the  afflicted  were  most  of  them  delivered  out  of 
their  troubles  also;  and  the  land  had  peace  restored  unto  it,  by  the  "God 
of  peace,  treading  Satan  under  foot."  Erasmus,  aniong  other  historians, 
docs  tell  us,  that  at  a  town  in  Germany,  a  diomon  appeared  on  the  top  of 
a  chimney,  threatned  that  he  would  set  the  town  on  fire,  and  at  length 
scattering  some  ashes  abroad,  the  whole  town  was  presently  and  horribly 
burnt  unto  the  ground. 

Sir  William  Phips  now  beheld  such  dremons  hideouslj^  scattering  fire 
about  the  country,  in  the  exasperations  which  the  minds  of  men  were  on 
these  things  rising  unto;  and  therefore  when  he  had  well  canvased  a  cause, 
which  perhaps  might  have  puzzled  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  men  on  eaith 
to  have  managed,  without  any  error  in  their  administrations,  he  thought, 
if  it  would  be  any  error  at  all,  it  would  certainly  be  the  safest  for  him  to 
put  a  stop  unto  all  future  prosecutions,  as  far  as  it  lay  in  him  to  do  it. 

lie  did  so,  and  for  it  he  had  not  only  the  printed  aeknowledgments  of 
the  New-Englanders,  who  publickly  thanked  him,  "As  one  of  the  tribe  of 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  213 

Zebulun,  raised  up  from  among  themselves,  and  spirited  as  well  as  commis- 
sioned to  be  the  steers-man  of  a  vessel  befogged  in  the  mare  mortuimi  of 
witcho-aji,  who  now  so  happily  steered  her  course,  that  slie  escaped  ship- 
wrack,  and  was  safely  again  moored  under  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and 
cut  asunder  the  Circa?an  knot  of  enchantment,  more  difficult  to  be  dissolved 
than  the  famous  Gordian  one  of  old." 

But  the  Queen  also  did  him  the  honour  to  write  unto  him  those  gracious 
letters,  wherein  her  Majesty  commended  his  conduct  in  these  inexjylicable 
matters.  And  I  did  right  in  calling  these  matters  inexp)licahle.  For  if, 
after  the  kingdom  of  Sweden  (in  the  year  1669,  and  1670,)  had  some  hun- 
dreds of  their  children  by  night  often  carried  away  by  spectres  to  an  hellish 
rendezvous^  where  the  monsters  that  so  spirited  them,  did  every  way  tempt 
them  to  associate  with  them ;  and  the  Judges  of  tlie  kingdom,  after  extra- 
ordinary supplications  to  Heaven,  upon  a  strict  enquiry,  were  so  satisfied 
with  the  confessions  of  more  than  twenty  of  the  accused,  agreeing  exactly 
unto  the  depositions  of  the  afflicted,  that  they  put  several  scores  of  witches 
to  death,  whereupon  the  confusions  came  unto  a  period;  yet  after  all,  the 
chiefest  persons  in  the  kingdom  would  question  whether  there  were  any 
loitclicrafts  at  all  in  the  whole  affair;  it  must  not  be  wondered  at,  if  the 
people  of  New-England  are  to  this  hour  full  of  doubts,  about  the  steps 
which  were  taken,  while  a  war  from  the  invisible  ivorld  was  terrifying  of 
them ;  and  whether  they  did  not  kill  some  of  their  oivn  side  in  the  smoke 
and  noise  of  this  dreadful  war.  And  it  will  be  yet  less  wondred  at,  if  we 
consider,  that  we  have  seen  the  whole  English  nation  alarumed  with  a 
ptlot,  and  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  upon  good  grounds,  voting  their 
sense  of  it,  and  many  persons  most  justly  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  for 
their  share  in  it:  when  yet  there  are  enough  who  to  this  day  will  pretend 
that  they  cannot  comprehend  how  much  of  it  is  to  be  accounted  credible. 
However,  having  related  these  wonderful  passages,  whereof,  if  the  veracity 
of  the  relator  in  any  one  point  be  contested,  there  are  v/hole  clouds  of  ivit- 
nesses  to  vindicate  it,  I  will  take  my  leave  of  the  matter  with  an  wholesome 
caution  of  Lactantius,  which,  it  may  be,  some  other  parts  of  the  world 
besides  New-England  may  have  occasion  to  think  upon:  Efficiunt  Dcemo- 
nes,  ut  (juce  non  sunt,  sic  tamen,  quasi  sint,  conspiclenda  Honiinibus  exhibeantj^ 

But  the  devils  being  thus  vanquished,  we  shall  next  hear,  that  some  of 
his  most  devoted  and  resembling  children  are  so  too. 

§  17.  As  one  of  the  first  actions  done  by  Sir  William,  after  he  came  to 
the  age  of  doing,  w^as  to  save  the  lives  of  many  poor  people  from  the  rage 
of  the  diabolical  Indians  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the  country,  so  now  he 
was  come  to  the  government,  his  mind  was  very  vehemently  set  upon 
recovering  of  those  parts  from  the  miseries  which  a  new  and  a  long  war 
of  the  Indians  had  brought  upon  them.  His  birth  and  youth  in  the  east, 
had  rendered  him  well  known  unto  the  Indians  there;  he  had  hunted 

*  It  is  one  of  the  chief  arts  of  evil  spirits,  to  make  things  which  have  no  reality  seem  real  to  those  who  witness  them. 


2U 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMEKICANA; 


and  fished  many  a  weary  day  in  bis  childhood  with  them ;  ana  when  tliose 
rude  salvao-cs  had  got  the  story  by  the  end,  that  "he  had  found  a  ship  full 
of  money,  and  was  now  become  all  one-a-king!"  they  were  mightily  aston- 
ished at  it:  but  when  they  farther  understood  that  he  was  become  the 
"ovcrnour  of  New-England,  it  added  a  further  degree  of  consternation  to 
liioir  astonishment.  He  likewise  was  better  acquainted  with  the  scitua- 
tion  of  those  regions  than  most  other  men;  and  he  considered  what  vast 
advantao-cs  might  arise  to  no  less  than  the  whole  English  nation,  from 
the  lumber,  and  fishery,  and  naval-stores,  which  those  regions  might  soon 
supply  the  whole  nation  withal,  if  once  they  were  well  settled  with  good 
inhabitants. 

Wherefore  Governour  Phips  took  the  first  opportunity  to  raise  an  army, 
with  which  he  travelled  in  person,  under  the  East-Country,  to  find  out 
and  cut  oft*  the  barbarous  enemy,  which  had  continued  for  near  four  years 
together  making  horrible  havock  on  the  plantations  that  lay  all  along  the 
northern  frontiers  of  New-England;  and  having  pursued  those  worse  than 
Scythian  wolves  till  they  could  be  no  longer  followed,  he  did  with  a  very 
laudable  skill,  and  unusual  speed,  and  with  less  cost  unto  the  crown  than 
perhaps  ever  such  a  thing  was  done  in  the  world,  erect  a  strong  fort  at 
Pemmaquid. 

This  fort  he  contrived  so  much  in  the  very  heart  of  the  country  now 
possessed  by  the  enemy,  as  very  much  to  hinder  the  several  nations  of 
the  tawnies  from  daniu'ng  together  for  the  common  disturbance;  and  his 
design  was,  that  a  sufficient  garrison  being  here  posted,  they  might  from 
thence,  upon  advice,  issue  forth  to  surprize  that  ferocient  enemy.  At  the 
same  time  he  would  fain  have  gone  in  person  up  the  Bay  of  Funda,  with 
a  convenient  force,  to  have  spoiled  the  nest  of  rebellious  Frenchmen,  who, 
being  rendezvouzed  at  St.  Johns,  had  a  yearly  supply  of  ammunition  from 
France,  with  which  they  still  supplied  the  Indians,  unto  the  extream  detri- 
ment of  the  English ;  but  his  friends  for  a  long  time  would  not  permit  him 
to  expose  himself  unto  the  inconveniences  of  that  expedition. 

However,  he  took  such  methods,  that  the  Indian  Kings  of  the  East, 
within  a  little  while  had  their  stomachs  brought  down  to  sue  and  beg  for 
a  peace:  and  making  their  appearance  at  the  new-fort  in  Pemmaquid, 
August  11,  1693,  they  did  there  sign  an  instrument,  wherein,  lamenting 
the  miseries  which  their  adherence  to  the  French  counsels  had  brought 
them  into,  they  did  for  themselves,  and  with  the  consent  of  all  the  Indians 
from  the  river  of  Merrimack  to  the  most  easterly  bounds  of  all  the  prov- 
ince, acknowledge  their  hearty  subjection  and  obedience  unto  the  Crown 
of  England,  and  solemnly  covenant,  promise  and  agree,  to  and  with  Sir 
William  Phips,  Captain  General  and  Governour  in  Chief  over  the  province, 
and  his  successors  in  that  place,  "That  they  would  for  ever  cease  all  acts 
of  hostility  towards  the  subjects  of  the  Crown  of  England,  and  hold  a 
constant  friendship  with  all  the  English.     That  they  would  utterly  ubun- 


OS,    THE    niSTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  215 

don  the  French  interests,  and  not  succour  or  conceal  any  enemy  Indians, 
from  Canada  or  elsewhere,  that  should  come  to  any  of  their  plantations 
within  the  English  territories:  that  all  English  captives,  which  they  had 
among  them,  should  be  returned  with  all  possible  speed,  and  no  ransom 
or  payment  be  given  for  any  of  them:  that  their  Majesties'  subjects  the 
English,  now  should  quietly  enter  upon,  and  for  ever  improve  and  enjoy 
all  and  singular  their  rights  of  lands,  and  former  possessions,  within  the 
eastern  parts  of  the  province,  without  any  claims  from  any  Indians  or 
being  ever  disturbed  therein :  that  all  trade  and  commerce,  which  hereafter 
might  be  allowed  between  the  English  and  the  Indians,  should  be  under  a 
regulation  stated  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  as  limited  by  the 
governour  of  the  province,  with  the  consent  and  advice  of  his  Council. 
And  that  if  any  controversie  hereafter  happen  between  any  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  the  Indians,  no  private  revenge  was  to  be  taken  by  the  Indians, 
but  proper  applications  to  be  made  unto  his  Majesty's  government,  for 
the  due  remedy  thereof:  submitting  themselves  herewithal  to  be  governed 
by  his  Majesty's  laws." 

And  for  the  manifestation  of  their  sincerity  in  the  submission  thus  made, 
the  hypocritical  wretches  delivered  hostages  for  their  fidelity:  and  then  set 
their  marks  and  seals^  no  less  than  thirteen  Sagamores  of  them,  (with  names 
of  more  than  a  Persian  length)  unto  this  instrument. 

The  first  rise  of  this  Indian  war  had  hitherto  been  almost  as  dark  as  that 
of  the  river  Nilus :  'tis  true,  if  any  wild  English  did  rashly  begin  to  provoke 
and  affront  the  Indians,  yet  the  Indians  had  a  fairer  way  to  obtain  justice 
than  by  bloodshed:  however,  upon  the  New-English  revolution^  the  state 
of  the  war  became  wholly  new:  the  government  then  employed  all  possi- 
ble wa3^s  to  procure  a  good  understanding  with  the -Indians;  but  all  the 
English  offers,  kindnesses,  courtesies  were  barbarously  requited  by  them, 
with  new  acts  of  the  most  perfidious  hostility.  Notwithstanding  all  this, 
there  were  still  some  nice  people  that  had  their  scruples  about  the  "justice 
of  the  war;"  but  upon  this  new  submission  of  the  Indians,  if  ever  those 
rattle-snakes  (the  only  ixittle-snahes  which,  they  say,  were  ever  seen  to  the 
northward  of  Merimack-river)  should  stir  again,  the  most  scrupulous  per- 
sons in  the  world  must  own,  that  it  niicst  be  the  most  unexceptionable  piece  of 
justice  in  the  toorld  for  to  extinguish  them. 

Thus  did  the  God  of  heaven  bless  the  unwearied  applications  of  Sir 
William  Phips,  for  the  restoring  of  peace  unto  New-England,  when  the 
country  was  quite  out  of  breath  in  its  endeavours  for  its  own  preservation 
from  the  continual  outrages  of  an  inaccessible  enemy,  and  by  the  poverty 
coming  in  so  like  an  armed  mctn^  from  the  unsuccessfulness  of  their  former 
armies,  that  it  could  not  imagine  how  to  take  one  step  further  in  its  wars. 
The  most  happy  respite  of  peace  beyond  Merimack-river  being  thus  pro- 
cured, the  governour  immediately  set  himself  to  use  all  possible  methods, 
that  it  might  be  "peace  like  a  river,"  nothing  short  oi everlasting. 


21Q  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

He  therefore  prevailed  with  two  or  three  gentlemen  to  join  with  him 
in  sending  a  supply  of  necessaries  for  life  unto  the  Indians;  until  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  could  come  together  to  settle  the  Indian-trade  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  publick,  that  the  Indians  might  not  by  necessity  be  driven 
again  to  become  a  French  propriety;  although  by  this  action,  as  the  gen- 
tlemen themselves  were  great  losers  in  their  estates,  thus  he  himself  declared 
unto  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  he  would  upon  oath  give 
an  account  unto  them  of  all  his  own  gains,  and  count  himself  a  gainer, 
if  in  lieu  of  all  they  would  give  him  one  beaver-hat.  The  same  generosity 
also  caused  him  to  take  many  a  tedious  voyage,  accompanied  sometimes 
with  his  Fidu.s  Achates*  and  very  dear  friend,  kinsman  and  neighbour, 
Colonel  John  Philips,  between  Boston  and  Peramaquid;  and  this  in  the 
bitter  weeks  of  the  New-English,  which  is  almost  a  Russian  winter. 

He  was  a  sort  of  confessor  under  such  torments  of  cold,  as  once  made 
the  martyrdom  of  Muria,  and  others,  commemorated  in  orations  of  the 
ancients;  and  the  snow  and  ice  which  Pliny  calls,  "The  punishment  of 
mountains,"  he  cheerfully  endured,  without  any  other  j^roft  unto  himself, 
but  only  the  |jfea5Mre  of  thereby  establishing  and  continuing  unto  the 
people  the  liberty  to  sleep  quietly  in  their  warm  nests  at  home,  while  he 
was  thus  concerned  for  them  abroad.  Non  mihi  sed  popido,  the  motto  of 
the  Emperor  Hadrian,  was  engraved  on  the  heart  of  Sir  William:  not 
FOR  MYSELF,  BUT  FOR  MY  PEOPLE ;  or  that  of  Maximin,  Quo  major,  hoc 
Laboriosior — the  more  honourable,  the  more  laborious. 

Indeed,  the  restlessness  of  his  travels  to  the  southern  as  well  as  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  country,  when  the  publick  safety  called  for  his  presence,  would 
have  made  one  to  think  on  the  translation  which  the  King  of  Pprtugal, 
on  a  very  extraordinary  occasion,  gave  the  fourth  verse  in  the  hundred 
and  twenty-first  Psalm:  "He  will  not  slumber,  nor  will  he  suffer  to  sleep 
the  keeper  of  Israel."  Nor  did  he  only  try  to  cicurate  the  Indians  of  the 
east,  by  other  prudent  and  proper  treatments;  but  he  also  furnished  him- 
self with  an  Indian  preacher  of  the  gospel,  whom  he  carried  unto  the 
eastward,  with  an  intention  to  teach  them  the  principles  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  uuteach  them  the  mixt  Paganry  and  Popery  which  hitherto 
diaholized  them.  To  unteach  them,  I  say;  for  they  had  been  taught  by 
tlie  French  priests  this  among  other  things,  that  the  mother  of  our  blessed 
Saviour  was  a  French  lady,  and  that  they  were  Englishmen  by  whom  our 
Saviour  was  murdered ;  and  that  it  was  therefore  a  meritorious  thing  to 
destroy  the  English  nation.  The  name  of  the  preacher  whom  the  govern- 
our  carried  with  him,  was  Nahauton,  one  of  the  natives ;  and  because  the 
passing  of  such  expressions  from  the  mouth  of  a  poor  Indian  may  upon 
some  accounts  be  worthy  of  remembrance,  let  it  be  rememhered,  that  when 
the  governour  ])roi)oundcd  unto  him  such  a  mission  to  the  eastern  Indians, 
he  replied,  "I  know  that  I  shall  probably  endanger  my  life  by  going  to 

•  Fuiiliful  adviser. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  217 

preach  the  gospel  among  tlie  Frenchified  Indians;  but  I  know  that  it  will 
be  a  service  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  I  will  venture  to  go." 

God  grant  that  his  behaviour  may  be  in  all  things,  at  all  times,  accord- 
ing to  these  his  expressions!  While  these  things  were  doing,  having  intel- 
ligence of  a  French  man  of  war  expected  at  St.  Johns,  he  dispatched  away 
the  Non-such frigot  thither  to  intercept  him;  nevertheless,  by  the  gross 
negligence^  and  perhaps  cowardice  of  the  captain,  who  had  lately  come  from 
England  with  orders  to  take  the  command  of  her,  instead  of  one  who  had 
been  by  Sir  William  a  while  before  put  in,  and  one  who  had  signalized 
himself  by  doing  of  notable  service  for  the  King  and  country  in  it,  the 
Frenchman  arrived,  unladed,  and  went  away  untouched.  The  governour 
was  extremely  offended  at  this  notorious  deficiency ;  it  cast  him  into  a  great 
impatience  to  see  the  nation  so  wretchedly  served ;  and  he  would  himself 
have  gone  to  Saint  Johns  with  a  resolution  to  spoil  that  harbour  of  spoilers, 
if  he  had  not  been  taken  off,  by  being  sent  for  home  to  Whitehall,  in  the 
very  midst  of  his  undertakings. 

But  the  treacherous  Indians  heing poisoned  with,  the  French  enchantments, 
and  furnished  with  brave  new  coats,  and  new  arvfis,  and  all  new  incentives 
to  war,  by  the  man  of  ivar  newly  come  in;  they  presently  and  perfidiously 
fell  upon  two  English  towns,  and  butchered  and  captived  many  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  made  a  new  war,  which  the  New-Englanders  know  not 
whether  it  will  end  until  either  Canada  become  an  English  Province,  or 
that  state  arrive,  wherein  they  "shall  beat  swords  into  ploughshares,  and 
spears  into  pruning-hooks."  And  no  doubt,  the  taking  off  Sir  William 
Phips  was  no  small  encouragement  unto  the  Indians  in  this  relapse  into 
the  villanies  and  massacres  of  a  new  invasion  upon  the  country. 

§  18.  Reader,  'tis  time  for  us  to  view  a  little  more  to  the  life,  the  picture 
of  the  person,  the  actions  of  whose  life  we  have  hitherto  been  looking  upon. 
Know  then,  that  for  his  exterior,  he  was  one  tall,  beyond  the  common  set 
of  men,  and  thick  as  well  as  tcdl,  and  strong  as  well  as  thick:  he  was,  in  all 
respects,  exceedingly  robust,  and  able  to  conquer  such  difiiculties  of  diet  and 
of  travel,  as  would  have  killed  most  men  alive:  nor  did  theya^,  whereinto  he 
grew  very  much  in  his  later  years,  take  away  the  vigour  of  his  motions. 

He  was  well  set,  and  he  was  therewithal  of  a  very  comely,  though  a 
very  manly  countenance :  a  countenance  where  any  true  skill  in  pjhysiocj- 
nomy  would  have  read  the  characters  of  a  generous  mind.  Wherefore 
passing  to  his  interior,  the  very  first  thing  which  there  offered  it  self  unto 
observation,  was  a  most  incomparable  generosity. 

And  of  this,  besides  the  innumerable  instances  which  he  gave  in  his 
usual  hatred  of  dirty  or  little  tricks,  there  was  one  instance  for  which  I 
must  freely  say,  "I  never  saw  three  men  in  this  world  that  equalled  him:" 
this  was  his  \YondiQif\A\j  forgiving  sjnrit.  In  the  vast  variety  of  business, 
through  which  he  raced  in  his  time,  he  met  with  many  and  mighty  inju- 
ries: but  although  I  have  heard  all  that  the  most  venemous  malice  could 


218 


MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMEKICANA; 


ver  Jtiss  at  his  memory,  I  never  did  hear  unto  this  hour  that  he  aid  ever 
once  di'Uborately  revewje  an  injury. 

Upon  certain  af)'ro)ds  he  lias  made  sudden  returns  that  have  shewed 
choler  enou'di  and  lie  has  by  hlow^  as  well  as  by  loord^  chastised  incivilities; 
he  was,  indeed,  sufficiently  impatient  of  being  put  upon;  and  when  base 
men  surprizin""  him  at  some  disadvantages  (for  else  few  men  durst  have 
done  it)  have  sometimes  drawn  upon  him,  he  has,  without  the  wicked  mad- 
ness of  a  formal  duel,  made  them  feel  that  he  knew  how  to  correct  fools. 
Nevertheless,  he  ever  declined  a  deliberate  revenge  of  a  wrong  done  unto 
him;  though  few  men  upon  earth  have,  in  their  vicissitudes,  been  fur- 
nished with  such  frequent  opportunities  of  revenge  as  Heaven  brought 
into  the  hands  of  this  gentleman. 

Under  great  provocations,  he  would  commonly  say,  "'Tis  no  matter;  let 
them  alone;  some  time  or  other  they'll  see  their  weakness  and  rashness, 
and  have  occasion  for  me  to  do  them  a  kindness ;  and  they  shall  then  see 
I  have  quite  forgotten  all  their  baseness."  Accordingly,  'twas  remarkable 
to  see  it,  that  few  men  ever  did  him  a  mischief,  but  those  men  afterwards 
had  occasion  for  him  to  do  them  a  kindness:  and  he  did  the  kindness  with 
as  forgetful  a  bravery,  as  if  the  mischief  had  never  been  done  at  all.  The 
Emperor  Theodosius  himself  could  not  be  readier  to  forgive;  so  worthily 
did  he  verifie  that  observation : 

Quo  quisque  est  major,  mngis  est  placahilis  ira, 
Et  faciles  viotus  mens  generosa  capit* 

In  those  places  of  powei-  whereto  the  providence  of  God  by  several 
degrees  raised  him,  it  still  fell  out  so,  that  before  his  rise  thereunto  he  under- 
went such  things  as  he  counted  very  hard  abuses,  from  those  very  persons 
over  whom  the  Divine  Providence  afterwards  gave  him  the  ascendant. 

By  such  trials,  the  wisdom  of  Heaven  still  prepared  him,  as  David 
before  him,  for  successive  advancements;  and  as  he  behaved  himself  with 
a  mai'vellous  long-suffering,  when  he  was  tried  by  such  mortifications,  thus 
when  he  came  to  be  advanced,  he  convinced  all  mankind  that  he  had 
perfectly  buried  all  the  old  offences  in  an  eternal  amnesty.  I  was  my  self 
an  ear- witness  that  one  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  his  behaviour  under  such 
probations  of  his  patience,  did,  long  before  his  arrival  to  that  honour,  say 
unto  him,  "Sir,  forgive  those  that  give  you  these  vexations,  and  know 
that  the  God  of  heaven  intends,  before  he  has  done  with  you,  to  make 
you  the  governour  of  New-England!"  And  when  he  did  indeed  become 
the  governour  of  New-England,  he  shewed  that  he  still  continued  a  gov- 
ernour of  himself,  in  his  treating  all  that  had  formerly  been  in  ill  terms 
with  him,  with  as  much  favour  and  freedom  as  if  there  had  never  happened 
the  least  exasperations:  though  any  governour  that  kens  Bobbianism,  can 
easily  contrive  ways  enough  to  wreak  a  spite,  where  he  owes  it. 

•  Tlio  nohli-Bt  soul  is  iio'or  resontftil  long, 
And  with  an  uusy  iiistiuci  pnrdous  wrung. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  219 

It  was  witli  some  Christian  remark  that  he  read  the  Pagan  story  of  the 
renowned  Fabius  Maximus,  who,  being  preferred  unto  the  highest  office 
in  the  commonwealth,  did,  through  a  zeal  for  his  country,  overcome  the 
greatest  contempts  that  any  person  of  quality  could  have  received. — Min- 
utius,  the  master  of  the  horse,  and  the  next  person  in  dignity  to  himself, 
did  first  privately  traduce  him,  as  one  that  was  no  soldier,  and  less  poli- 
tician; and  he  afterwards  did,  both  by  speeches  and  letters,  prejudice  not 
only  the  army,  but  also  the  senate  against  him,  so  that  Minutius  was  now 
by  an  unpresidented  commission  brought  into  an  equality  with  Fabius. 

All  this  while  the  great  Fabius  did  not  throw  up  his  cares  for  tho  com- 
monwealtli,  but  with  a  wondrous  equality  of  mind  endured  equally  the 
malice  of  the  judges  and  the  fury  of  the  commons;  and  when  Minutius 
a  while  after  was  with  all  his  forces  upon  the  point  of  perishing  by  the 
victorious  arms  of  Hannibal,  this  very  Fabius,  not  listening  to  the  dictates 
of  revenge,  came  in  and  helped  him,  and  saved  him;  and  so,  by  a  rare 
virtue,  he  made  his  worst  adversaries  the  captives  of  his  generosity. 

One  of  the  antients,  upon  such  an  history,  cried  out,  "If  heathens  can 
do  thus  much  for  the  glory  of  their  name,  what  shall  not  Christians  do 
for  the  glory  of  Heaven!"  And  Sir  William  Phips  did  so  viuch  more  than 
thus  much,  that  besides  his  meriting  the  glory  of  such  a  name,  as  Phip- 
Pius  Maximus,  he  therein  had  upon  him  the  symptoms  of  a  title  to  the 
glory  of  heaven,  in  the  seal  of  his  own  j^cf'^'do^i  from  God.  Nor  was  this 
generosity  in  his  Excellency  the  Governour  of  New-England,  unac- 
companied with  many  other  excellencies;  whereof  the  j^it'ty  of  his  carriage 
towards  God  is  worthy  to  be  first  mentioned. 

It  is  true,  he  was  very  zealous  for  all  men  to  enjoy  such  a  liberty  of  con- 
science as  he  judged  a  native  right  of  mankind:  and  he  was  extreamly 
troubled  at  the  over-boiling  zeal  of  some  good  men,  who  formerly  took 
that  wrong  way  of  reclaiming  hereticks  by  persecution.  For  this  gener- 
osity, it  may  be,  some  would  have  compared  him  unto  Gallio,  the  gov- 
ernour of  Achaia,  whom  our  preachers,  perhaps  with  mistake  enough, 
think  to  be  condemned  in  the  Scripture  for  his  not  appearing  to  be  a 
judge  in  matters  which  indeed  fell  not  under  his  cognizance. 

And  I  shall  be  content  that  he  be  compared  unto  that  gentleman; 
for  that  Gallio  was  the  brother  of  Seneca,  who  gives  this  character 
of  him:  "That  there  was  no  man  who  did  not  love  him  too  little,  if 
he  could  love  him  any  more;"  and,  "that  there  was  no  mortal  so  dear 
to  any,  as  he  was  to  all;"  and,  "that  he  hated  all  vices,  but  none  more 
than  flattery." 

But  while  the  generosity  of  Sir  William  caused  him  to  desire  a  liberty 
of  conscience,  his  piety  would  not  allow  a  liberty  of  prophaneness,  either 
to  himself  or  others.  He  did  not  affect  any  mighty  shoiv  of  devotion ; 
and  when  he  saw  any  that  were  evidently  careful  to  make  a  show,  and  espe- 
cially if  at  the  same  time  they  were  notoriously  defective  in  the  duties  of 


220  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 

common  justice  or  goodness,  or  the  duties  of  the  relations  wherein  God  had 
stationed  them,  he  had  an  extream.  aversion  for  them. 

Nevertheless  he  did  show  a  conscientious  desire  to  observe  the  laws  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  conversation;  and  he  conscientiously  attended 
upon  the  exercises  of  devotion  in  the  seasons  thereof,  on  lectures,  as  well 
as  on  Lord's  days,  and  in  the  daily  sacrifice,  the  morning  and  evening 
service  of  his  own  family ;  yea,  and  at  the  private  meetings  of  the  devout 
people  kept  every  fortnight  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Besides  all  this,  when  he  had  great  ivories  before  him,  he  would  invite 
good  men  to  come  andifast  and  pray  with  him  at  his  house  for  the  success 
thereof;  and  when  he  had  succeeded  in  what  he  had  undertaken,  he  would 
prevail  with  them  to  come  and  keep  a  day  of  solemn  tlmnksrjivimj  with  him. 
His  love  to  Almighty  God,  was  indeed  manifested  by  nothing  more  than 
his  love  to  those  that  had  the  image  of  God  upon  them ;  he  heartily,  and 
with  real  honour  for  them,  loved  all  godly  men ;  and  in  so  doing,  he  did 
not  confine  godliness  to  this  or  that  party,  but  wherever  he  saw  the /ear  of 
God,  in  one  of  a  Congregational,  or  Presbyterian,  or  Antipoedobaptist,  or 
Episcopalian  perswasion,  he  did,  without  any  difiference,  express  towards 
them  a  reverent  affection. 

But  he  made  no  men  more  welcome  than  those  good  men  whose  office 
'tis  to  promote  and  preserve  goodness  in  all  other  men;  even  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel:  especially  when  they  were  such  as  faithfully  discharged 
their  office:  and  from  these,  at  any  time,  the  least  admonition  or  intimation 
of  any  good  thing  to  be  done  by  him,  he  entertained  with  a  most  obliging 
alacrity.  His  religion,  in  truth,  was  one  principle  that  added  virtue  unto 
that  vast  courage  which  was  always  in  him  to  a  degree  heroical.  Those 
terrible  nations  which  made  their  descents  from  the  northern  on  the  south- 
ern parts  of  Europe,  in  those  elder  ages,  when  so  to  sivarm  out  was  more 
frequent  with  them,  were  inspired  with  a  valiant  contempt  of  life,  by  the 
opinion  wherein  their  famous  Odin  instructed  them:  "That  their  death 
was  but  an  entrance  into  another  life,  wherein  they  who  died  in  warlike 
actions,  were  bravely  feasted  with  the  god  of  war  for  ever;"  'tis  inex- 
pressible how  much  the  courage  of  those  fierce  mortals  was  fortified  by 
that  opinion. 

But  when  Sir  William  Pliips  was  asked  by  some  that  observed  his 
"valiant  contempt  of  death,"  what  it  was  that  made  him  so  little  afraid 
of  dying,  he  gave  a  better  grounded  account  of  it  than  those  Pagans  could ; 
his  answer  was,  "I  do  humbly  believe,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shed  his 
precious  blood  for  me,  by  his  death  procuring  my  j)eace  with  God:  and 
what  should  I  now  be  afraid  of  dying  for?" 

But  this  leads  me  to  mention  the  humhle  and  modest  carriage  in  him 
towards  other  men,  which  accompanied  this  his  piet3^  There  were  certain 
pomps  belonging  to  the  several  places  of  honour  through  which  he  passed ; 
'pomps  that  are  very  taking  to  men  of  little  souls:  but  although  he  rose  from 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  221 

SO  little^  yet  he  discovered  a  marvellous  contempt  of  those  airy  things,  and, 
as  far  as  he  handsomely  could,  he  declined  being  ceremoniously,  or  any 
otherwise  than  with  a  Dutch  modesty,  waited  upon.  And  it  might  more 
truly  be  said  of  him,  than  it  was  of  Aristides,  "He  was  never  seen  the 
prouder  for  any  honour  that  was  done  him  from  his  countrymen." 

Hence,  albeit  I  have  read  that  complaint,  made  by  a  worthy  man,  "I 
have  often  observed,  and  this  not  without  some  blushing,  that  even  good 
people  have  had  a  kind  of  shame  upon  them  to  acknowledge  their  low 
beginning,  and  used  all  arts  to  hide  it,  I  could  never  observe  the  least  of 
that  fault  in  this  worthy  man;  but  he  would  speak  of  his  own  low  hegin- 
ning  with  as  much  freedom  and  frequency,  as  if  he  had  been  afraid  of 
having  it  forgotten. 

It  was  counted  an  humility  in  King  Agathocles,  the  son  of  a  potter,  to 
be  served  therefore  in  earthen  vessels,  as  Plutarch  hath  informed  us:  it 
was  counted  an  humility  in  Archbishop  Willigis,  the  son  of  a  Wheelright, 
therefore  to  have  wheels  hung  about  his  bed-chamber,  with  this  inscription, 
Recole  unde  Veneris,  i.  e.  "Remember  X\xy  original."  But  such  was  the 
Immility  and  loiclmess  of  this  rising  vian!  Not  only  did  he  after  his  return 
to  his  country  in  his  greatness,  one  day,  make  a  splendid  feast  for  the 
shiji-carjjenters  o^  Boston,  among  whom  he  was  willing  at  his  table  to  com- 
memorate the  mercy  of  God  unto  him,  who  had  once  been  a  ship-carpenter 
himself,  but  he  would  on  all  occasions  permit,  3^ea,  study  to  have  his  mean- 
nesses remembered. 

Hence,  upon  frequent  occasions  of  uneasiness  in  his  government,  he 
would  chuse  thus  to  express  himself:  "Gentlemen,  were  it  not  that  I  am 
to  do  service  for  the  publick,  I  should  be  much  easier  in  returning  unto 
my  broad-ax  again !"  And  hence,  according  to  the  affable  courtesie  which 
he  ordinarily  used  unto  all  sorts  of  persons,  (quite  contrary  to  the  asperitij 
w^hich  the  old  proverb  expects  in  the  raised,)  he  would  particularly  when 
sailing  in  sight  of  Kennebeck,  with  armies  under  his  command,  call  the 
young  soldiers  and  sailors  upon  deck,  and  speak  to  them  after  this  fashion: 
"Young  men,  it  was  upon  that  hill  that-I  kept  sheep  a  few  years  ago;  and 
since  you  see  that  Almighty  God  has  brought  me  to  something,  do  you 
learn  to  fear  God,  and  be  honest,  and  mind  3^our  business,  and  tbllow  no 
bad  courses,  and  you  don't  know  what  5^ou  may  come  to!"  A  temper  not 
altogether  unlike  what  the  advanced  shepherd  had,  when  he  wrote  the 
twenty-third  Psalm;  or  when  he  imprinted  on  the  coin  of  his  kingdom 
the  remembrance  of  his  old  condition;  for  Christianus  Gerson,  a  Christian- 
ized Jew,  has  informed  us  that  on  the  one  side  of  David's  coin  were  to  be 
seen  his  old  pouch  and  crook,  the  instrument  of  shepherdy;  on  the  other 
side  were  enstamped  the  towers  of  Zion. 

In  fine,  our  Sir  William  was  a  person  of  so  sweet  a  temper,  that  they 
who  were  most  intimately  acquainted  with  him,  would  commonly  pro- 
nounce him,  "The  best  conditioned  gentleman  in  the  world!"     And  by  the 


222 


M  A  C  X  A  1. 1  A    C  II  U  I  S  T  I     A  M  E  \l  I  C  A  N  A ; 


continual  discoveries  and  expressions  of  such  a  temper,  he  so  gained  the 
hearts  of  them  wlio  waite<I  upon  him  in  any  of  his  expeditions,  that  they 
would  commonly  profess  themselves  willing  still,  "to  have  gone  with  him 
to  the  end  of  the  world." 

But  if  all  other  people  found  him  so  kind  a  neighbour,  we  may' easily 
infer  what  an  husband  he  was  unto  his  lady.  Leaving  unmentioned  that 
virtue  of  his  chastity,  which  the  prodigious  depravation  brought  by  the 
late  reigns  upon  the  manners  of  the  nation  has  made  worthy  to  be  men- 
tioned as  a  virtue  somewhat  extraordinary,  I  shall  rather  pass  on  to  sa}^, 
that  the  love,  even  to  fondness,  with  which  he  always  treated  her,  was  a 
matter  not  only  o^  observation,  but  even  of  such  admiraiion,  that  every  one 
said,  "the  age  afforded  not  a  kinder  husband!" 

But  we  must  now  return  to  our  story. 

§  19.  When  persons  do  by  studies  full  of  curiosity  seek  to  inform  them- 
selves of  things  about  which  the  God  of  Ileaven  hath  forbidden  our  curious 
enquiries,  there  is  a  marvellous  imjyression,  which  the  danaons  do  often  make 
on  the  minds  of  those  their  votaries,  about  the  future  or  secret  matters 
unlawfully  enquired  after,  and  at  last  there  is  also  an  horrible  j^ossession, 
which  those  Fatidic  dwmons  do  take  of  them.  The  snares  of  hell,  hereby 
laid  for  miserable  mortals,  have  been  such,  that  when  I  read  the  laws  which 
Angellius  affirms  to  have  been  made,  even  in  Pagan  Eome,  against  the 
Vaticinatores,'^  I  wonder  that  no  English  nobleman  or  gentleman  signalizes 
his  regard  unto  Christianity,  by  doing  what  even  a  Roman  Tully  Avould 
have  done,  in  promoting  an  Act  of  Parliament  against  that  Paganish 
practice  of  judicial  astrolorjy,  whereof,  if  such  men  as  Austin  were  now  liv- 
ing, they  would  assert,  "  The  devil  first  found  it,  and  they  that  profess  it 
are  enemies  of  truth  and  of  God." 

In  the  mean  time,  I  cannot  but  relate  a  wonderful  experience  of  Sir 
AVilliam  Phips,  by  the  relation  whereof  something  of  an  antidote  may  be 
given  against  a.  j^oison  which  the  diahoWcal  ff/ure-jlinyers  and  fortune-tellers 
that  swarm  all  the  world  over  may  insinuate  into  the  minds  of  men. 
Long  before  Mr.  Phips  came  to  be  Sir  William,  while  he  sojourned  in 
London,  there  came  into  his  lodging  an  old  astrologer,  living  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood; who,  making  some  ohservation  of  him,  though  he  had  small  or 
no  conversation  with  him,  did  (howbeit  by  him  wholly  undesircd)  one  day 
send  him  a  pa])er,  wherein  he  had,  with  pretences  of  a  rule  in  astrology  for 
each  article,  distinctly  noted  the  most  material  passages  that  were  to  befal 
this  our  Phips  in  the  remaining  part  of  his  life;  it  was  particularly  asserted 
and  inserted,  that  he  should  be  engaged  in  a  design,  wherein,  by  reason 
of  enemies  at  Court,  he  should  meet  with  much  delay;  that  nevertheless 
in  the  t/iirtt/seventh  year  of  his  life,  he  should  find  a  mighty-treasure ;  that 
in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  life,  his  King  should  employ  him  in  as  great  a 
trust  beyond  sea  as  a  subject  could  easily  have;  that  soon  after  this  he  should 

•  AsU'oIogcrs. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  223 

undergo  an  hard  storm  from  the  endeavours  of  his  adversaries  to  reproach 
him  and  ruin  him;  that  his  adversaries,  though  they  should  go  very 
Tiear  gaining  the  point,  should  yet  miss  of  doing  so;  that  he  should  hit 
upon  a  vastly  richer  matter  than  any  he  had  hitherto  met  withal ;  that  he 
should  continue  thirteen  years  in  his  publick  station,  full  of  action  and  full 
of  hurry ;  and  the  rest  of  his  days  he  should  spend  in  the  satisfaction  of 
2i  peaceable  retirement. 

Mr.  Phips  received  this  undesired  paper  with  trouble  and  with  contempt, 
and  threw  it  by  among  certain  loose  papers  in  the  bottom  of  a  trunk, 
where  his  lady  some  years  after  accidentally  lit  upon  it.  His  lady  with 
admiration  saw,  step  after  step,  very  much  of  it  accomplished ;  but  when 
she  heard  from  England  that  Sir  William  was  coming  over  with  a  commis- 
sion to  be  governour  of  New-England,  in  that  very  year  of  his  life  which 
the  paper  specified,  she  was  afraid  of  letting  it  lye  any  longer  in  the  house, 
but  cast  it  into  the^re. 

Now,  the  thing  which  I  must  invite  my  reader  to  remark  is  this,  that 
albeit  Almighty  God  may  permit  the  devils  to  predict^  and  perhaps  to  per- 
form very  many  particular  things  to  men,  that  shall  by  such  a  "presump- 
tuous and  unwarrantable  juggle  as  astrology"  (so  Dr.  Hall  well  calls  it!) 
or  any  other  divination,  consult  them,  yet  the  devils  which  foretel  many  true 
things,  do  coinmonly  foretel  some  that  are  false,  and,  it  may  be,  propose  by 
the  things  that  are  true  to  betray  men  into  some  fatal  misbelief  and  mis- 
carriage about  those  that  are  false. 

Very  singular  therefore  was  the  wisdom  of  Sir  William  Phips,  that  as 
he  ever  treated  these  prophesies  about  him  with  a  most  pious  neglect,  so 
when  he  had  seen  all  but  the  two  last  of  them  very  punctually  fulfilled, 
yea,  and  seen  the  beginning  of  a  fulfilment  unto  the  last  hut  one  also,  yet 
when  I  pleasantly  mentioned  them  unto  him,  on  purpose  to  try  whether 
there  were  any  occasion  for  me  humbly  to  give  him  the  serious  advice 
necessary  in  such  a  case  to  anticipate  the  devices  of  Satan,  he  prevented 
my  advice,  by  saying  to  me,  "Sir,  I  do  believe  there  might  be  a  cursed 
snare  of  Satan  in  those  prophesies:  I  believe  Satan  might  have  leave  to 
foretel  many  things,  all  of  which  might  come  to  pass  in  the  beginning,  to 
lay  me  asleep  about  such  things  as  are  to  follow,  especially  about  the  main 
chance  of  all;  I  do  not  know  but  I  am  to  die  this  year:  for  my  part,  by 
the  help  of  the  grace  of  God,  I  shall  endeavour  to  live  as  if  I  were  this 
year  to  die."     And  let  the  reader  now  attend  the  event! 

§  20.  'Tis  a  similitude  which  I  have  learned  from  no  less  a  person  than 
the  great  Basil:  that  as  the  eye  sees  not  those  objects  which  are  applied 
close  unto  it,  and  even  lye  upon  it;  but  when  the  objects  are  to  some  dis- 
tance removed,  it  clearly  discerns  them:  so  we  have  little  sense  of  the 
good  which  Ave  have  in  our  enjoyments,  until  God,  by  the  removal  thereof, 
teach  us  better  to  prize  what  we  once  enjoyed.  It  is  true,  the  generalit}^ 
of  sober  and  thinking  people  among  the  New-Englanders,  did  as  highly 


22i 


M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


value  the  government  of  Sir  William  Phips  whilst  he  lived,  as  they  do  his 
memory  since  his  death ;  nevertheless,  it  must  be  eonfessed,  that  the  bless- 
ino-  which  the  country  had  in  his  indefatigable  zeal  to  serve  the  publick 
in  all  its  interests,  was  not  so  valued  as  it  should  have  been. 

It  was  mentioned  long  since  as  a  notorious  fault  in  Old  Egypt,  that  it 
was  Loquax  et  ingeniosa  in  contumeliani  j^rtefectorum  2J^'ovincia:  si  quis  forte 
vitaverit  cidpam,  contumdiam  non  effugitr''  and  New-England  has  been  at 
the  best  always  too  fliulty,  in  that  very  character,  "a  province  very  talk- 
ative, and  ingenious  for  the  vilifying  of  its  publick  servants." 

But  Sir  William  Phips,  who  might  in  a  calm  of  the  commonwealth  have 
administered  all  things  with  as  general  an  acceptance  as  any  that  have 
gone  before  him,  had  the  disadvantage  of  being  set  at  helm  in  a  time  as 
full  of  storm  as  ever  that  province  had  seen;  and  the  people  having  their 
spirits  put  into  a  tumult  by  the  discomposing  and  distempering  variety  of 
disasters,  which  had  long  been  rendring  the  time  calamitous,  it  was  natural 
for  them,  as  'tis  for  all  men  then^  to  be  complaining ;  and  you  may  be  sure, 
the  rulers  must  in  such  cases  be  always  complained  of,  and  the  chief  com- 
plaints must  be  heaped  upon  those  that  are  commanders  in  cliief.  Nor  has 
a  certain  proverb  in  Asia  been  improper  in  America,  "He  deserves  no 
man's  good  word,  of  whom  every  man  shall  speak  well." 

Sir  William  was  very  hardly  handled  (or  tongued  at  least)  in  the  liberty 
which  people  took  to  make  most  unbecoming  and  injurious  reflections 
upon  his  conduct,  and  clamour  against  him,  even  for  those  verj'  actions 
which  were  not  only  necessary  to  be  done,  but  highly  beneficial  unto  them- 
selves; and  though  he  would  ordinarily  smile  at  ihe'ir  frowardness,  calling 
it  his  country  pa7j,  yet  he  sometimes  resented  it  with  some  uneasiness;  he 
seemed  unto  himself  sometimes  almost  as  bad  as  rolled  about  in  Eegulus' 
barrel;  and  had  occasion  to  think  on  the  Italian  proverb,  "To  wait  for 
one  who  does  not  come;  to  lye  a  bed  not  able  to  sleep;  and  to  find  it 
impossible  to  please  those  whom  we  serve;  are  three  griefs  enough  to 
kill  a  man." 

But  as  froward  as  the  people  were,  under  the  epidemical  vexations  of  the 
age,  yet  there  were  very  few  that  would  acknowledge  unto  the  very  last, 
"It  will  be  hardly  possible  for  us  to  see  another  governour  that  shall  more 
intirely  love  and  serve  the  country:"  yea,  had  the  country  had  the  choice 
of  their  own  governour,  'tis  judged  their  votes,  more  than  fortv  to  one, 
would  have  still  fiillen  upon  him  to  have  been  the  man :  and  the  General 
Assembly  therefore  on  all  occasions  renewed  their  petitions  unto  the  King 
for  his  continuance. 

Nevertheless,  there  was  a  little  party  of  men  who  thought  they  must 
not  "sleep  till  they  had  caused  him  to  flill:"  and  they  so  vigorously  prose- 
cuted cerlain  articles  before  the  Council-board  at  Whitehall  against  him, 

•  A  provincr,  very  free-spoken  and  ingenious  in  dispnraping  its  public  offlccis:  so  thnt  if  one  of  them  should 
be  8o  fortunritH  as  to  avoid  ill  conduct,  he  would  not  be  lucky  enough  to  escape  an  ill  name. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  225 

thai  they  imagined  they  had  gained  an  order  of  his  Majesty  in  Council  to 
suspend  him  immediately  from  his  government,  and  appoint  a  committee 
of  persons  nominated  by  his  enemies,  to  hear  all  depositions  against  him; 
and  so  a  report  of  the  whole  to  be  made  unto  the  King  and  Council. 

But  his  Majesty  was  too  well  informed  of  Sir  William's  integrity  to 
permit  such  a  sort  of  procedure;  and  therefore  he  signified  unto  his  most 
honourable  Council  that  nothing  should  be  done  against  Sir  William,  until 
he  had  opportunity  to  clear  himself;  and  thereupon  he  sent  his  royal  com- 
mands unto  Sir  William  to  come  over.  To  give  any  retorting  accounts 
of  the  principal  persons  who  thus  adversaried  him,  would  be  a  thing  so 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Sir  William  Phips  himself,  who  at  his  leaving  of 
New-England  bravely  declared  that  he  "freely  forgave  them  all;"  and  if 
he  had  returned  thither  again,  would  never  have  taken  the  least  revenge 
upon  them,  that  this  alone  would  oblige  me,  if  I  had  no  other  obligations 
of  Christianity  upon  me,  to  forbear  it;  and  it  may  be,  for  some  of  them, 
it  would  be  "to  throw  water  upon  a  drowned  mouse." 

Nor  need  I  to  produce  any  more  about  the  articles  which  these  men 
exhibited  against  him,  than  tlbis:  that  it  was  by  most  men  believed  that, 
if  he  would  liave  connived  at  some  arhitrary  oppressions  too  much  used  by 
some  kind  of  officers  on  the  King's  subjects, /eat'  perhaps,  or  none  of  those 
articles  had  ever  been  formed;  and  that  he  apprehended  himself  to  be 
provided  with  a  full  defence  against  them  all. 

Nor  did  his  Excellency  seem  loth  to  have  had  his  case  tried  under  the 
brazen  tree  of  Gariac,  if  there  had  been  such  an  one  as  that  mentioned 
by  the  fabulous  Murtadi,  in  his  prodigies  of  Egypt,  a  tree  which  had  iron 
branches  with  sharp  hooks  at  the  end  of  them,  that  when  any  false  accuser 
approached,  as  the  fabel  saj^s,  immediately  flew  at  him,  and  stuck  in  him, 
until  he  had  ceased  injuring  his  adversary.  » 

Wherefore,  in  obedience  unto  the  King's  commands,  he  took  his  leave 
of  Boston  on  the  seventeenth  of  November,  1694,  attended  with  all  proper 
testimonies  of  respect  and  honour  from  the  hody  of  the  people,  which  he 
had  been  the  head  unto;  and  with  addresses  unto  their  Majesties,  and  the 
chief  Ministers  of  State  from  the  General  Assembly,  humbly  imploring 
that  they  might  not  be  deprived  of  the  happiness  which  they  had  in 
such  an  head. 

Arriving  at  Whitehall,  he  found  in  a  few  days  that,  notwithstanding  all 
the  impotent  rage  of  his  adversaries,  particularly  vented  and  printed  in  a 
villanous  libel,  as  well  as  almost  in  as  many  other  ways  as  there  are  mouths, 
at  which  Fyal  sometimes  has  vomited  out  its  infernal  fires,  he  had  all 
human-e  assurance  of  his  returning  in  a  very  few  weeks  again  the  governour 
of  New-England. 

Wherefore  there  were  especially  two  designs,  full  of  service  to  the  whole 
English  nation,  as  well  as  his  own  particular  country  of  New-England, 
which  he  applied  his  thoughts  unto.  First,  he  had  a  new  scene  of  action 
Vol.  I.— 15 


226  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

opened  unto  him,  in  an  opportunity  to  supply  the  Crown  with  all  naval 
stores  at  most  cask  rates,  from  those  eastern  parts  of  the  Massachuset  prov- 
ince, which,  through  the  conquest  that  he  had  made  thereof,  came  to  be 
inserted  in  the  Massachuset-charter.  As  no  man  was  more  capable  than 
he  to  improve  this  opportunity  unto  a  vast  advantage,  so  his  inclination  to 
it  was  according  to  his  capacity. 

And  he  longed  with  some  impatience  to  see  the  King  furnished  from 
his  own  dominions  with  such  floating  and  stately  castles,  those  "wooden- 
walls  of  Great  Britain,"  for  much  of  which  he  has  hitherto  traded  with 
foreign  kingdoms.  Next,  if  I  may  say  next  unto  this,  he  had  an  eye  upon 
Canada ;  all  attempts  for  the  reducing  whereof  had  hitherto  proved  abortive. 

It  was  but  a  few  months  ago  that  a  considerable  fleet,  under  Sir  Francis 
Wheeler,  which  had  been  sent  into  the  West-Indies  to  subdue  Martenico, 
was  ordered  then  to  call  at  New-England,  that  being  recruited  there,  they 
might  make  a  further  descent  upon  Canada;  but  Heaven  frowned  upon 
that  expedition,  especially  by  a  terrible  sickness,  the  most  like  X\\q  plague 
of  any  thing  that  has  been  ever  seen  in  America,  whereof  there  died,  ere 
they  could  reach  to  Boston,  as  I  was  told  by  Sir  Francis  himself,  no  less 
than  thirteen  hundred  sailors  out  of  twenty-one,  and  no  less  than  eighteen 
hundred  soldiers  out  of  twenty-four. 

It  was  now  therefore  his  desire  to  have  satisfied  the  King  that  his  whole 
interest  in  America  la}'-  at  stake  while  Canada  was  in  French  hands;  and 
therewithal  to  have  laid  before  several  noblemen  and  gentlemen  how  ben- 
eficial an  undertaking  it  would  have  been  for  them  to  have  pursued  the 
Canadian-business,  for  which  the  New-Englanders  were  now  grown  too 
feeble;  their  country  being  too  far  now,  as  Bede  says  England  once  was, 
Omni  Milite  etfioridce  Juventutis  Alacritate  spoliata* 

Besides  these  tivo  designs  in  the  thoughts  of  Sir  William,  there  was  a 
third,  which  he  had  hopes  that  the  King  would  have  given  him  leave  to 
have  pursued,  after  he  had  continued  so  long  in  his  government,  as  to  have 
obtained  the  more  general  welfare  which  he  designed  in  the  former  instances. 
I  do  not  mean  the  making  of  New-England  the  seat  of  a  Spanish  trade, 
though  so  vastly  profitable  a  thing  was  likely  to  have  been  brought  about 
by  his  being  one  of  an  honourable  company  engaged  in  such  a  project. 

But  the  Spanish  wreck,  where  Sir  William  had  made  his  first  good 
voyage,  was  not  the  only,  nor  the  richest  wreck,  that  he  knew  to  be  lying 
under  the  water.  He  knew  particularly  that  when  the  ship  which  had 
Governour  Boadilla  aboard,  was  cast  away,  there  was,  as  Peter  Martyr 
says,  an  entire  table  of  gold  of  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  ten  pound 
weight. 

The  Duke  of  Albermarle's  patent  for  all  such  wrecks  now  expiring,  Sir 
William  thought  on  the  motto  which  is  upon  the  gold  medal,  bestowed 
by  the  late  King,  with  his  Knightliood  upon  him.  Semper  Tihi  pendeat 

*  Drained  of  all  iU  soldiery  and  it8  young  and  active  citizens. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  2g7 

Hamus;*  and  supposing  himself  to  have  gained  sufficient  information  of 
the  right  way  to  such  a  wreck,  it  was  his  purpose,  upon  his  dismission 
from  his  government,  once  more  to  have  gone  unto  his  old  fishing -trade^ 
upon  a  mighty  shelf  of  rocks  and  banks  of  sands  that  lye  where  he  had 
informed  himself. 

But  as  the  prophet  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  in  their  psalm  upon  the  grants 
made  unto  their  people  by  the  Emperors  of  Persia,  have  that  reflection, 
"Man's  breath  goeth  forth,  he  returns  to  his  earth;  in  that  very  day  his 
thoughts  perish,"  my  reader  must  now  see  what  came  of  all  these  consid- 
erable thoughts.  About  the  middle  of  Februar^^,  1694,  Sir  William  found 
himself  indisposed  with  a  cold,  which  obliged  him  to  keep  his  chamber; 
but  under  this  indisposition  he  received  the  honour  of  a  visit  from  a  very 
eminent  person  at  Whitehall,  who  upon  sufficient  assurance,  bade  him 
"Get  well  as  fast  as  he  could,  for  in  one  month's  time  he  should  be  again 
dispatched  away  to  his  government  of  New-England." 

Nevertheless,  his  distemper  proved  a  sort  of  malignant  feaver,  whereof 
many  about  this  time  died  in  the  city ;  and  it  suddenly  put  an  end  at  once 
unto  his  days  and  thoughts^  on  the  eighteenth  of  February ;  to  the  extream 
surprize  of  his  friends,  who  honourably  interred  him  in  the  church  of  St. 
Mary  Woolnoth,  and  with  him,  how  much  of  New  England's  happiness! 

§  21.  Although  he  has  now  "no  more  a  portion  for  ever  in  any  thing 
that  is  done  under  the  sun,"  yet  justice  requires  that  his  memory  he  not  for- 
gotten. I  have  not  all  this  while  said  he  loas  ficultless,  nor  am  I  unwilling 
to  use  for  him  the  words  which  Mr.  Calamy  had  in  his  funeral  sermon  for 
the  excellent  Earl  of  Warwick,  "It  must  be  confessed,  lest  I  should  prove 
a  flatterer,  he  had  his  infirmities,  which  I  trust  Jesus  Christ  has  covered 
with  the  robe  of  his  righteousness:  my  prayer  to  God  is,  that  all  his  infirm- 
ities may  be  buried  in  the  grave  of  oblivion,  and  that  all  his  virtues  and 
graces  may  supervive;"  although  perhaps  there  were  no  infirmities  in  that 
noble  person,  which  Mr.  Calamy  counted  so. 

Nevertheless,  I  must  also  say,  that  if  the  anguish  of  his  publick  fatigues 
threw  Sir  William  into  any  faults  of  passion,  they  were  h\itf:adts  oiijassion 
soon  recalled:  and  sjwts  being  soonest  seen  in  ermin^  there  was  usually  the 
most  made  of  them  that  could  be,  by  those  that  were  least /ree  themselves. 

After  all,  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  been,  by  any  personal  obligations 
or  circumstances,  charmed  into  any  partiality  for  the  memory  of  this 
worthy  man ;  but  I  do  here,  from  a  real  satisfaction  of  conscience  concern- 
ing him,  declare  to  all  the  world,  that  I  reckon  him  to  have  been  really  a 
very  worthy  man;  that  few  men  in  the  world,  rising  from  so  mean  an 
original  as  he,  would  have  acquitted  themselves  with  a  thousandth  part 
of  his  capacity  or  integrity ;  that  he  left  unto  the  world  a  notable  example 
of  a  disposition  to  do  good^  and  encountred  and  overcame  almost  invincible 
temptations  in  doing  it. 

*  Let  the  barb  hang  from  thee  always. 


2^3  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 

And  I  do  most  solemnly  profess,  that  I  have  most  conscientiously 
endeavoured  the  utmost  sincerity  and  veracity  of  a  Christian,  as  well  as 
an  historian,  in  the  history  which  I  have  now  given  of  him.  I  have  not 
written  of  Sir  William  Phips,  as  they  say  Xenophon  did  of  Cyrus,  Non 
(id  Ilidorkt  Fukm,  sed  ad  Ejjigiem  veri  imperii:*  what  shoidd  have  been, 
rather  tlian  what  really  was.  If  the  envy  of  his  few  enemies  be  not  now 
quiet,  I  must  freely  say  it,  that  for  many  weeks  before  he  died,  there  was 
not  one  man  among  his  persojial  enemies  whom  he  would  not  readily  and 
chearfully  have  done  all  the  kind  offices  of  a  friend  unto:  wherefore, 
though  the  gentleman  in  England  that  once  published  a  vindication  of 
Sir  William  Phips  against  some  of  his  enemies,  chose  to  put  the  name  of 
publicans  upon  them,  they  must  in  this  be  counted  worse  than  the  Public- 
ans of  whom  our  Saviour  says,  "They  love  those  that  love  them." 

And  I  will  say  this  further,  that  when  certain  persons  had  found  the 
shdl  of  a  dead  man^  as  a  Greek  writer  of  epigrams  has  told  us,  they  all 
fell  a  weeping,  but  only  one  of  the  company,  who  laughed  and  flouted, 
and  through  an  unheard-of  cruelty,  threw  stones  at  it,  which  stones  won- 
derfully rebounded  back  upon  the  fiice  of  him  that  threw  them,  and 
miserably  wounded  him:  thus,  if  any  shall  be  so  unchristian — ^yea,  so 
inhumane — as  libellously  to  throw  stones  at  so  deserved  a  reputation  as  this 
gentleman  has  died  withal,  they  shall  see  ajtisi  rebound  of  all  their  calumnies. 
But  the  name  of  Sir  William  Phips  will  be  heard  honourably  men- 
tioned in  the  trumpets  of  immortal  fame,  when  the  names  of  many  that 
antipathied  him  will  either  be  buried  in  eternal  oblivion,  without  any 
sacer  vates\  to  preserve  them;  or  be  remembered,  but  like  that  of  Judas 
in  the  gospel,  or  Pilate  in  the  creed,  with  eternal  infamy. 

The  old  Persians  indeed,  according  to  the  report  of  Agathias,  exposed 
their  dead  friends  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  Avild  beasts,  believing  that  if  they 
lay  long  nmcorricd,  they  had  been  umvorthy  persons;  but  all  attempts  of 
surviving  malice  to  demonstrate  in  that  way  the  worth  of  this  dead  gen- 
tleman, give  me  leave  to  rate  off  with  indignation. 

And  I  must  with  a  like  freedom  say,  that  great  was  the  fault  of  New 
England  no  more  to  value  a  person  whose  opjwrtunities  to  serve  all  their 
interests,  though  very  eminent,  yet  were  not  so  eminent  as  his  inclinations 
If  this  whole  continent  carry  in  its  very  name  of  America  an  unaccount 
able  ingratitude  unto  that  brave  man  who  first  led  any  numbers  of  Euro 
pcans  thither,  it  must  not  be  wondred  at,  if  now  and  then  a  particular 
country  in  that  continent    afford  some  instances  of  ingratitude:    but  I 
must  believe  that  the  ingratitude  of  many,  both  to  God  and  man,  for 
such  benefits  as  that  country  of  New-England  enjoyed  from  a  governour 
of  their  own,  by  whom  they  enjoyed,  great  quietness^  with  very  worthy  deeds 
done  itnto  that  nation  by  his  providence,  was  that  which  hastned  the  removal 
of  such  a  benefactor  from  them. 

•  Not  wilh  historic  accuracy,  but  to  illustrate  his  idea  of  a  well-governed  empire.         +  Consecrated  bard. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  229 

However,  as  the  Cyprians  buried  their  friends  in  hoyiey^  to  whom  they 
gave  gall  when  they  were  born ;  thus  whatever  gall  might  be  given  to  this 
gentleman  while  he  lived,  I  hope  none  will  be  so  base  as  to  put  any  thing 
but  honey  into  their  language  of  him  now  after  his  decease.  And,  indeed, 
since  'tis  a  frequent  thing  among  men  to  wish  for  the  presence  of  our  friends, 
when  they  are  dead  and  gone,  whom,  while  they  were  present  with  us,  we 
undervalued;  there  is  no  way  for  us  to  fetch  back  our  Sir  William  Phips, 
and  make  him  yet  living  with  us,  but  by  setting  up  a  statue  for  him,  as 
'tis  done  in  these  pages,  that  may  out-last  an  ordinary  monument. 

Such  was  the  original  design  of  erecting  statues^  and  if  in  Venice. there 
were  at  once  no  less  than  an  hundred  and  sixty-two  marble,  and  twenty- 
three  brazen  statues,  erected  by  the  order,  and  at  the  expence  of  the  pub- 
lick,  in  honour  of  so  many  valiant  soldiers,  who  had  merited  well  of  that 
commonwealth,  I  am  sure  New-England  has  had  those  whose  merits  call 
for  as  good  an  acknowledgment;  and,  whatever  they  did  hefore,  it  will  be 
well,  if  after  Sir  William  Phips,  they  find  many  as  meritorious  as  he  to  be 
BO  acknowledged. 

Now  I  cannot  my  self  provide  a  better  statue  for  this  memorable  per- 
son, than  the  words  uttered  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  in  a  very  great 
assembly,  by  a  person  of  so  diffused  and  embalmed  a  reputation  in  the 
church  of  God,  that  such  a  character  from  him  were  enough  to  immor- 
talize the  reputation  of  the  person  upon  whom  he  should  bestow  it. 

The  Grecians  employed  still  the  most  honourable  and  considerable  per- 
sons they  had  among  them,  to  make  a  funeral  oration  in  commendation 
of  soldiers  that  had  lost  their  lives  in  the  service  of  the  publick:  and 
when  Sir  William  Phips,  the  Captain-General  of  New-England,  who  had 
often  ventured  his  life  to  serve  the  publick,  did  expire,  that  reverend  per- 
son, who  was  the  president  of  the  only  University  then  in  the  English 
America,  preached  a  sermon  on  that  passage  of  the  sacred  writ,  Isa.  Ivii. 
1:  "Merciful  men  are  taken  away,  none  considering  that  the  righteous 
are  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come ;"  and  it  gave  Sir  William  Phips 
the  following  testimony: 

"This  province  is  beheaded,  and  lyes  a  bleeding.  A  Governour  is  taken  away,  who  was  a 
merciful  man;  some  think  too  merciful;  and  if  so,  'tis  best  erring  on  that  hand;  and  a  right- 
eous man ;  who,  when  he  had  great  opportunities  of  gaining  by  injustice,  did  refuse  to  do  so. 

"He  was  a  known  friend  unto  the  best  interests  and  unto  the  Churches  of  God:  not 
ashamed  of  owning  them.  No:  how  often  have  I  heard  him  expressing  his  desires  to  be  an 
instrument  of  good  unto  them !  He  was  a  zealous  lover  of  his  country,  if  any  man  in  the 
world  were  so:  he  exposed  himself  to  serve  it;  he  ventured  his  life  to  save  it:  in  thai,  a  true 
Nehemiah,  a  governour  that  "sought  the  welfare  of  his  people." 

"He  was  one  who  did  not  seek  to  have  the  government  cast  upon  him:  no,  but  instead 
thereof,  to  my  knowledge,  he  did  several  limes  petition  the  King  that  this  people  might  always 
enjoy  the  'great  privilege  of  chusing  their  own  governour;'  and  I  heard  him  express  hia 
desires  that  it  might  be  so  to  several  of  the  chief  ministers  of  state  in  the  Court  of  England. 

"He  is  now  dead,  and  not  capable  of  hemg  flaltered :  but  this  I  must  testifie  concerning 
him,  that  though  by  the  providence  of  God  I  have  been  with  him  at  home  and  abroad,  near 


230 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


at  home  iind  afar  oi\\  by  land  and  by  sea,  I  never  saw  him  do  any  evil  action,  or  heard  him 
sjwak  any  thing  unbecoming  a  Christian. 

"Tlie  eireiiinstiuices  of  his  death  seem  to  intimate  the  anger  of  God,  in  that  he  was  'in 
tlie  midst  of  his  days'  removed;  and  I  know  (though  feiv  did)  that  he  had  great  purposes  in 
liis  heart,  wliich  probably  would  have  taken  effect,  if  he  had  lived  a  few  months  longer,  to 
the  great  advantaf^e  of  tliis  province;  but  now  he  is  gone,  there  is  not  u  man  living  in  the 
world  capacitated  for  those  undertakings;  New-England  knows  not  yet  what  they  have  lost!" 
The  recitation  of  a  testimony  so  great,  whether  for  the  author  or  the  mat- 
ter of  it,  has  now  made  a  statue  for  the  governour  of  New-England,  which 

Nee  poterit  Ferrum,  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas.* 

And  there  now  remains  nothing  more  for  me  to  do  about  it,  but  only 
to  recite  herewithal  a  well-known  story  related  by  Suidas,  That  an  envious 
man,  once  going  to  pull  down  a  statue  which  had  been  raised  unto  the 
memory  of  one  whom  he  maligned,  lie  only  got  this  by  it,  that  the  statue, 
falling,  knocked  out  his  brains. 

But  Poetry  as  well  as  History  must  pay  its  dues  unto  him.  If  Cicero's 
poem,  intituled,  ^'Quadrigce,^'  wherein  he  did  with  a  poetical  chariot  extol  the 
exploits  of  CjBsar  in  Britain  to  the  very  skies,  were  now  extant  in  the  world, 
I  would  have  borrowed  some  flights  of  that  at  least,  for  the  subject  now  to 
be  adorned.     But  instead  thereof,  let  the  reader  accept  the  ensuing  Elegy. 

UPON    THE    DEATH    OF    SIR    WILLIAM    PHIPS,    KNT. 

LATE   CAPTAIN   GENERAL  AND  GOVERNOUR    IN  CHIEF  OF    THE    PR0\aNCE  OF  THE  MASSACHUSET-BAY  EN 
NEW-ENGLAND,  WHO  EXPIRED  AT  LONDON,  FEBRUARY,  16W-5. 

And  to  Mortality  a  sacrifice 

Falls  he,  whose  deeds  must  him  immortalize! 


Rejoice,  Messieurs ;  Netops,  rejoice;  'tis  true, 
Ye  Philistines,  none  will  rejoice  but  yau  ; 
Loving  of  all  he  dy'd;  who  love  Ann  not 
Now,  have  the  grace  of  publicans  forgot. 
Our  Altnanacks  foretold  a  great  eclipse, 
This  they  foresaw  not,  of  our  yreater  Phips. 
Piiips  oiu'  great  friend,  our  wonder,  and  our  glory, 
The  terror  of  our  foes,  the  world's  rare  story. 
England  will  boast  him  too,  whose  noble  mind 
Impfll'd  by  Angels,  did  those  treasures  find, 
I.iiiig  In  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  laid. 
Which  her  three  hundi-ed  thousand  richer  made, 
Uy  silver  yet  ne'er  canker'd,  nor  defil'd 
By  Honour,  nor  betrayed  when  Fortune  smil'd. 
Since  this  bright  Pho'bus  visited  o>ir  shoar. 
We  saw  nofoffs  b\it  what  were  rais'd  before: 
Those  vanisli'd  too;  harass'd  by  bloody  wars, 
tlur  land  saw  peace,  by  his  most  generous  cares, 
The  wolfish  Pagans,  at  his  dreaded  name, 
Tum'd,  shrunk  before  him,  and  his  dogs  became! 
Fell  Moxus  and  fierce  Dock.iwando  fall, 
Charm'd  at  the  feet  of  our  brave  general. 

Fly-blow  the  dead,  pale  Envy:  let  him  not 
(What  hero  ever  did?)  escape  a  blot. 
AH  is  distort  with  an  inchanled  eye. 
And  hcigtith  will  make  what's  ri<rtit  still  stand  awry. 
He  was— Oh  that  he  was  !—i\m  faults  we'll  tell, 
Such  faults  as  these  we  knew,  and  lik'd  them  well. 

Just  to  an  inj\iry ;  denying  none 
Their  dues;  but  sclf-denyinir  oft  his  own. 

(Jood  to  a  miracle;  resolv'd  to  do 
Cood  unto  all,  whether  they  would  or  no. 
To  make  us  good,  grout,  wise,  and  all  things  else. 
He  wanted  but  the  ffift  of  miracles. 
On  him,  vain  .VnA,  thy  mischiefs  cense  to  throw; 
Jlart,  but  alone  in  this,  the  times  were  so. 

Stoul  lo  a  prodigy  ;  living  in  pain 
To  senil  back  Qiiebeck-bullets  once  again. 
Thunder,  his  musick,  sweeter  than  the  spheres, 
Chim'd  roaring  canons  in  his  martial  ears. 
Frigata  of  armed  men  could  not  withstand. 


'Twas  tryed,  the  force  of  his  one  swordless  hand — 

Hand,  which  in  one,  all  of  Briareus  had. 

And  Herculus'  twelve  toils  but  pleasures  made. 

Too  humble ;  in  brave  stature  not  So  tall, 
As  low  in  carriage,  stooping  unto  all. 
Rais'd  in  estate,  in  flgui'e  and  renown, 
Notprjrfe;  higher,  and  yet  not  prouder  grown. 
Of  pardons  full;  ne'er  to  revenge  at  all. 
Was  that  which  he  would  satisfaction  call. 

True  to  his  mate;  from  whom  though  often  flown, 
A  stranger  yet  to  every  love  but  one. 
Write  him  not  childlest,  whose  whole  people  were 
Sons,  orphans  now,  of  his  paternal  care. 

Now  lest  ungiateful  brands  we  should  incur. 
Your  salary  we'll  pay  in  tears,  great  Sir! 

To  England  often  blown,  and  by  his  Prince 
Often  sent  laden  with  preferments  thence. 
Preferr'd  each  time  he  went,  when  all  was  done 
That  earth  could  do,  heaven  fetch'd  him  to  a  crown. 

'Tis  he:  with  him  interr'd  how  great  designs! 
Stand  fearless  now,  ye  eastern  firs  and  pines. 
With  naval  stoies  not  to  enrich  the  nation. 
Stand,  for  the  universal  conflagration. 
Mines,  opening  unto  none  but  him,  now  stay 
Close  under  lock  and  key,  till  the  last  day : 
In  this,  like  to  Ow  grand  aurifick  stone, 
By  any  bnl  great  souls  not  to  be  known. 
And  thou,  rich  table,  with  Bodilla  lost. 
In  the  fair  (!aleon,  on  our  Spanish  coast. 
In  weight  three  thousand  and  three  hundred  pound, 
But  of  pure  massy  gold,  lye  thou,  not  found. 
Safe,  since  he's  laid  under  the  earth  asleep, 
Who  learned  where  thou  dost  under  water  keep. 
But  thou,  chief  loser,  poor  New-Enoland,  speak 
Thy  dues  to  such  as  did  thy  welfare  seek. 
The  governour  that  vowed  to  rise  and  fall 
With  Ihec,  thy  fate  shows  in  his  funeral. 
Write  now  his  epitaph,  'twill  be  thine  own, 
Let  it  be  this,  a  pibuck  spirit's  gone. 
Or,  hut  name  Pnips  ;  more  needs  not  be  exprest; 
Both  Englaiids,  and  next  ages,  tell  the  rest. 


•  "Nor  sword,  nor  rust  of  time  shall  e"or  destroy."— Ovid.  Mcltmorph.  xv. 


P  O  L  Y  B  I  U  S . 

THE  THIRD  BOOI 


THE  NEW-ENGLISH  HISTORY: 


CONTAINING 


THE    LIVES 


MANY  REVEREND,  LEARNED,  AND  HOLY  DIVINES, 


(ARRIVING  SUCH  FROM  EUROPE  TO  AMERICA,) 


BY  WHOSE  EVANGELICAL  MINISTRY  THE  CHURCHES  OF  N.  ENGLAND  HAVE  BEEN  ILLUMINATED. 


BY    COTTON    MATHER. 


Testor, Christlanum  ds  Christiana  vera  proferre. 

[I  bear  witness  that  a  Christian  here  relates  the  truth  concerning  other  Christians.] 

TIavTwv  Kara  Ocov  voXirtvaanevcov  'o  /Jiof  roi'f  ivacPtaiv  ^bxpiKifidyraTOi,  ^v^  vzoieiyfia  jiovov 
dXXa  KOI  TrapaxXijiTif ,  virap^uj'  irpoi  dptrrjii. — Simeon  Metaphrast.  in  Vit&  Chrysostomi. 

[The  lives  of  those  who  rule  in  the  fear  of  God  are  profitable  to  pious  men,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
not  only  exemplai-s  of  virtue,  but  incentives  to  it.] 

Equidem  efferor  studio  Patres  vestros,  quos  eolui,  et  dilexi,  videndi. 
["I  am  transported  with  a  desire  to  see  your  fathers,  whom  I  have  cherished  and  loved."] 

CiciSRO,  de  Sencctute. 


HARTFORD: 

SILAS    ANDEUS    &    SON. 
1853. 


\ 


INTRODUCTION. 


What  was  it  that  obliged  Jerom  to  write  his  book,  De  Viris  Illustribus  ?*  It  was  the  com- 
mon reproach  of  old  cast  upon  the  Christians,  "That  they  were  all  poor,  weak,  unlearned 
men."  The  sort  of  men  sometime  called  Puritans,  in  the  English  nation  have  been 
reproached  with  the  same  character;  and  as  a  malignant  Stapleton  counted  the  terms  of  an 
ass,  and  a,  fool,  good  enough  to  treat  our  incomparable  Whitaker.  No  less  basely  are  the 
best  of  Protestants  often  termed  and  thought,  by  the  men  who  know  no  Christianity  but 
ceremony.  There  hath  been  too  much  of  that  envy,  that  Sapientior  sis  Socraie,  Doctior 
Augustino,  Cahenianus  si  modd  dicare,  clam,  vel  propalam,  max  Tartaris,  Moscis,  Afris, 
Turcisque  sccvientibus,  jacehis  execraiior.f  A  wretchedness  often  seen  in  English;  I  shall 
not  English  it.  This  is  one  thing  that  has  laid  me  under  obligation  here  to  write  a  bookt 
De  Viris  Illustribus:  in  the  whole  whereof  I  will,  with  a  most  conscientious  and  religious 
regard  of  truth,  save  our  history  from  any  share  in  that  old  complaint  of  Melchior  Canus, 
Dolenter  hoc  dico,  muUb  d  Laerlio  severius  Vitas  Philosophorum  scriptas  esse,  qudm  d  Chris- 
lianis.  Vitas  Christianorum  :\  the  lives  of  philosophers  more  truly  written,  than  the  lives  of 
Christians. 

Reader,  behold  these  examples;  admire  and  follow  what  thou  dost  behold  exemplary  in 
them.  They  are  offered  unto  the  publick,  with  the  intention  sometimes  mentioned  by  Greg- 
ory: Ut  qtd  Prccceptis  non  accendimur,  sallem  Exemplis  incitemur;  atque  ac  Appelilu  Recti- 
tudinis  nil  sibi  mens  nostra  difficile  ccstimel,  quod perfecte  peragi  ab  aliis  videt:^  that  patterns 
may  have  upon  us  the  force  which  precepts  have  not. 

If  a  man  were  so  .ibsurd  as  to  form  his  ideas  of  the  primitive  Christians  from  the  mon- 
strous accusations  of  their  adversaries,  he  would  soon  perswade  himself,  that  their  God  was 
the  Deus  Christianorum  Anonychites,\\  whose  im;tge  was  erected  at  Rome.  And  if  a  man 
should  have  no  other  ideas  of  the  Puritan  Christians  in  our  days,  than  what  the  tory-pens  of 
the  sons  of  Bolsecus  have  given  them,  we  would  think  that  it  was  a  just  thing  to  banish 
them  into  the  cold  swamps  of  the  North-America.  But  when  truth  shall  have  liberty  to 
speak,  it  will  be  known,  that  Christianity  never  was  more  expressed  unto  the  life,  than  in 
the  lives  of  the  persons  that  have  been  thus  reproached  among  the  legions  of  the  accuser  of 
the  brethren.  It  speaks  in  the  ensuing  pages !  Here,  behold  them,  of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy,  wandring  in  desarts! 

Arnobius  was  put  upon  an  apology,  against  our  particular  calumny,  among  the  rest,  "  That 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Christians,  a  dog,  tyed  unto  the  candlestick,  drew  away  the  light, 
whereupon  they  proceeded  unto  the  most  adulterous  confusions  in  the  world."    And  a  great 

•  Concerning  Illustrious  Men. 

t  Though  you  are  wiser  than  Socrates,  more  accomplished  than  Augustine,  if  you  are  only  called  a  Calvinistt 
secretly  or  openly,  you  will  soon  be  more  execrably  odious  than  Tartars,  Muscovites,  Moors,  and  bloody  Turks. 

X  I  confess  with  grief,  that  the  Lives  of  Philosophers  are  written  by  Laertius  with  a  far  more  strict  adherence 
to  truth,  than  the  Lives  of  Christians  by  Christians. 

I  So  that,  if  not  influenced  by  precepts,  we  may  be  affected  by  examples,  and  that  in  our  zeal  for  virtue  wo 
may  esteem  nothing  too  difficult  for  us  to  achieve,  which  has  already  been  exemplified  by  others. 

I  The  God  without  claws. 


234: 


INTRODUCTION. 


ni:in  in  his  writings  does  affirm,  "I  have  heard  this  very  thing,  told  more  than  once,  with  no 
small  confidence  concerning  the  Puritans." 

Reader,  thou  shalt  now  see  what  sort  of  men  they  were:  Zion  is  not  a  city  of  fools.  As 
Ignatius,  in  his  famous  epistles  to  the  Trallians,  mentioning  their  pastor,  Polybius,  reports 
him,  "A  man  of  so  good  and  just  a  reputation,  that  the  very  Atheists  did  stand  in  fear  of 
him,"  I  hope  our  Polybius,  will  afford  many  deserving  such  a  character. 

It  was  mentioned  as  the  business  and  blessedness  of  John  Baptist,  "  To  turn  the  hearts 
of  the  fathers  to  the  children."  After  a  deal  of  more  ado  about  the  sence  of  the  passage 
thus  translated,  I  contented  my  self  with  another  translation,  "  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
fathers  with  the  children;"  because  I  find  the  preposition,  Wi,  as  well  as  the  prafix  3,  in 
Mai.  iv.  6,  whence  the  passage  is  t;iken,  to  be  rendred  ivith,  rather  than  to.  The  sence  there- 
fore I  took  to  be,  that  John  should  convert  both  old  and  young.  But  further  thought  hath 
offered  unto  me  a  further  gloss  upon  it:  "to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  childreti," 
is  to  turn  the  children  by  putting  the  hearts  oi  the  fathers  into  them;  to  give  them  such  hearts 
as  were  in  Abraham,  and  others  of  their  famous  and  faithful /ai/iers. 

Reader,  the  book  now  in  thy  hands  is  to  manage  the  design  of  a  John  Baptist,  and  convey 
tlie  hearts  of  the  fathers  unto  the  children. 

Archilocus  being  desirous  to  give  prevailing  and  effectual  advice  unto  Lycambes,  by  an 
elegant  Prosopopctia,  brought  in  his  dead  father,  as  giving  the  advice  he  was  now  writing, 
and  as  it  were  put  his  pen  into  h\s  father'' s  hands.  Cicero  being  to  read  a  lecture  of  temper- 
ance  and  modesty  unto  Clodia,  raised  up  her  father  Appius  Caius  from  the  grave,  and  in  his 
name  delivered  his  directions.  And  now  by  introducing  the  fathers  of  Neic-England,  with- 
out the  least  fiction,  or  figure  of  rhetonck,  I  hope  the  plain  history  of  their  lives  will  be  a 
powerful  way  of  propounding  their  fatherly  counsels  to  their  posterity.  A  stroke  with  the 
hand  of  a  dead  man,  has  before  now  been  a  remedy  for  a  malady  not  easily  remedied. 


THE    THIRD    BOOK. 
DE    VIRIS    ILLUSTRIBUS. 

IN   FOUR   PARTS. 

CONTAININ& 

THE    LIVES    OF    NEAR    FIFTY    DIVINES, 

CONSIDERABLE  IN  THE  CHURCHES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

Credunt  de  nobis  qua  non  probantur,  et  nolunt  inquiri,  ne  prohentur  non  esse,  qua  malunt 
credidisse* — Tert.  Apol. 

Having  entertained  my  readers  with  a  more  imperfect  catalogue  "Of 
many  persons  whose  memories  deserve  to  be  embalmed  in  a  civil  history  f 
I  must  so  far  consider,  that  it  is  an  ecclesiastical  history  which  I  have  under- 
taken, as  to  hasten  unto  a  fuller  and  larger  account  of  those  persons  who 
have  been  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  that  fed  the  "flocks  in  the  wilder- 
ness;" and,  indeed,  New-England  having  been  in  some  sort  an  ecclesias- 
tical country  above  any  in  this  world,  those  men  that  have  here  appeared 
most  considerable  in  an  ecclesiastical  capacity,  may  most  reasonably  chal- 
lenge the  most  consideration  in  our  history. 

Take  then  a  catalogue  of  New-England's  first  ministers,  who,  though 
they  did  not  generally  affect  the  exercise  of  church-government,  as  confined 
unto  classes,  yet  shall  give  me  leave  to  use  the  name  of  classes  in  my  mar- 
shalling of  them. 

THE   FIRST   CLASSIS. 

I,t  shall  be  of  such  as  were  in  the  actual  exercise  of  their  ministry  when 
they  left  England,  and  were  the  instruments  of  bringing  the  gospel  into 
this  wilderness,  and  of  settling  churches  here  according  to  the  order  of 
the  gospel. 

Duntyxi  omon:  or,  our  FIRST  GOOD  MEN. 

Mr.  Timothy  Dalton,  of  Hampton. 

"  John  Davenport,  of  JVew-Haven, 

"  Richard  Denton,  of  Stamford. 

"  Henry  Dunstar,  of  Cambridge. 

"  Samuel  Eaton,  of  J^ew-Haven, 

"  John  Elliot,  of  Roibury. 

"  John  Fisk,  of  Chelmsford. 

"  Henry  Flint,  of  Braintree. 

"  Fordham,  of  Southampton, 

"  Green,  of  Reading. 

«  John  Harvard,  of  Charles-town. 

"  Francis  Higginson,  of  Salem. 

•  They  [the  people  of  Rome]  believe  of  us  [Christians]  things  that  are  not  proved,  and  the  truth  of  which 
they  are  reluctant  to  test,  lest  they  should  find  that  to  be  false  which  they  love  to  believe. 


1. 

Mr 

Thomas  Allen,  of  Charles-town, 

13. 

2. 

" 

John  Allen,  of  Dedham. 

14. 

3. 

" 

Avery,  of  Marblehead. 

15. 

4. 

(1 

Adam  Blackman,  of  Stratford. 

16. 

5. 

" 

Richard  Blinman,  of  Olocester. 

17. 

6. 

u 

Brucy,  of  Brainford. 

18. 

7. 

(( 

Edmund  Brown,  of  Sudbury. 

19. 

8. 

" 

Peter  Bulkly,  of  Concord. 

20. 

9. 

" 

Jonathan  Burr,  of  Dorchester. 

21. 

10. 

ti 

Charles  Chaimcey,  of  Scituate. 

22. 

11. 

(1 

Thomas  Cobbet,  of  Lyn. 

23. 

12. 

" 

John  Cotton,  «/  Boston. 

24. 

236 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

25. 

Mr 

Willinm  Hook,  of  Xetc-Haven. 

52. 

Mr 

Philips,  of  Dedham. 

26. 

It 

Thotniis  IIciokiT,  of  Hartfurd, 

53. 

" 

Abraham  Piersoii,  of  Southampton. 

27. 

<t 

Pct<T  llobnrt,  of  tJin/rham. 

54. 

" 

Peter  Prudden,  of  Milford 

28. 

u 

£|iliraiin  lliifl,  of  M'indsor. 

55. 

" 

Re)  tier,  of  Plymouth. 

29. 

u 

Hull,  of  the  Isif  of  ShoUi. 

56. 

» 

Ezckiel  RoRers,  of  Rowly. 

30. 

u 

Jumcs,  of  Charles-totcn. 

57. 

" 

Nathaniel  Rogers,  of  Ipswich. 

31. 

u 

Jones,  of  Fairfield. 

58. 

" 

Saxton,  of  Scituale. 

32. 

w 

KiiiRht,  of  Topfficld. 

59. 

" 

Thomas  Shepard,  of  Cambridge. 

33. 

" 

KnowU'N  of  Ifatertoan. 

60. 

" 

Zachary  Symms,  of  Charlcs-tovon. 

34. 

« 

l.fverick,  of  Sandmich. 

61. 

" 

.Skelton,  of  Salem. 

35. 

u 

John  I.nllirop,  of  HarnatabU. 

62. 

" 

Ralph  Smith,  of  Plymouth. 

36. 

tl 

Richard  Miilher,  of  Dorchester. 

63. 

" 

Smith,  of  Hetherjfield. 

37. 

u 

Muud,  of  Dorer. 

64. 

" 

Samuel  Slone,  of  Hartford. 

38. 

u 

Muverick,  of  Dorchester. 

65. 

" 

Nicholas  Street,  of  ..Vew-Haven. 

39. 

« 

John  Miiyo,  of  lioston. 

66. 

u 

William  Thompson,  of  Braintree. 

40. 

" 

John  Milliir,  of  Yarmouth. 

67. 

<( 

William  Waltham,  of  Marblehcad. 

41. 

u 

Moxon,  of  fijiringfidd. 

68. 

" 

Nalhanael  Ward,  o/  Jpstcich,  aiid  his  soni 

42. 

« 

Samuel  Newman,  of  Rehoboth. 

Mr.  John  Ward,  of  Haverhil. 

43. 

u 

Norris,  of  Salem. 

69. 

u 

John  Warham,  of  Windsor. 

44. 

<( 

John  Norton,  of  Boston. 

70. 

" 

Weld,  of  Koibury. 

45. 

« 

James  Noyse,  of  JVewberry. 

71. 

'• 

Wheelright,  of  Salisbury. 

46. 

« 

ThomiiS  Piirkcr,  of  JVeirberry. 

72. 

" 

Henry  Whitfield,  of  Guilford. 

47. 

" 

Ralph  PurtiidRe,  of  Duibury. 

73. 

" 

Samuel  Whileing,  of  l.yn. 

48. 

u 

Peck,  of  Hingham. 

74. 

" 

John  Wilson,  of  Boston. 

49. 

" 

Hufih  Peters,  of  Salem. 

75. 

" 

Witherel,  of  Scituate. 

50. 

" 

Thomas  Peters,  of  Say  brook 

76. 

t( 

William  Worcester,  of  Salisbury. 

51. 

" 

Goorye  Phillips,  of  IVaterteicn. 

77. 

" 

Young,  of  Southold. 

Behold,  one  seven  more  than  seven  clecads  of  persons,  who,  being  devoted 
unto  the  sacred  ministry  of  our  Lord,  were  the  first  that  enlightened  the 
dark  regions  of  America  with  their  ministry!  Know,  reader,  that  it  was 
by  a  particular  diversion  given  by  the  hand  of  Heaven  unto  the  intentions 
of  that  great  man,  Dr.  William  Ames,  that  we  don't  now  find  his  name 
among  the  first  in  the  catalogue  of  our  New-English  worthies.  One  of  the 
most  eminent  and  judicious  persons  that  ever  lived  in  this  world,  was 
tnfen</o?2a?/_y  a  New-England  man,  though  not  evcntualhj^  when  that  j^nybunc?, 
that  sublime,  that  subtil,  that  irrefragable, — yea,  that  angelical  doctor,  was 
designing  to  transport  himself  into  New-England;  but  he  was  hindred  by 
that  Providence  which  afterwards  permitted  his  widow,  his  cliildren,  and 
his  library,  to  be  translated  hither.  And  now,  "our  fathers,  where  are 
they?  These  prophets,  have  they  lived  for  ever?"  'Twas  the  charge  of 
the  Almighty  to  other  Kings,  "Touch  not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my 
prophets  no  harm?''  But  the  King  of  Terrors,  pleading  an  exemption 
from  that  charge,  has  now  touched  every  one  of  these  holy  men;  however, 
all  the  harm  it  has  done  unto  them,  has  been  to  carry  them  from  this  pres- 
ent evil  world  unto  the  "spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  I  may  now 
write  upon  all  these  old  ministers  of  New-England  the  epitaph  which  the 
apostle  hath  left  upon  the  priests  of  the  Old  Testament,  "These  were  not 
suffered  to  continue,  by  reason  of  death  ;"  adding  the  clause  which  he  hath 
left  upon  the  patriarchs  of  that  Testament,  "These  all  died  in  faith." 

Wherefore  we  pass  on  to 

THE   SECOND   CLASSIS. 

It  shall  be  of  young  scholars,  whose  education  for  their  designed  ministry 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


231 


not  being  finished,  yet  came  over  from  England  witk  tlieir  friends,  and 
had  their  education  perfected  in  this  country,  before  the  College  was  come 
unto  maturity  enough  to  bestow  its  laurels. 


1.  Mr.  Samul  Arnold,  of  Marshjield. 

2.  "  John  Bishop,  of  Stamford. 

3.  "  Edward  Bulkly,  of  Concord. 

4.  "  Carter,  of  fVoburn. 

5.  "  Francis  Dean,  of  Andover. 

6.  "  James  Filch,  of  JSTorwich. 

7.  "  Hunford,  of  J^orwalk. 


8.  Mr.  John  Higginson,  of  Salem. 

9.  "   Hough,  of  Reading. 

10.  "   James,  of  Easthampton. 

11.  "   Roger  Newton,  of  Mi! ford. 

12.  «   John  Sherman,  of  fVatertown. 

13.  "   Thomas  Thacher,  of  Boston. 

14.  "  John  Woodbridge,  of  J^'ewherry. 


Of  these  two  sevens.,  almost  all  are  gone,  where  to  be  is,  hyfar,  the  lest  of 
all.  But  these  were  not  come  to  an  age  for  service  to  the  church  of  God, 
before  the  wisdom,  and  prudence  of  the  New-Englanders  did  remarkably 
signifie  it  self,  in  the  founding  of  a  college,  from  whence  the  most  of 
their  congregations  were  afterwards  supplied;  "  a  river,  the  streams  whereof 
made  glad  the  city  of  God."  From  that  hour  Old  England  had  more  min- 
isters from  New.,  than  our  New-England  had  since  then  from  Old;  never- 
theless after  a  cessation  of  ministers  coming  hither  from  Europe,  for  twenty 
years  together,  we  had  another  set  of  them,  "coming  over  to  help  us;" 
wherefore  take  yet  the  names  of  two  sevens  more. 

We  will  now  proceed  unto 

THE   THIRD   CLASSIS. 

It  shall  be  of  such  ministers  as  came  over  to  New-England  after  the 
re-establishment  of  the  -£^^:)wcopaZ-church-government  in  England,  and  the 
liersecidion  which  then  hurricanoed  such  as  Avere  non-conformists  unto  that 
establishment. 


1.  Mr.  James  Allen,  of  Boston. 

2.  "   John  Bailey,  of  Ji'atcrtoicn. 

3.  "   Thomas  Baily,  of  li'atertoicn. 

4.  "   Barnet,  «/ JV"e«)-Z,ontioTi. 

5.  "   James  Brown,  of  Sicanscy. 

6.  "   Thomas  Gilbert,  of  Topsficld. 

7.  "   James  Koilh,  of  Bridgcwater. 


8.  Mr.  Samuel  Lee,  of  Bristol. 

9.  "  Charles  Morton,  of  Charles-town. 

10.  »  Charles  Nicholet,  of  Salem. 

11.  "  John  Oxenbridge,  of  Boston. 
Vi.  "  Thomas  Thornton,  of  Yarmouth. 

13.  "  Thomas  W^alley,  of  Barnstable. 

14.  "  William  Woodrop,  of  Lancaster. 


It  is  well  known  that,  quickly  after  the  revival  of  the  English  Hier- 
arch}^,  those  whose  consciences  did  not  allow  them  to  worship  God,  in 
some  ways  and  modes  then  by  laio  established,  were  pursued  with  a  violence 
which  doubtless  many  thousands  of  those  whom  the  Church  of  England, 
in  its  national  constitution,  acknowledges  for  her  sqns,  were  so  far  from 
approving  or  assisting,  that  they  abhorred  it.  "What  S2nrit  acted  the  party 
that  raised  this  persecution,  one  may  guess  from  a  passage  which  I  find  in 
a  book  of  Mr.  Giles  Firmius.  A  lady  assured  him  that  she,  signifying  unto 
a  parliament-man  her  dislike  of  the  "act  of  uniformity,"  when  they  were 
about  it,  and  saying,  "I  sec  you  are  laying  a  snare  in  the  gate,"  he  replied, 
"Ay,  if  we  can  find  any  way  to  catch  the  rogues,  we  will  have  them!" 
It  is  well  known  that  near  five-and-twenty  hundred  faithful  ministers  of 
the  Gospel  were  now  silenced  in  one  black  day,  because  they  could  not  com- 


238  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

ply  with  some  things,  by  themselves  counted  sinful,  but  by  the  imposers 
confessed  indifferent.  And  it  is  affirmed  that,  by  a  modest  calculation,  this 
persecution  procured  the  untimely  death  of  three  thousand  non-conformists, 
and  the  ruine  of  threescore  thousand  families,  within  five-and-twenty  years. 
Many  retired  into  New-England,  that  they  might  have  a  little  rest  at  noon, 
with  the  flocks  of  our  Lord  in  this  wilderness;  but  setting  aside  some 
eminent  persons  of  a  New-English  original,  which  were  driven  back  out 
of  Europe  into  their  own  country  again,  by  that  storm,  these  few  were 
the  most  of  the  ministers,  that  fled  hither  from  it.  I  will  not  presume  to 
give  the  reasons  why  no  more;  but  observing  a  glorious  providence  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  moving  the  stars  to  shine  where  they  were  most 
wanted,  I  will  conclude,  lamenting  the  disaster  of  New-England,  in  the 
interruption  which  a  particular  providence  of  Heaven  gave  unto  the 
designs  of  that  incomparable  person  Dr.  John  Owen,  who  had  gone  so  far 
as  to  ship  him  self,  with  intents  to  have  taken  this  country  in  his  way  to 
his  eternal  rest:  it  must  have  been  our  singular  advantage  and  ornament, 
if  we  had  thus  enjoyed  among  us  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  this  last 
age  produced. 

REMARKS, 

ESPECIALLY    UPON    THE    FIRST    CLASS,    IN    OUR    CATALOGUE    OF    MINISTERS. 

L  All,  or  most,  of  the  ministers  that  make  up  our  two  first  classes,  came 
over  from  England  within  the  two  first  lustres  of  years,  after  tlie  first  set- 
tlement of  the  country.  After  the  year  1640,  that  part  of  the  Church  of 
England  which  took  up  arms  in  the  old  cause  of  the  "long  Parliament," 
and  which,  among  all  its  parliament-men — commanders,  lord-lieutenants, 
major-generals,  and  sea-captains — had  scarce  any  but  conformists;  I  say, 
that  part  of  the  Church  of  England,  knowing  the  Puritans  to  be  generally 
inclinable  unto  those  principles  of  such  writers  as  Bilson  and  Hooker, 
whereupon  the  Parliament  then  acted;  and  seeing  them  to  be  generally 
of  the  truest  English  spirit,  for  the  preservation  of  the  English  liberties 
and  properties,  for  which  the  Parliament  then  declared,  (although  there 
were  some  non-conformists  in  the  King's  army  also:)  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  have  the  assistance  of  that  considerable  people.  Whereupon  ensued 
such  a  change  of  times,  that  instead  of  Old  England's  driving  its  best  people 
into  New,  it  was  it  self  turned  into  New.  The  body  of  the  Parliament  and 
its  friends,  which  were  conformists  in  the  beginning  of  that  miserable  war, 
before  the  war  was  ended,  became  such  as  those  old  non-conformists,  whose 
union  with  them  in  political  interests  produced  an  union  in  religious.  The 
Romanizing  Laudians  miscarried  in  their  cnterprize;  the  Anglicane  church 
could  not  be  carried  over  to  the  Gallicane.  This  was  not  the  first  instance 
of  a  shipwreck  beflilling  a  vessel  bound  for  Rome;  nor  will  it  be  the  last: 
a  vessel  bound  such  a  voyage  must  be  shipwrecked,  though  St.  Paul 
himself  were  aboard. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  239 

II.  The  occasion  upon  which  these  excellent  ministers  retired  into  an 
horrid  wilderness  of  America,  and  encountred  the  dismal  hardships  of  such 
a  wilderness,  was  the  violent  persecution  wherewith  a  prevailing  party  in 
the  Church  of  England  harassed  them.  In  their  own  land  they  were 
hereby  deprived,  not  only  of  their  livings^  but  also  of  their  liberty  to  exer- 
cise their  ministry,  which  was  dearer  to  them  than  their  livings — yea,  than 
their  very  lives:  and  they  were  exposed  unto  extreme  sufferings,  because 
they  conscientiously  dissented  from  the  use  of  some  things  in  the  worship 
of  Grod,  which  they  accounted  sins.  But  I  leave  it  unto  the  consideration 
of  mankind,  \Y\iQl\iQV  this,  forbidding  of  such  men  to  do  their  duty,  were  no 
ingredient  of  that  iniquity  which,  immediately  upon  the  departure  of  these 
good  men  brought  upon  Great  Britain,  and  especially  upon  the  greatest 
authors  of  this  persecution,  "a  wrath  unto  the  uttermost,"  in  the  ensuino- 
desolations.  All  that  I  shall  add  upon  it  is,  that  I  remember-  the  prophet, 
speaking  of  what  had  been  done  of  old  by  the  Assyrians  to  the  land  of 
the  Chaldieans,  uses  an  expression  which  we  translate,  in  Isa.  xxiii,  12 : 
"He  brought  it  unto  ruine:"  but  there  is  a  Punic  word,  Mapatra,  which 
old  Festus  (and  Servius)  afiEirm  to  signify  cottages;  according  to  Philar- 
gyrius,  it  signifies,  Casas  in  Eremo  hahitantium  :*  now  that  is  the  very  word 
here  used,  nSao  f  and  the  condition  of  cottagers  in  a  wilderness  is  meant  by 
the  ruine  there  spoken  of  Truly,  such  was  the  ruine  which  the  ceremoni- 
ous persecutors  then  brought  upon  the  most  conscientious  non-conformists 
unto  their  unscriptural  ceremonies.  But  as  the  "kingdom  of  darkness" 
uses  to  be  always  at  length  overthrown  by  its  own  policy^  so  will  be  at 
last  found  no  advantage  unto  that  party  in  the  Church  of  England,  that  the 
orders  and  actions  of  the  churches  by  them  thus  produced,  become  an  history. 

III.  These  ministers  of  the  gospel,  which  were  (without  any  odious  com- 
parison)  as  faithful,  painful,  useful  ministers  as  most  in  the  nation,  being 
thus  exiled  from  a  sinfid  nation,  there  were  not  known  to  be  left  so  many 
non-conformist  ministers  as  there  were  counties  in  England:  and  yet  they 
were  quickly  so  multiplied,  that  a  matter  of  twenty  years  after,  there 
could  be  found  far  more  than  twenty  hundred,  that  were  so  grounded  in 
their  non-conformity,  as  to  undergo  the  loss  of  all  things,  rather  than 
make  shipwreck  of  it.  When  Antiochus  commanded  all  the  boolcs  of  sacred 
Scripture  to  be  burrrt,  they  were  not  only  preserved,  but  presently  after 
they  appeared  out  of  their  hidden  places,  being  translated  into  the  Greek 
tongue,  and  carried  abroad  unto  many  other  patrons.  It  was  now  thought 
there  was  effectual  care  taken  to  destroy  all  those  men  that  made  these  boohs 
the  only  rule  of  their  devotions;  but,  behold,  they  presently  appeared  in 
greater  numbers,  and  many  other  nations  began  to  be  illuminated  by  them. 

IV.  Most,  if  not  all,  of  the  ministers  who  then  visited  these  regions,  were 
either  attended  or  followed  with  a  number  of  pious  people,  who  had  lived 
within  the  reach  of  their  ministry  in  England.     These,  who  were  now  also 

•  Cottages  of  dwellers  in  the  wilderness.  f  Desert  lodges. 


240  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

become  generally  non-conformists,  liaving  found  the  powerful  impressions 
of  those  good  men's  ministry  upon  their  souls,  continued  their  sincere 
affections  unto  that  ministry,  and  were  willing  to  accompany  it  unto  those 
utmost  "6nds  of  the  earth."  Indeed,  the  ministers  of  New-England  have 
this  always  to  recommend  them  unto  a  good  regard  with  the  Crown  of 
England,  that  the  most  flourishing  plantation  in  all  the  American  dominions 
of  that  crown,  is  more  owing  to  them  than  to  any  sort  of  men  whatsoever. 

V.  Some  of  the  ministers^  and  many  of  the  gentlemen  that  came  over  with 
the  ministers,  were  persons  of  considerable  estates;  who  therewith  chari- 
tably brought  over  many  poor  families  of  godly  people,  that  were  not  of 
themselves  able  to  bear  the  charges  of  their  transportation ;  and  they  were 
generally  careful  also  to  bring  over  none  but  gocUij  servants  in  their  own 
families,  who  afterwards,  by  God's  blessing  on  their  industry,  have  arrived, 
many  of  them,  unto  such  plentiful  estates,  that  they  have  had  occasion  to 
think  of  the  advice  which  a  famous  person  gave  in  a  public  sermon  at  their 
first  coming  over:  "You  (said  he)  that  are  servants,  mark  what  I  say:  I 
desire  and  exhort  you  to  be  kind  a  while  hence  unto  your  master's  chil- 
dren. It  won't  be  long  before  you  that  came  with  nothing  into  the  country, 
will  be  rich  men,  when  your  masters,  having  buried  their  rich  estates  in  the 
country,  will  go  near  to  leave  their  families  in  a  mean  condition ;  where- 
fore, when  it  shall  be  well  with  you,  I  charge  you  to  remember  them." 

VI.  The  ministers  and  Christians  by  whom  New-England  was  first 
planted,  were  a  chosen  company  of  men;  picked  out  of,  perhaps,  all  the 
counties  in  England,  and  this  by  no  humaji  contrivance,  but  by  a  strange 
toork  of  God  upon  the  spirits  of  men  that  were,  no  ways,  acquainted  with 
one  another,  inspiring  them,  as  one  man,  to  secede  into  a  wilderness,  they 
knew  not  zvhere,  and  suffer  in  that  wilderness,  they  knew  not  what.  It 
was  a  reasonable  expression  once  used  by  that  eminent  person,  the  pre- 
sent lieutenant-governour  of  New-England  in  a  very  great  assembly,  "God 
sifted  three  nations,  that  he  might  bring  choice  grain  into  this  wilderness." 

VII.  The  design  of  these  refugees,  thus  carried  into  the  wilderness,  was, 
that  they  might  there  "sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  their  God:"  it  was,  that 
they  might  maintain  the  power  of  godliness  and  practise  the  evangelical  toor- 
ship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  without  any  human 
innovations  and  impositions:  defended  by  charters,  which  at  once  gave 
them  so  far  the  protection  of  their  King,  and  the  election  of  so  many  of 
their  subordinate  rulers  under  him,  as  might  secure  them  the  undisturbed 
enjoyment  of  the  church-order  established  amongst  them.  I  shall  but 
repeat  the  words  once  used  in  a  sermon  preached  unto  the  general  court 
of  the  Massachuset-colony,  at  one  of  their  anniversary  elections: 

"The  question  w.is  often  put  unto  our  predecessors,  'What  went  ye  out  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  seel'  And  the  answer  to  it  is  not  only  too  excellent,  but  also  too  notorious,  to  be 
dissembled.  Let  all  mankind  know,  that  we  came  into  the  wilderness,  because  we  would 
worship  God  without  that  Episcopacy,  that  common-prayer,  and  those  unwarrantable  ceremO' 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  241 

nies,  with  which  the  'land  of  our  forefathers'  sepulchres'  has  been  defiled;  we  came  hither 
because  we  would  have  our  posterity  settled  under  the  pure  and  full  dispensations  of  the 
gospel;  defended  by  rulers  that  should  be  of  our  selves." 

VIII.  None  of  the  least  concerns  that  laj  upon  the  spirits  of  these  reform- 
ers, was  the  condition  of  their  posterity:  for  which  cause,  in  the  first  con- 
stitution of  their  churches,  they  did  more  generally  with  more  or  less 
expressiveness  take  in  their  children,  as  under  the  churchwatch  with  them- 
selves. They  also  did  betimes  endeavour  the  erection  of  a  College,  for 
the  training  up  of  a  successive  ministry  in  the  country;  but  because  it 
■was  likely  to  be  some  while  before  a  considerable  supply  could  be  expected 
from  the  college,  therefore  they  took  notice  of  the  younger,  hopeful  schol- 
ars, who  came  over  with  their  friends  from  England,  and  assisted  their 
liberal  education;  whereby  being  fitted  for  the  service  of  the  churches,' 
they  were  in  an  orderly  manner  called  forth  to  that  service.  Of  these  we 
have  given  you  a  number;  whereof,  I  think,  all  but  one  or  two  are  now 
gone  unto  their  fathers. 

IX.  Of  these  ministers,  there  were  some  few,  suppose  ten  or  a  dozen, 
that  after  divers  years  returned  into  England,  where  they  were  eminently 
serviceable  unto  their  generation ;  but  by  far  the  biggest  part  of  them 
continued  in  this  country,  "serving  their  generation  by  the  will  of  God." 
Moreover,  I  find  near  half  of  them  signally  blessed  with  sons,  who  did 
work  for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel ;  yea,  some 
of  them — as  Mr.  Chancy,  Mr.  Elliot,  Mr.  Hobart,  Mr.  Mather — had  (though 
not  like  E.  Jose,  a  wise  man  among  the  Jews,  of  whom  they  report  that 
he  had  eight  sons,  who  were  also  celebrated  for  wise  men  among  them; 
yet)  not  less  than  ^owr  or  Jive  sons  a  piece  thus  employed:  and  though  Mr. 
Parker,  living  always  a  single  man,  had  no  children,  yet  he  was  instru- 
mental to  bring  up  no  less  than  twelve  useful  ministers.  Among  the  Jews, 
they  that  have  been  instructed  by  another,  are  called  the  so7is  of  their 
instructor.  We  read,  "These  are  the  generations  of  Aaron  and  Moses;" 
when  we  find  none  but  the  sons  of  Aaron  in  the  enumerated  generations. 
But  in  the  Talmud,  it  is  thus  expounded,  Eos  Aaron  genuit,  Moses  vera 
docuit,  ideoque  ejus  nomine  censentur.*  (Thus  the  sons  of  Merob  are  called 
the  sons  of  Michael,  as  the  Talmud  judges,  because  by  her  educated.)  And 
on  this  account  no  less  than  twelve  were  the  sons  of  Mr.  Parker.  I  may 
add,  that  some  of  our  ministers,  having  their  sons  comfortably  settled, 
at  or  near  the  place  of  their  own  ministry,  the  people  have  thereby  seen  a 
comfortable  succession  in  the  affairs  of  Christianity;  thus,  the  writer  of 
this  history  hath,  he  knows  not  how  often,  seen  it;  that  his  grandfather 
baptized  the  grandparent,  his  father  baptized  the pare7it,  and  he  himself  has 
baptized  the  children  in  the  same  family. 

X.  In  the  beginning  of  the  country,  the  ministers  had  their  frequent 
meetings,  which  were  most   usually  after  their  publick   and  weekly  or 

*  These  were  begotten  by  Aaron,  but  educated  by  Moses,  and  therefore  bear  the  name  of  the  latter. 

Vol.  I.— 16 


242  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

monthly  lectures,  wlierein  they  consulted  for  the  welfare  of  their  churches; 
nor  had  they  ordinarily  any  difficulty  in  their  churches,  which  were  not 
in  these  meetings  offered  unto  consideration,  for  their  mutual  direction 
and  assistance;  and  these  meetings  are  maintained  unto  this  day.  The  pri- 
vate Christians  also  had  their  private  meetings,  wherein  they  would  seek 
the  face,  and  sing  the  praise  of  God;  and  confer  upon  some  questions  of 
practical  religion,  for  their  mutual  edification.  And  the  country  still  is 
full  of  those  little  meetings;  yet  they  have  now  mostly  left  off  one  circum- 
stance, which  in  those  our^mm/^iVe  times  was  much  maintained;  namely, 
their  concluding  of  their  more  sacred  exercises  with  suppers ;  whereof,  I 
sincerely  think,  I  cannot  give  a  better  account  than  Tertullian  gives  of  the 
suppers  among  the  faithful,  in  his  more  primitive  times:  "Therein  their 
spiritual  gains  countervailed  their  worldly  costs;  they  remembered  tlie 
poor,  they  ever  began  with  prayer  [and  other  devotions] ;  in  eating  and 
drinking  they  relieved  hunger,  but  showed  no  excess.  In  feeding  at  sup- 
per, they  remembered  they  were  to  pray  in  the  night.  In  their  discourse, 
they  considered  that  God  heard  them;  and  when  they  departed,  their 
behaviour  was  so  religious  and  modest,  that  one  would  have  thought  we 
had  rather  been  at  a  sermon  than  at  a  supper."  Our  private  meetings  of 
good  people  to  pray  and  praise  God,  and  hear  sermons,  either  preached 
perhaps  by  the  younger  candidates  for  the  ministry,  (who  here  use  to  form 
themselves,  at  their  entrance  into  their  work,)  or  else  repeated  by  exact 
writers  of  short  hand  after  their  pastors;  and  sometimes  to  spend  Avhole 
days  in  fasting  and  prayer,  especially  when  any  of  the  neighbourhood  are 
in  affliction,  or  when  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  table  is  approaching; 
those  do  still  abound  among  us;  but  tlie  meals  that  made  mcatings  of  them, 
are  generally  laid  aside.  I  suppose  'twas  with  some  eye  to  what  he  had 
seen  in  this  country,  that  Mr.  Firmin  has  given  this  report,  in  a  book 
printed  1G81: 

"Plain  meelianicks  fiave  I  known,  well  catechised,  and  humble  Christians,  excellent  in 
practical  piety:  they  kept  their«station,  did  not  aspire  to  be  preachers,  but  for  gifts  of  prayer, 
few  clergy-men  must  come  near  them.  I  have  known  some  of  thorn,  when  they  did  keep 
their  fasts,  (as  tliey  did  often,)they  divided  the  work  of  prayer;  the  first  begun  with  confes- 
sion; the  second  went  on  with  petition  for  themselves;  the  third  witli  petition  for  cimrch  and 
kingdom;  the  fourth  with  thanksgiving ;  every  one  kept  his  own  ])art,  and  did  m-t  meddle 
with  another  part.  Such  excellent  matter,  so  compacted  without  t^mtologies;  each  of  them 
for  a  good  time,  about  an  hour,  if  not  more,  a  piece;  to  the  wondering  of  those  which  joined 
with  them.  Here  was  no  reading  of  liturgies:  these  were  old  Jacob's  sons,  they  could 
wrestle  and  prevail  with  God." 

XI.  Besides  the  ministers  enumerated  in  the  three  classes  of  our  cata- 
logue, there  might  a  fourth  class  be  offered,  under  the  name  of  anomalies 
of  New- England.  There  have  at  several  times  arrived  in  this  countr}'- 
more  than  a  score  of  ministers  from  other  parts  of  the  world,  who  pi-oved 
either  so  erroneous  in  their  principles,  or  so  scandalous  in  their  practices, 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  243 

or  so  disagreeable  to  the  church  order  for  wliicli  the  country  was  planted, 
that  I  cannot  well  croud  them  into  the  company  of  our  worthies: 

Non  bene  conveniunt,  nee  in  una  sede  morantur.* 

And,  indeed,  I  had  rather  my  Church  History  should  speak  nothing,  than 
speak  not  ivell  of  them  that  might  else  be  mentioned  in  it:  being  entirely 
of  Plutarch's  mind,  that  it  is  better  it  should  never  be  said  there  was  such 
a  man  as  Plutarch  at  all,  than  to  have  it  said,  that  he  was  not  an  honest 
and  a  icorthy  man.  I  confess,  there  were  some  of  those  persons  whose 
names  deserve  to  live  in  our  book  for  ihQiv  piety,  although  their  particular 
opinions  were  such  as  to  be  disserviceable  unto  the  declared  and  supposed 
interests  of  our  churches.  Of  these  there  were  some  godly  Anabaptists; 
as  namely,  Mr.  Hanserd  Knollys,  (whom  one  of  his  adversaries  called 
Absurd  Knoioless,)  of  Dover,  who  afterwards  removing  back  to  London, 
lately  died  there,  a  good  man,  in  a  good  old  age.  And  Mr.  Miles,  of 
Swansey,  who  afterwards  came  to  Boston,  and  is  now  gone  to  his  rest. 
Both  of  these  have  a  respectful  character  in  the  churches  of  this  wilder- 
ness. There  were  also  some  godly  Episcopalians ;  among  whom  has  been 
commonly  reckoned  Mr.  Blackstone,  who,  by  happening  to  sleep  first  in 
an  hovel,  upon  a  point  of  land  there,  laid  claim  to  all  the  ground  where- 
upon there  now  stands  the  metropolis  of  the  whole  English  America,  until 
the  inhabitants  gave  him  satisfaction.  This  man  was,  indeed,  of  a  partic- 
ular humour,  and  he  would  never  join  himself  to  any  of  our  churches, 
giving  this  reason  for  it:  "I  came  from  England,  because  I  did  not  like 
the  lord-hishops ;  but  I  can't  join  with  you,  because  I  would  not  be  under  the 
lord-brethren.'^  There  were  some  likewise  that  fell  into  gross  miscarriages, 
and  the  hunter  of  souls  having  stuck  the  darts  of  some  extreme  disorder 
into  those  poor  hearts,  the  whole  flock  pushed  them  out  of  their  society. 
Of  these,  though  there  were  some  so  recovered  that  they  became  true 
penitents;  yet,  inasmuch  as  the  wounds  v/hich  they  received  by  their  falls 
were  not  in  all  regards  thoroughly  cured,  I  will  choose  rather  to  forbear 
their  names,  than  write  them  with  any  blots  upon  them.  For  the  same 
cause,  though  I  have  his  name  in  our  catalogue,  yet  I  will  not  say  ivhich 
of  them  it  was  that  for  a  while  became  a  Seeker,  and  almost  a  Quaker, 
and  seduced  a  great  part  of  his  poor  people  into  his  hewildring  errors;  at 
last  the  grace  of  God  recovered  this  gentleman  out  of  his  errors,  and  he 
became  a  very  good  and  sound  man,  after  his  recovery:  but,  alas!  it  was 
a  perpetual  sting  unto  his  penitent  soul,  that  he  could  not  now  reduce  his 
wandring  flock,  which  he  had  himself  seduced  into  the  most  unhappy 
aberrations.  They  wandred  on  obstinately  still  in  their  errors;  and  being 
irrecoverable,  he  was  forced  thereby  unto  a  removal  from  them,  taking 
the  charge  of  a  more  orthodox  flock,  upon  Long-Island. 

•  They  mate  not  well ;  they  sit  not  on  one  seat. 


244  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Nor  know  I  where  better  than  among  these  anomalies^  to  mention  one 
Mr.  Lenthiil,  whom  I  iind  a  minister  at  Weymouth,  about  the  year  1637. 

lie  had  been  one  of  good  report  and  repute  in  P^ngland ;  whereas,  here, 
he  not  only  had  imbibed  some  Antinomian  weaknesses,  from  whence  he  was 
by  conference  with  Mr.  Cotton  soon  recovered ;  but  also  he  set  himself  to 
oppose  the  way  oi  gathering  churches.  Many  of  the  common  people  eagerly 
fell  in  with  him,  to  set  up  a  church  state,  wherein  all  the  baptized  might  be 
communicants,  without  any  further  trial  of  them;  for  which  end  many 
hands  were  procured  unto  an  instrument,  wherein  they  would  have  declared 
against  the  New-England  design  of  church-reformation ;  and  would  have 
invited  Mr.  Lenthal  to  be  their  pastor,  in  opposition  thereunto, 

Mr.  Lenthal,  upon  the  discourses  of  the  magistrates  and  ministers  before 
the  General  Court,  who  quickly  checked  these  disturbances  by  sending 
for  him,  as  quickly  was  convinced  of  his  error  and  evil,  in  thus  disturbing 
the  good  order  of  the  country.  His  conviction  was  followed  with  his  con- 
fession; and  in  open  court  he  gave  under  his  hand  a  laudable  retractation; 
which  retractation  he  was  ordered  also  to  utter  in  the  assembly  at  Wey- 
mouth, and  so  no  further  censure  was  passed  upon  him. 

In  Four  Parts  we  will  now  pursue  the  design  before  us. 


JOHANNES   INEREMO.* 

MEMOIRS  RELATING  TO  THE  LIVES 

OF    THE    EVER-MEMORABLE 

MR.  JOHN  COTTON,  WHO  DIED  21  D.  10  M.  1652; 
MR.  JOHN  NORTON,  AVHO  DIED  5  D.  2  M.  1663; 
MR.  JOHN  WILSON,  WHO  DIED  7  D.  6  M.  1667; 
MR.  JOHN  DAVENPORT,  WHO  DIED  15  D.  1  M.  1670; 

Reverend  and  Renowned  .Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  all,  in  the  more  Immediate  Service  of  One  Church,  in  Bustoit, 

AND 

MR.  THOMAS  HOOKER,  WHO  DIED  7  D.  §  M.  1647, 

Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Hartford,  J^Tew- England. 

PRESERVED    BY    COTTON    MATHER. 

THE   FIRST  PART. 

Forte  nimis  Videor  Laudes  Cantare  Meorum; 
Forte  nimis  cineres  Videor  celelrare  repostos; 
Non  ita  me  Facilem  Sine  Vero  Credite  .'t 

TO    THE    READER. 

That  little  part  of  the  earth  which  this  age  has  known  by  the  name  of  New-England,  has 
been  an  object  of  very  signal  both/ro«'7zs  and  favours  of  Heaven.  Besides  those  "stars  of 
the  tirst  magnitude,"  which  did  sometimes  shine,  and  at  last  set  in  this  horizon,  there  have 
been  several  men  of  renown,  who  were  preparing  and  fully  resolved  to  transport  themselves 
hither,  had  not  the  Lord  seen  us  unworthy  of  more  such  mercies.  It  is  still  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  many  yet  living,  that  that  great  man,  Dr.  John  Owen,  had  given  order  for  his 
passage  in  a.  vessel  bound  for  Boston;  being  invited  to  succeed  the  other  famous  Johns,  who 
had  been  burning  and  shinirig  lights  in  that  which  was  the  first  candlestick  set  up  in  this 
populous  town:  but  a  special  providence  diverted  him.  Long  before  that,  Dr.  Ames  (whose 
family  and  whose  library  New-England  has  had)  was  upon  the  wing  for  tliis  American 
desart:  but  God  then  took  him  to  the  heavenly  Canaan.  Whether  he  left  his  fellow  upon 
earth  I  know  not:  such  acuteness  o?  judgment,  and  affectionate  zeal,  as  he  excelled  in,  sel- 
dom does  meet  together  in  the  same  person.  I  have  often  thought  of  Mr.  Paul  Bayne,  his 
farewel  words  to  Dr.  Ames,  when  going  for  Holland;  Mr.  Bayne  perceiving  him  to  be  a  man 
of  extraordinary  parts,  "Beware  (said  he)  of  a  strong  head  and  a  cold  heart."  It  is  rare  for 
a  scholastical  wit  to  be  joined  with  an  heart  warm  in  religion:  but  in  him  it  was  so.  He  has 
sometimes  said  that  he  could  be  willing  to  walk  twelve  miles  on  his  feet,  on  condition  he 
miglit  have  an  opportunity  to  freach  a  sermon:  and  he  seldom  did  preach  a  sermon  without 
tears.  When  he  lay  on  his  death-bed,  he  had  such  tastes  of  the  "first-fruits  of  glory,"  as  that 
a  learned  physitian  (who  was  a  Papist)  wondnng,  said,  Num  Protestantes  sic  solent  mori: 

*  John  Baptist  in  the  ■wildemesa. 

t  Perchance  I  now  shall  seem  to  overpraise  I  Believe  it  not !— believe  not  that  I  could 

My  kindred,  and  too  much  extol  their  dust.  |  So  easily  forsake  the  paths  of  Truth. 


246  M  AG  X  ALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA: 

(is  the  latter  end  of  Protestants  like  this  man's?)  But  although  some  excellent  persons  have 
by  a  divine  hand  been  kept  from  coming  into  these  "ends  of  the  earth,"  yet  there  have  beea 
others  who,  whilst  living,  made  tliis  land  (which  before  their  arrival  was  an  hell  of  darkness) 
to  be  a  place  full  of  light  and  glory;  amongst  whom  the  champions  whose  lives  are  here 
described  are  worthy  to  be  reckoned  as  those  that  have  attained  to  the  first  three. 

There  are  many  who  have  (and  some  to  good  purpose)  endeavoured  to  collect  the  memo- 
rable passages  that  have  occurred  in  the  lives  of  eminent  men,  by  means  whereof  posterity 
has  had  the  knowledge  of  them.  Ilierom  of  old,  wrote  De  Viris  Illustribus:  the  like  has 
been  done  by  Gennadius,  Epiphanius,  Isidore,  Prochorus,  and  other  ancient  authors.  Of 
later  times,  Schoptius,  his  Academia  Christi;  IMeursius,  his  Athcn-.c  Baiaicc ;  Verheiden,  his 
Elogia  Theal'igorujn,  Meichier  Adams,  Lives  of  Modern  Divines,  have  preserved  the  memo- 
ries of  some  that  did  wortliily,  and  were  in  their  day  famous.  There  are  two  learned  men 
who  have  verv  lately  engaged  in  a  service  of  tliis  nature,  viz:  Paulus  Freherus,  who  has 
published  two  volumes  in  folio,  with  the  title  of  Theatrum  virorum  Eriulilione  clarorum,  ad 
hccc  usque  Tempora*  He  proceeds  as  far  as  the  year  1680.  The  other  is  Henningus  Wit- 
ten,  who  has  written  Memoria  Theologorum  nostri  seculi.f  It  is  a  ti'iie  (yet  a  true)  assertion, 
that  historical  studies  are  both  profitable  and  pleasant.  And  of  all  historical  narratives,  those 
w  Inch  give  a  faithful  account  of  the  lives  of  eminent  saints,  must  needs  be  the  most  edifying. 
.The  gr(?atest  part  of  the  sacred  writings  are  historical;  and  a  considerable  part  of  them  is 
taken  up  in  relating  the  actions,  speeches,  exemplary  lives,  and  deaths,  of  such  as  had  been 
choice  instruments  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  to  promote  his  glory  in  the  world.  No  doubt 
but  that  the  commemoration  of  the  remarkable  providences  of  God  towards  his  servants,  will 
be  some  part  of  their  work  in  heaven  for  ever,  that  so  he  may  have  eternal  praises  for  the 
wonders  of  his  grace  in  Christ  towards  them.  It  must  needs  therefore  be,  in  it  self,  a  thing 
pleasing  to  God,  and  a  special  act  of  obedience  to  the  Fifth  Commandment,  to  endeavour  the 
preservation  of  the  names  and  honour  of  them  who  have  been  fathers  in  Israel.  On  which 
account,  I  cannot  but  rejoice  in  what  is  here  done.  Although  New-England  has  been 
favoured  with  many  faithful  and  eminent  ministers  of  God,  there  are  only  three  of  them  all 
whose  lives  have  been  as  yet  published,  viz:  Mr.  Cotton,  whose  life  was  written  by  his 
immediate  successor,  IMr.  Norton;  and  my  father  Mather,  whose  was  done  by  another  hand, 
and  is  republished  in  Mr.  Sam.  Clark's  last  volume;  and  Mr.  Eliot,  whose  was  done  by  the 
same  hand  which  did  these,  and  has  been  several  times  reprinted  in  London.  Here  the  reader 
has  presented  to  himyue  of  them  who  were  amongst  the  chief  of  *he/rt//iens  in  the  churches 
of  New-England.  The  same  hand  has  done  the  like  ottice  of  love  and  duty  for  many  others 
Avho  were  the  wwlhies  of  New-England,  not  only  in  the  churches,  but  in  thecuj'Z  state,  whom 
the  Lord  Christ  saw  meet  to  use  as  instruments,  in  planting  the  heavens,  and  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  earth,  in  this  new  world.  If  these  find  a  candid  acceptance,  those  may  pos- 
sibly see  the  light  in  due  time. 

Whether  what  is  herewith  emitted  and  written  by  my  son  be,  as  to  the  manner  of  it,  well 
performed,  I  have  nothing  to  say,  but  shall  leave  it  unto  others  to  judge,  as  they  shall  see 
cause;  only  as  to  the  matter  of  the  history,  I  am  ascertained  that  things  are  truly  related. 
For  although  I  had  little  of  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Cotton,  being  a  child  not  above 
thirteen  years  old  when  he  died,  I  shall  never  forget  the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  at 
Cambridge,  and  his  particular  application  to  the  scholars  there,  amongst  whom  1  was  then  a 
student  newly  admitted;  and  my  relation  to  his  family  since,  has  given  me  an  opportunity 
to  know  many  observable  things  concerning  him.  Both  Bostons  h:ive  reason  to  honour  his 
memory;  and  New-England-Boston  most  of  all,  which  oweth  its  name  and  being  to  him, 
more  than  to  any  one  person  in  the  world :  he  might  say  of  Boston,  much  what  as  Augustus 
said  of  Rome,  Lateritiam  reperi,  marmoream  reliq\d:\  he  found  it  little  better  than  a  wood 
or  wilderness,  but  left  it  a  famous  town  with  two  churches  in  it.     I  remeniber.  Dr.  Lightfoot, 

•  The  Thealre  of  Men  of  I.enniiiig,  down  to  the  present  time.  +  Memoirs  of  Modern  Theologians. 

X  I  found  it  of  biicli,  and  lofl  it  of  marble. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  247 

in  honour  to  his  patron,  Sir  Roland  Cotton,  called  one  of  his  sons  Cotton:  it  doth  not  repent 
me  that  I  gave  my  eldest  son  that  name,  in  honour  to  his  grandfather:  and  tlie  Lord  grant 
that  both  of  us  may  he  followers  of  him,  as  hefolloioed  Christ. 

As  for  the  other  three  worthies  who  have  taught  the  word  of  God  in  this  place,  they  had 
their  peculiar  excellencies. 

Mr.  Wilson  (like  John  the  apostle)  did  excel  in  love;  and  he  was  also  strong  in  faith.  In 
the  time  of  the  Pequod  war,  he  did  not  only  hope,  but  had  assurance  that  God  would  make 
the  English  victorious.  He  declared  that  he  was  as  certain  of  it,  as  if  he  had  with  his  eyes 
seen  the  victories  obtained;  which  came  to  pass  according  to  his  faith.  I  well  remember 
that  I  heard  him  once  say,  that  when  one  of  his  daughters  was  sick,  and  given  up  as  dead, 
past  recovery,  he  desired  Mr.  Cotton  to  pray  with  that  child;  "And  (said  he)  whilest  Mr. 
Cotton  was  praying,  I  was  sure  that  child  should  not  then  die,  but  live."  That  daughter  did 
live  to  be  the  mother  of  many  children;  two  of  which  are  now  useful  ministers  of  Christ: 
and  she  is  still  living,  a  pious  widow,  another  Anna,  "serving  God  day  and  night."  When 
Mr.  Norton  was  called  from  the  church  of  Ipswich  to  Boston,  Mr.  Nathanael  Rogers  (that 
excellent  man,  who  was  son  to  the  f;mious  Mr.  Rogers  of  Dedham,  in  Essex,  and  pastor  of 
the  church  of  Ipswich,  in  N.  E.)  opposed  Mr.  Norton's  removal  from  Ipswich:  some  saying, 
that  Mr.  Wilson  would  by  his  argument,  or  rhetorick,  or  both,  get  Mr.  Norton  from  them  at 
last;  Mr.  Rogers  replied,  "That  he  was  afraid  of  his  faith  more  tiian  his  arguments."  Some- 
times he  was  transported  with  a  prophetical  afflatus,  of  which  there  were  marvellous  instances. 
His  conversation  was  both  pleasant  and  profitable;  in  that  he  could  relate  many  jnemnruhle 
providences,  which  he  himself  had  the  certain  knowledge  of  Whilst  I  am  writing  this,  there 
comes  to  my  mind  one  very  pleasant,  and  yet  very  serious  story,  which  he  told  me,  and  I  do 
not  remember  that  ever  I  met  with  it  any  where  but  from  him.  It  was  this:  there  was  one 
Mr.  Snape,  a  Puritan  minister,  who  was  by  the  Bishops  cast  into  prison  for  his  non-conform- 
ity; when  his  money  was  spent,  the  jailor  was  unkind  to  him;  but  one  day,  as  JMr.  Snape 
was  on  his  knees  at  prayer,  the  window  of  his  chamber  being  open,  he  perceived  something 
was  thrown  into  his  chamber;  but  resolved  he  would  finish  his  work  with  God  before  he 
would  divert  to  see  what  it  was.  When  he  arose  from  his  knees,  he  saw  a  purse  on  the 
chamber-floor,  which  was  full  of  gold,  by  which  he  could  make  his  keeper  better  natured 
than  he  had  been.     Many  such  passages  could  that  good  man  relate. 

Mr.  Norton  was  one  whose  memory,  I  must  acknowledge,  I  have  peculiar  cause  to  love 
and  honour.  I  was  his  pupil  several  years.  He  had  a  very  scholastical  genius.  In  the  doc- 
trine of  grace  he  was  exceeding  clear;  indeed,  another  Austin.  He  loved  and  admired  Dr. 
Twiss  more  than  any  man  that  this  age  has  produced.  He  has  sometimes  said  to  me,  "Dr. 
Twiss  is  Omni  exceptione  major.''''*  He  was  much  in  prayer:  he  would  very  often  spend 
whole  days  in  prayer,  with  fasting  before  the  Lord  alone  in  his  study.  He  kept  a  strict  daily 
watch  over  his  own  heart.  He  was  an  hard  student.  He  took  notice  in  a  private  diary  how 
he  spent  his  time  every  day.  If  he  found  himself  not  so  much  inclined  to  diligence  and  study 
as  at  other  times,  he  would  reflect  on  his  heart  and  ways,  lest  haply  some  unobserved  sin 
should  provoke  the  Lord  to  give  him  up  to  a  slothful,  listless  frame  of  spirit.  In  his  diary, 
he  would  sometimes  have  these  words,  Leve  desiderimn  ad  studendum:  Forsan  ex  peccaio 
admisso.ji  I  bless  the  Lord  that  ever  I  knew  Mr.  Norton,  and  that  I  knew  so  much  of  him 
as  I  did. 

As  for  Mr.  Davenport,  I  have,  in  a  preface  to  his  sermon  on  the  Canticles,  which  are  tran- 
scribed for  the  press,  and  now  at  London,  given  what  account  I  could  then  obtain,  concerning 
the  remarkable  passages  of  liis  life.  I  several  times  desired  him  to  imitate  Junius,  and  some 
others,  who  had  written  their  own  lives.  He  told  me  he  did  intend  it:  but  I  could  not  find 
any  thing  of  that  nature  among  his  manuscripts,  when  many  years  ago  I  had  an  occasion  to 
seek  after  it.     He  was  a  princely  preacher.     I  have  heard  some  say,  who  knew  him  in  his 

•  Superior  to  every  imperfection. 

t  I  have  little  inclinntion  to  study :  perhaps  it  is  due  to  some  sin  I  have  harboured  in  my  bosom. 


248  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

younger  years,  that  he  was  then  very  fervent  and  vehement,  as  to  the  manner  of  his  delivery: 
but  in  his  later  tunes  he  did  very  much  imitate  Mr.  Cotton,  whom,  in  the  gravity  of  his  coun- 
tenance,  he  did  somewhat  resemble.     Sic  ille  manus,  sic  oraferehat* 

The  reader  will  find  many  observable  things  in  what  is  here  related  concerning  Mr.  Hooker, 
Yet  threat  pity  it  is  that  no  more  can  be  collected  of  the  memorahles  relating  to  so  good  and 
so  great  a  man  as  he  was;  than  whom  Connecticut  never  did,  and  perhaps  never  will,  see  a 
greater  person.  Mr.  Cotton,  in  his  preface  to  INIr.  Norton's  answer  to  Apollonius,  says  of 
Mr.  Hooker,  Dominainr  in  Concionibus.f  Dr.  Ames  used  to  say, "He  never  knew  his  equal:" 
there  was  a  great  intimacy  between  them  two.  I  remember  my  father  told  me,  that  Mr. 
Hooker  was  tiie  autiior  of  that  large  preftice  which  is  before  Dr.  Ames,  his  Fresh  Suit  against 
Ceremonies.  He  would  sometimes  say,  "  That  next  to  converting  grace,  he  blessed  God  for 
his  acquaintance  with  the  principles  and  writings  of  that  learned  man,  ]\Ir.  Alexander  Richard- 
son."    It  was  a  black  day  to  New-England,  when  that  great  light  was  removed. 

There  are  some  who  will  not  be  pleased  that  any  notice  is  taken  of  the  hard  measure 
which  these  excellent  men  had  from  those  persecuting  prelates,  who  were  willing  to  have 
the  world  rid  of  them.  But  it  is  impossible  to  write  the  history  of  New-England,  and  of  the 
lives  of  them  who  were  the  chief  in  it,  and  yet  be  wholly  silent  in  that  matter.  That  emi- 
nent person,  Dr.  Tillotson  (the  late  Arch-Bishop  of  Canterbury)  did,  not  above  four  years 
ago,  sometimes  express  to  me  his  resentments  of  the  injury  which  had  been  done  to  the 
first  planters  of  New-England,  and  his  great  dislike  of  Arch-Bishop  Laud's  spirit  towards 
them.  And  to  my  knowledge  there  are  Bishops  at  this  day  of  the  same  Christian  temper  and 
moderation  with  that  great  and  good  man,  lately  dead.  Had  the  Sees  in  England,  fourscore 
years  ago,  been  filled  with  such  Arch-Bishops  and  Bishops  as  those  which  King  William 
(whom  God  grant  long  to  live  and  to  reign)  has  preferred  to  Episcopal  dignity,  there  had 
never  been  a  New-England.  It  was  therefore  necessary  that  it  should  be  otherwise  then, 
than  at  this  day,  that  so  the  gospel,  in  the  power  and  purity  of  it,  might  come  into  these  dark 
corners  of  tlie  earth,  and  that  here  might  be  seen  a  specimen  of  the  new  heavens  and  a  new 
eartli,  wlierein  dwells  righteousness,  which  shall  ere  long  be  seen  all  the  world  over,  and 
which  according  to  his  promise  we  look  for. 

Increase  Matheu. 

Boston,  JVcw-F.ngland,  May  10,  1C95. 


INTRODUCTION. 

}  1.  When  the  God  of  Heaven  had  carried  a  nation  into  a  wilderness,  upon  the  designs 
of  a  glnridus  reformation,  he  there  gave  them  a  singular  conduct  of  his  presence  and  spirit, 
in  a  certain  jiillar,  which  by  day  appeared  as  a  cloud,  and  by  night  as  a  fire  before  them;  and 
the  report  of  the  respect  paid  by  the  Israelites  unto  this  pillar,  became  so  noised  among  the 
Gentiles,  that  the  pagan  poets  derided  them  on  this  account: 

Nil  prater  Nubes  et  coeli  Lumen  adorant, 

[Which  is,  I  suppose,  the  true  reading  of  that  famous  verse  in  Juvenal:  and  I  thus  trans- 
late it,] 

Only  the  clouds  and  Jires  of  Heaven  they  do  worship  at  all  times. 

But  I  must  now  observe  unto  my  reader,  that  more  than  a  score  of  years  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  age  which  is  now  expiring,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  a  thousand  wonders  of 
his  providence,  carried  into  an  American  wilderness  a  people  persecuted  for  their  desire  to 
see  and  seek  a  reformation  of  the  church,  according  to  the  Scripture:  of  which  matter  I  can- 

•  A  counlcrpart  in  gcs'ture  nnd  in  mien.  f  He  sways  popular  assemblies. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  249 

not  give  a  briefer,  and  yet  fuller  history,  than  by  reciting  the  memorable  words  of  that  great 
man.  Dr.  John  Owen,  who  in  his  golden  book  of  Communion  with  God,  thus  expresses  it: 

"They  who  hold  commtinion  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  will  admit  nothing,  practice  nothing,  in  the  worship  of 
God,  but  what  they  have  his  warrant  fur;  unless  it  comes  in  his  name,  with  a  'Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jesus,'  they 
will  not  hear  an  angel  from  heaven:  they  know  the  apostles  themselves  were  to  teach  the  saints  only  'what  he 
commanded  them :'  and  you  know,  how  many  in  this  very  nation,  in  the  days  not  long  since  passed,  yea  how  many 
thousands,  left  their  notice  soyl,  and  went  into  a  vast  and  howling  wilderness,  in  the  uttermost  paj-ts  of  the  world, 
to  keep  their  souls  undeliled  and  chaste  unto  their  Lord  Jesus,  as  to  this  of  his  worship  and  institutions." 

Now,  though  the  reformed  church  thus  fled  into  the  wildernes,  enjoyed  not  the  miraculous 
pillar,  vouchsafed  unto  the  erratick  church  of  Israel,  for  about  forty  years  togetlier;  yet  for 
that  number  of  years  we  enjoyed  many  a  person,  in  whom  the  good  spirit  of  God  gave  a 
conduct  unto  us,  and  mercifully  dispensed  those  directing,  defending,  refreshing  influences, 
which  were  as  necessary  for  us,  as  any  that  the  celebrated  pillar  of  cloud,  and  fire,  could 
have  afl'orded.  The  great  and  good  Shepherd  of  the  church  favoured  his  distressed  flocks 
in  the  wilderness  with  many  pastors  tliat  were  learned,  prudent,  and  holy,  beyond  the  common 
rates,  and  "men  after  his  own  heart:"  and  it  would  be  an  ingratitude  many  ways  pernicious, 
if  the  churches  of  New-England  should  not,  like  those  of  the  primitive  times,  have  their  dip- 
tychs,  wherein  the  memory  of  those  eminent  confessors  may  be  recorded  and  preserved. 

\  2.  Four  or  five  of  those  eminent  persons  are  now  to  have  their  lives  described  unto  us, 
and  offered  unto  the  contemplation  and  imitation,  especially  of  the  generation  which  are  now 
rising  up,  after  the  death  of  Cotton,  and  of  the  elders  that  out-lived  him,  and  had  seen  all 
the  great  wurks  of  the  Lord,  which  he  did  for  New-England.  I  saw  a  fearful  degeneracy, 
creeping,  I  cannot  say,  but  rushing  in  upon  these  churches;  I  saw  to  multiply  continually 
our  dangers,  of  our  losing  no  small  points  in  onv  first  faith,  as  well  as  our  first  loi:e,  and  of 
our  giving  up  the  essentials  of  that  church  order,  which  was  the  very  end  of  these  colonies; 
I  saw  a  visible  shrink  in  all  orders  of  men  among  us,  from  that  greatness,  and  that  goodness, 
which  was  in  the  first  grain  that  our  God  brougiit  from  three  sifted  kingdoms,  into  this  land, 
when  it  was  a  land  not  sown;  that  while  the  Papists  in  Europe  have  grown  better  of  late 
years,  by  the  growth  of  Jansenism  among  them,  the  Protestants  have  prodigiously  luaxcd 
worse,  for  a  revolt  unto  Pelagianism,  and  Socinianism,  or  what  is  half  way  to  it,  hr.s  not  been, 
more  surprising  to  me,  than  to  see  that  in  America,  while  those  parts  which  were  at  first 
peopled  by  the  refuse  of  the  English  nation,  do  si-nsibly  amend  in  the  regards  of  sobriety 
and  education,  those  parts  which  were  planted  with  a  more  noble  vine,  do  so  fast  give  a  pjsos- 
pect  of  affording  only  the  degenerate  plants  of  a  strange  vine.  What  should  be  done  for  the 
stop,  the  turn  of  this  degeneracy?  It  is  reported  of  the  Scythians,  who  were,  doubtUss,  the 
ancestors  of  the  Indians  first  inh:ii)iting  these  regions,  that  in  battels,  when  they  aame  to 
stand  upon  the  graves  of  their  dead  fathers,  they  would  there  stand  immovable,  'tilhtbey  died 
upon  the  spot:  and,  thought  I,  why  may  not  such  a  method  now  eflfectually  engagri-the  Entr. 
lish  in  these  regions,  to  standfast  in  their/au'/i  and  their  order,  and  in  the  power  of, godliness  1 
I'll  shew  them  the  graves  of  their  dead  fathers ;  and  if  any  of  them  do  retreat  unto.a.aontempt 
or  neglect  of  learning,  or  unto  the  errors  of  another  gospel,  or  unto  the  superstitionij.of  will- 
worship,  or  unto  a  worldly,  a  selfish,  a  little  conversation,  tliey  shall  undergo  the  iri'osistible 
rebukes  of  their  progenitors,  here  fetched  from  tlic  dead,  for  tlvAv  admonition;  ar.d  I'll  there- 
withal advertise  my  New-Englanders,  that  if  a  grand-child  of  a  Moses  become  an,  Idolater,  he 
shall  (as  the  Jews  remark  upon  Judg.  xviii.  30;  be  destroyed,  as  if  not  a  Moses,,  but  a  Man- 
asseh,  had  been  his  father.     Besides,  Plus  Vivitur  Exemplis  quam  prccceptis  .'* 

5  3.  Good  men  in  the  Church  of  England,  I  hope,  will  not  be  offended  at  it,  if  the  unrea- 
sonable impositions,  and  intolerable  persecutions,  of  certain  little-souled  ceremony  viongers^ 
which  drove  these  worthy  men  out  of  their  native  country  into  the  horrid  tluckets  of  Amer^ 
ica,  be  in  tlieir  lives  complained  and  resented.  For  distinguishing  between  a  Romanizing 
faction  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  true  Protestant  Reforming  Church  of  England, 

*  Character  is  formed  more  by  example  than  by  precept. 


250  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

(things  that  are  different  as  njeicel  from  a  heylin,  or  a  Grindal  from  a  Laud!)  the  first  planters 
of  New-England,  at  their  first  coming  over,  did  in  a  publick  and  a  printed  address  call  the 
Church  of  England  their  dear  molher,  desiring  their  friends  therein  to  "recommend  them  unto 
the  mercies  of  God,  in  their  constant  prayers,  as  a  Cliurch  now  springing  out  of  their  own 
bowels:"  nor  did  they  tiiink,  tiiat  it  was  their  molher  who  turned  them  out  of  doors,  but  some 
of  their  angry  Are/Ziren,  abusing  the  name  of  their  mother,  who  so  harshly  treated  them.  As 
for  the  Romanizing  faction  in  the  Church  of  England,  or  that  party  who  resolving  (alto- 
gether contrary  to  the  desire  of  the  most  eminent  persons,  by  whom  the  "common  prayer'' 
was  made  English)  that  the  reformation  should  never  proceed  one  jot  further  than  the  first 
essay  of  it  in  the  former  century,  did  make  certain  unscriptural  canons,  whereby  all  that 
could  not  approve,  subscribe,  and  practise,  a  multitude  of  (by  themselves  confessed  purely 
humane)  inventions  in  the  worship  of  God,  were  accursed,  and  ipso  facto  excommunicate; 
and,  by  the  ill-obtained  aid  of  bitter  laws  to  back  these  canons,  did  by  fines  and  gaols 
and  innumerable  violences,  contrary  to  the  verj'^  magna  charta  of  the  nation,  ruine  many 
thousands  of  the  soberest  people  in  the  kiggdom :  and  who  continually  made  as  many  Shib- 
boleths as  they  could,  for  the  discovering  and  the  extinguishing  of  all  real  godliness,  and 
never  gave  over  prosecuting  their  tripartite  plot,  of  Arminianism,  and  a  conciliation  with  the 
patriarch  of  the  west,  and  arbitrary  government  in  the  state,  until  at  last  they  threw  all  into 
the  lamentable  confusions  of  a  civil  war;  the  churches  of  New-England  say,  "Come  not  into 
their  secret,  O  my  soul."  We  dare  not  be  guilty  of  the  schism,  which  we  charge  upon  that 
party  in  the  Church  of  England:  and  if  any  faction  of  men  will  require  the  assent  and  con- 
sent of  other  men,  to  a  vast  number  of  disputable  and  uninstituted  things,  and,  it  may  be,  a 
mathematical  falsehood  among  the  first  of  them,  and  utterly  renounce  all  Christian  communion 
with  all  that  shall  not  give  that  assent  and  consent,  we  look  upon  those  to  be  separatists; 
we  dare  not  to  be  so  narrow-spirited;  the  churches  of  New  England  profess  to  make  only 
the  substantials  of  the  Christian  religion  to  be  the  ter7ns  of  our  sacred  fellowship:  we  dare 
make  no  difference  between  a  Presbyterian,  a  Congregational,  an  Episcopalian,  and  an  Anti- 
pacdo-baptist,  where  their  visible  piety  makes  it  probable  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
received  them.  And  such  reverend  names  as  Hall  and  Kidder,  most  worthy  Bishops  now 
adorning  the  English  Church,  as  well  as  the  names  of  such  reverend  and  excellent  persons, 
among  the  Dissenters,  as  Bates,  Annesly,  How,  Mead  and  Alsop,  (with  many  others,)  are,  on 
that  sarre,  together  precious  unto  this  part  of  the  Christian  America.  On  the  other  .side,  the 
true  Protestant  Reforming  Church  of  England,  contains  the  whole  "body  of  the  faithful," 
scattered  through  the  English  dominions,  though  of  different  perswasions  about  some  riles 
and  wioc/es,  and  lesser  points  of  religion:  and  all  the  friends  of  the  last  reformation,  who, 
whether  they  think  there  needs  a  farther  progress  in  that  work  or  no,  yet  arc  willing  to  make 
the  word  of  God  the  rule  of  their  serving  him,  do  come  under  this  denomination. 

Those  divines  who,  with  Arch-Bishop  Usher  in  the  head  of  them,  did  more  than  fifty  years 
ago  give  in  a  paper  touching  the  innovations  of  doctrine  and  of  discipline  in  the  Church  of 
England,  and  make  near  forty  exceptions  against  things  in  the  Liturgy,  were  still  as  good 
memlicrs  of  the  church,  as  they  that  "hated  to  be  reformed;"  and  the  assembly  of  divines 
at  Westminster,  which  made  the  catechisms  now  used  among  us,  were  as  genuine  sons  of 
the  church  after  they  became  non-conformists,  as  while  they  lived  in  conformity,  which  every 
one  of  them,  except  eight  or  nine,  did  when  they  first  come  together.  One  who  is  at  this 
day  a  Right  Reverend  Bishop,  has,  in  his  Irenicum,  well  expressed  the  sense  which  I  believe 
the  biggest  party  of  Christians  in  the  realm,  three  to  one,  have  of  those  matters,  which  have 
been,  "the  apples  of  strife"  among  us: 

"Thnt  Christ,  who  c.nino  to  tnko  away  the  insupportable  yoke  of  the  Jewish  ceremonies,  certainly  did  never 
Intend  to  gull  the  neck»  of  the  discipli's  with  another  instead  of  it ;  and  it  would  be  strange  the  church  would 
reciuirc  more  than  Christ  himself  did,  and  make  more  terms  of  communion,  than  our  Saviour  did  of  discipleship. 
The  grand  commission  the  apostles  were  sent  out  with,  w;ia  only  to  '  teach  what  Christ  had  commanded  them  ;'  not 
the  least  intimation  of  any  power  piven  them  to  impose  or  require  any  thing  beyond  what  he  liimself  had  spoken 
to  them,  or  they  were  directed  to,  by  the  immediate  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  God." 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  251 

And  (speaking  of  the  reason  why  ^jur  first  compilers  of  the  common-prayer  took  in  so 
much  of  the  Popish  service), 

"Certainly,  those  holy  men  who  did  seek  by  any  means  to  draw  in  others,  at  such  a  distance  from  their  prin- 
ciples as  the  Papists  were,  did  never  intend,  by  what  they  did  for  that  end,  to  exclude  any  truly  lender  consciences 
from  their  communion ;  that  which  they  laid  as  a  bait  for  them,  was  never  intended  by  them  as  an  hooU  for  those 
of  our  own  profession." 

And  if  tliis  be  the  true  Church  of  England,  give  me  leave  to  say,  the  churches  of  New- 
England  are  no  inconsiderable  part  of  it;  and  that  accordingly  we  may  have  a  room  in  it,  I 
may  safely,  in  the  name  of  them  all,  offer  (as  did  the  renowned  author  of  our  Martyr-Books, 
when  they  demanded  subscription  from  him)  to  subscribe  the  New  Testament. 

Upon  the  whole,  then,  if  any  be  displeased  at  my  report  of  the  unjust  impositions  and 
persecutions,  which  drove  into  America  as  good  Christians  and  Protestants  as  any  that 
were  left  behind  them,  it  will  not  be  the  true  Church  of  England;  for  why  should  that  be 
called  "the  Church  of  England,"  which  has  caused  thousands  of  as  real  and  thorough  Chris- 
tians as  any  upon  earth  to  say,  "It  is  better  to  dwell  in  the  wilderness,  than  with  such 
an  contentious  and  angry  one!"'  That  Church  of  England,  which  alone  is  worthy  to  be 
called  so,  will  bewail,  as  I  know  divers  excellent  persons  now  in  the  Episcopal  Sees  have 
done,  the  injuries  offered  unto  our  Puritan  fithers. 

\  4.  Let  my  reader,  thus  prepared,  now  entertain  himself,  as  far  as  he  pleases,  with  our 
four  Johns,  to  whose  lives  I  have,  upon  the  counsel  and  command  of  an  ever-honoured 
parent,  appendiced  the  life  of  a  famous  Thomas  in  this  publication ;  Johns,  with  whom, 
among  the  five  or  six  hundred  noted  persons  of  that  name,  celebrated  by  one  historian,  I 
find  not  many  that  were  worthy  to  be  compared;  Johns,  fuller  of  ligiit  and  grace  and  the 
good  spirit,  than  all  those  four  or  five-and-tvventy  of  that  name,  who  have  sat  in  the  chair 
that  pretends  to  infallibility.  And,  if  he  pleases,  let  him  see  that  old  little  observation  con- 
firmed, that  as  the  name  Henry  has  been  happy  in  kings,  Elizabeth  in  queens,  Edward  in 
lawyers,  William  in  physicians,  Francis  in  scholars,  Robert  in  soldiers  and  state-men,  so 
John  has  been  happy  in  divines.  Even  a  divine  Jehojadah,  when  he  comes  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  must  have  put  upon  him  the  name  of  John  [1  Chron.  vi.  9.] 
But  let  him  consider  these  lives,  as  tendered  unto  the  pubiick,  upon  an  account  no  less  than 
that  of  keeping  alive,  as  far  as  this  poor  essay  may  contribute  thereunto,  the  interests  of 
dying  religion  in  our  churches.  I  remember  a  learned  man's  conjecture,  that  [in  1  Tim.  iii. 
15]  it  is  Timothy,  and  not  the  chtrch,  which  is  called  "The  pillar  and  ground  of  Faith:" 
such  able,  holy,  and  faithful  ministers  as  Timothy  are  the  great  proclaimers  and  preservers 
of  truth,  for  the  Church  of  God;  such  were  these  f:mous  Johns  while  they  lived,  and  now  they 
are  dead,  I  have  done  my  endeavour  that  they  may  still  be  such  unto  the  churches,  unto 
whom  I  owe  my  all.  I'll  say  but  this,  the  last  words  of  the  most  renowned  prebend  of 
Canterbury,  Dr.  Peter  du  Moulin,  who  died  a  very  old  man,  about  eleven  years  ago,  were, 
"Since  Calvinism  is  cried  down  [Actum  est  de  Religione  Christi  apud  Anglos]  Christianity 
is  in  danger  to  be  lost  in  the  English  nation."  Alluding  to  what  he  said,  about  his  John 
Calvin,  I  will  take  leave  to  say  with  respect  unto  our  John  Cotton,  and  the  rest  that  here 
accompany  him,  "  Christianity  will  be  lost  among  us,  if  their  fiiith  and  zeal  must  all  be  buried 
with  them;"  which  God  forbid!  as  there  would  be  an  hazard  that  the  early  and  better 
times  of  New-England  would  have  the  true  story  thereof,  within  a  while,  as  irrecoverably 
lost  as  the  story  of  the  world,  relating  to  those  times,  which  Varo  distinguished  unto 
Incognit  and  fabulous,  preceding  the  historical,  and  we  should  shortly  have  as  wretched 
narratives  of  the  first  persons  and  actions  in  this  land,  as  Justin  gives  of  the  Jews,  when  he 
makes  Moses  the  son  of  their  Joseph,  and  the  sixth  of  their  kings,  or  when  he  makes  them 
expelled  from  Egypt,  because  the  gods  would  not  otherwise  allay  a  plague  that  raged  there; 
or  such  as  are  given  by  Pliny,  when  he  makes  Moses  a  magician ;  or  Strabo,  that  makes 
him  an  Egyptian  priest;  if  no  speedy  care  be  taken  to  preserve  the  meraorables  of  our  first 
settlement;  so  I  wish,  the  laudable  principles  and  practices  of  that  first  settlement  may  be 


252  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMEEICAXA; 

kept  from  utterly  being  lost  in  our  apostasies,  by  the  care  which  is  now  taken  thus  to 
preserve  what  was  memorable  of  the  men  tiiat  have  delivered  them  down  unto  us. 

h  5.  Finally;  wlu-n  the  apostles  had  set  before  Christians  the  saints  which  were  a  "cloud 
of  witnesses,"  by  imitating  of  whose  exemplary  behaviour  we  might  "enter  into  rest,"  he 
concludes  with  a  "looking  unto  Jesus,"  or,  according  to  the  emphasis  of  the  original,  "a 
lookinc  oil'  [from  tlu-m]  unto  Jesus,"  as  the  incomparably  most  perfect  of  all.  So  let  my 
reader  do,  when  all  tliat  was  imitable  in  the  lives  of  these  worthy  men,  has  had  his  contem- 
plation and  admiration;  they  all  yet  had  their  defects,  and  therefore,  "look  off"  unto  Jesus," 
followiiii^  (hem  no  farther  than  thay  followed  him.  It  is  a  notable  passage,  [in  Luke  vii.  28,] 
which  wc  n)is-translate:  "The  least  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  greater  than  John."  In  the 
Greek,  what  we  translate,  "The  least,"  is,  "he  that  is  lesser,"  that  is,  "he  that  is  younger." 
[Minor  still  has  been  the  same  with  junior.]  Our  Lord  means  himself,  who  was  lesser, 
that  is,  younger  than  John  his  fore-runner ;  but,  greater  than  he!  Truly,  whatever  was  excel- 
lent in  these  our  Johns,  I  would  pray  that  the  minds  of  all  that  see  it,  may  be  raised  still 
to  think  our  precious  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  greater  than  these  Johns:  all  their  excellencies 
are  in  him  transcendantly,  infinitely,  as  they  were  from  him  derived.  High  thoughts  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  provoked  by  reading  the  descriptions  of  these  his  excellent  servants,  that 
had  in  them  a  little  of  hi7n,  and  were  no  forther  excellent  than  as  they  had  so,  will  make  me  an 
abundant  recompence  for  all  the  difficulties  and  all  the  temptations  with  which  my  icriting  is 
attended.  And  as  it  quickens  the  joys  of  my  hastening  death,  when  I  have  through  grace  a 
prospect  of  being  then  in  that  state  whereto  the  spirits  of  these  "just  men  made  perfect" 
are  all  of  them  gathered,  so  I  would  have  this  now  to  out-do  all  those  joys,  "  to  be  with 
Jesus  Christ,"  that  surely  is  by  far  the  best  of  all. 

Monumenta  Sepulchralia  Justis  non  faciunt,  nam  Dicta  cormn  Sunt  MemoriiB  Eorum.* 

Sentent.  Judaic,  in  Bereschit.  Eahha. 


COTTONUS  REDIYIVUS;   OR,   THE   LIFE   OP  MR.  JOHN  COTTON. 

In  quo  Lumen  Religionis  et  Devotionis,  Fumus  generatus  ex  Lumine  ScienticB  non  extinguit, 

ille  perfectus  est :   Sed  Quis  est  Hie,  ut  adoremus  eum  ? Algazel,  in  Libro  Staterae. 

Kesp.  Hic  EST !  t 

§  1.  "Were  I  master  of  the  pen  wherewith  Palladius  embalmed  his  Chrys- 
ostom,  the  Greek  patriark,  or  Posidonius  eternized  his  Austin,  the  Latin 
oracle,  among  the  ancients;  or,  were  I  owner  of  the  quill  wherewith, 
among  the  moderns,  Beza  celebrated  his  immortal  Calvin,  or  Fabius 
irnmortalized  his  venerable  Beza;  the  merits  of  John  Cotton  would  oblige 
me  to  employ  it,  in  the  preserving  his  famous  memor}*.  If  Boston  be  the 
chief  seat  of  New-England,  it  was  Cotton  that  was  the  father  and  glory 
of  Boston:  upon  which  account  it  becomes  a  piece  of  ^uyq  justice,  that  the 
life  of  him,  who  above  all  men  gave  Ufe  to  his  countr}^,  should  bear  no  little 
figure  in  its  intended  history ;  and,  indeed,  if  any  person  in  this  town  or 

*  They  raise  no  sepulchral  monuments  to  the  Just,  for  their  words  are  their  memorials. 

t  Ho  is  perfect,  in  whom  tlio  flame  of  religion  and  devotion  is  not  stifled  by  the  smoke  which  is  generated 
from  the  liglits  of  science.    But  who  is  he,  (hat  wc  may  worship  him?    Ans.  Behold  him  here  I 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  253 

land  had  tlie  blessedness  which  the  Roman  historian  long  since  pronounced 
such  even,  "to  do  things  worthy  to  be  writ,  and  to  write  things  worthy 
to  be  read,"  it  was  Jie  who  now  claims  a  room  in  our  pages.  If  it  were  a 
comparison  sometimes  made  of  the  reformers,  Pomeranus  was  a  gram- 
marian, Justus  Jonas  was  an  orator,  Melancthon  was  a  logician,  but  Luther 
was  all:  even  that  proportion,  it  may  without  envy  be  acknowledged,  that 
Cotton  bore  to  the  rest  of  our  New-English  divines;  he  that,  whilst  he 
was  living,  had  this  vertue  extraordinarily  conspicuous  in  him,  "that  it 
was  his  delight  always  to  acknowledge  the  gifts  of  God  in  other  men," 
must,  now  he  is  dead,  have  other  men  to  acknowledge  of  him  what  Eras- 
mus does  of  Jerom,  In  hoc  uno  conjunctum  fuit  et  Eximium^  quicquidin  aim 
partim  admiramur.^ 

§  2.  There  was  a  good  heraldry  in  that  speech  of  the  noble  Romanus, 
"It  is  not  the  blood  of  ray  progenitors,  but  my  Christian  profession,  that 
makes  me  noble."  But  our  John  Cotton,  besides  the  advantage  of  his 
Christian  profession,  had  a  descent  from  honourable  progenitors,  to  render 
him  doubly  honourable.  His  immediate  progenitors  being,  by  some  injust- 
ice, deprived  of  great  revenues,  his  father,  Mr.  Roland  Cotton,  had  the 
education  of  a  lawyer  bestowed  by  his  friends  upon  him,  in  hopes  of  his 
being  the  better  capacitated  thereby  to  recover  the  estate,  whereof  his 
family  had  been  wronged;  and  so  the  profession  of  a  lawyer  was  that 
unto  which  this  gentleman  applied  himself  all  his  days.  But  our  John 
Cotton,  in  this  happier  than  Austin,  whose  father  was  carefuller  to  make 
an  orator  than  a  Christian  of  him,  while  his  gracious  mother  was  making 
him  on  greater  accounts  "a  son  of  her  many  tears,"  had  a  very  pious 
father  in  this  worthy  lawyer,  as  well  as  a  pious  mother,  to  interest  him  in 
the  covenant  of  God.  That  worthy  man  was  indeed  very  singular  in  two 
most  imitable  practices.  One  was,  that  when  any  of  his  neighbours  desir- 
ous to  sue  one  another,  addressed  him  for  council,  it  was  his  manner,  in 
the  most  perswasive  and  obliging  terms  that  could  be,  to  endeavour  a 
reconciliation  between  both  parties;  preferring  the  consolations  of  a  peace- 
maker, before  all  the  fees  that  he  might  have  got  by  blowing  up  of  differ- 
ences. Another  was,  that  every  night  it  was  his  custom  to  examine  himself 
with  reflections  on  the  transactions  of  the  day  past;  wherein,  if  he  found 
that  he  had  not  either  done  good  unto  others,  or  got  good  unto  his  own 
soul,  he  would  be  as  much  grieved  as  ever  the  famous  Titus  was,  when  he 
could  complain  in  the  evening,  Amici,  Diem  Perdidiff  Of  such  parents 
was  Mr.  John  Cotton  Ijorn,  at  the  town  of  Derby;  on  the  fourth  of  Decem- 
ber, in  the  year  1585. 

§  3.  The  religious  parents  of  Mr.  Cotton  were  solicitous  to  have  him 
indued  with  a  learned  as  well  as  a  pious  education ;  and  being  neither  so 
rich,  that  the  Hater  Artisj^.  could  have  no  room  to  do  her  part,  nor  so  j^oo''' 
that  the  Bes  angusta  domi,%  should  clog  his  progress,  they  were  well  fitted 

*  In  him  were  combined  all  the  excellences  which  we  admire  separately  and  singly  in  other  men. 
+  My  fiiends,  I  have  lost  a  day !  %  Mother  of  Art,  t.  e.  native  genius.  §  Straitened  circumstances. 


254  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

thereby  to  bestow  such  an  education  upon  him.  Ilis  first  instruction  was 
under  a  good  school-master,  one  Mr.  Johnson,  in  the  town  of  Derby; 
whereon  the  intellectual  endowments  of  all  sorts,  with  which  the  God  of 
our  s{)irits  adorned  him,  so  discovered  themselves,  that,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen, his  proficiency  procured  him  admission  into  Trinity-College  in  Cam- 
brid'TC.  Indeed,  the  proverb,  "soon  ripe,  soon  rotten,"  has  often  been  tt)o 
liastihj  a})plied  unto  rathe  ripe  ivits,  in  young  people;  not  only  G^colampa- 
dius  and  Melancthon,  who  commenced  Batchelours  of  Arts  oX  fourteen  years 
of  age,  and  Luther,  who  commenced  Master  of  Arts  at  twenty;  but  also 
our  Dr.  Juel  sent  unto  Oxford,  our  Dr  Usher  sent  unto  Dublin,  and  our 
Mr.  Cotton  sent  unto  Cambridge,  all  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  do  put  in  a  bar 
to  the  universal  application  of  that  proverb.  While  Mr.  Cotton  was  at 
the  university,  his  diligent  head,  with  God's  blessings,  made  him  a  rich 
scholar;  and  his  generous  mind  found  no  little  nourishment  by  that  labour 
which,  like  the  sage  philosopher,  he  found  "sweeter  than  idleness:"  inso- 
much that  his  being  elected  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  as  the  reward  of  his 
quick  proficiency,  was  diverted  by  nothing  but  this,  that  the  extraordinary 
charges  for  their  great  hall,  then  in  building,  did  put  by  their  election. 
And  there  was  this  remarkable  in  the  education  of  this  "chosen  vessel" 
at  the  university:  that  while  he  continued  there,  his  father's  practice  was, 
by  the  special  providence  of  God,  augmented  so  much  beyond  what  it 
had  been  before,  as  was  enough  to  maintain  him  there;  upon  which  obser- 
vation Mr.  Cotton  afterwards  would  say,  "'Twas  God  that  kept  me  at  the 
University!"  Indeed,  some  have  said,  that  the  great  notice  quickly  taken  of 
the  eminency  in  the  son,  was  one  reason  why  his  fother  not  only  came  to  be 
complimented  on  all  sides,  and  Omnes  Omnia  Bona  dicere,  et  laudare  Fortu- 
nas  ejus,  qui  F ilium  haberet  Tali  Ingenio  prceditum,*  but  also  had  his  clients 
more  than  a  little  multiplied. 

§  4.  Upon  the  desires  of  Emanuel-College,  Mr.  Cotton  was  not  only 
removed  unto  that  College,  but  also  preferred  unto  a  fellowship  in  it;  in 
order  whereunto,  he  did,  according  to  the  critical  and  laudable  statutes  of 
the  house,  go  through  a  very  severe  examen  of  his  fitness  for  such  a 
station ;  wherein  'twas  particularly  remarked,  that  the  Poser  trying  his 
Ilebrew  skill  by  the  third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  a  chapter  which,  containing 
more  hard  words  than  any  one  paragraph  of  the  Bible,  might  therefore 
have  puzzled  a  very  good  Hebrician,  yet  he  made  nothing  of  it.  He  was 
afterwards  the  Head  Lecturer,  the  Dean,  the  Catechist,  in  that  famous 
College;  and  became  a  tutor  to  many  scholars,'  who  afterwards  proved 
famous  persons,  and  had  cause  to  bless  God  for  the  faithful,  and  ingenious, 
and  laborious  communicativeness  of  this  their  tutor.  Here,  all  his  academ- 
ical exercises,  whether  in  disputations  or  in  common  places,  or  whatever 
else  did  so  "smell  of  the  lamp,"  that  the  wit,  the  strength, the  gravity,  and 
the  fulness,  both  of  reason  and  of  reading  in  them,  caused  him  to  be  much 

•  Everybody  gaid  everything  that  was  flattering,  and  congratulated  the  father  on  his  good  fortune  in  having 
BO  accompliHhed  a  sun. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  £56 

admired  by  the  sparkling  wits  of  the  university.  But  one  thing  among 
the  rest,  which  caused  a  great  notice  to  be  taken  of  him  throughout  the 
whole  university,  was  his  funeral  oration' w^on  Dr.  Some,  the  Master  of 
Peter  House,  wherein  he  approved  himself  such  a  master  of  Periclcean 
or  Ciceronian  oratory,  that  the  auditors  were  even  ready  to  have  acclaimed, 
Non  vox  hominem  sonatf^  And  that  which  added  unto  the  reputation  thus 
raised  for  him,  was  an  "University-sermon,"  wherein,  aiming  more  to 
preach  self  than  Christ,  he  used  such  florid  strains,  as  extremely  recom- 
mended him  unto  the  most,  who  relished  the  wisdom  of  words  above  the 
ivords  of  icisdom:  though  the  pompous  eloquence  of  that  sermon  after- 
wards gave  such  a  distaste  unto  his  own  renewed  soul,  that  with  a  sacred 
indignation  he  threw  his  notes  into  the  fire. 

§  5.  Hitherto  we  have  seen  the  hfe  of  Mr.  Cotton,  w^hile  he  was  not  yet 
alive!  Though  the  restraining  and  preventing  grace  of  God  had  kept 
him  from  such  outbreakings  of  sin  as  defile  the  lives  of  most  in  the  world, 
yet,  like  the  old  man  who  for  such  a  cause  ordered  this  epitaph  to  be  writ- 
ten on  his  grave,  "Here  lies  an  old  man,  who  lived  but  seven  years,"  he 
reckoned  himself  to  have  been  but  a.  dead  man,  as  being  "alienated  from 
the  life  of  God,"  until  he  had  experienced  that  regeneration  in  his  own 
soul,  which  was  thus  accomplished.  The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  had  been 
at  work  upon  his  young  heart,  by  the  ministry  of  that  reverend  and 
renowned  preacher  of  righteousness,  Mr.  Perkins;  but  he  resisted  and 
smothered  those  convictions^  through  a  vain  persivasion  that,  if  he  became 
a  godly  man,  'twould  spoil  him  for  being  a  learned  one.  Yea,  such  was  the 
secret  enmity  and  prejudice  of  an  unregenerate  soul  against  real  holiness, 
and  such  the  torment  which  our  Lord's  ivitnesses  give  to  the  consciences  of 
the  earthly-minded,  that  when  he  heard  the  bell  toll  for  the  funeral  of  Mr. 
Perkins,  his  mind  secretly  rejoiced  in  his  deliverance  from  that  powerful 
ministry,  by  which  his  conscience  had  been  so  oft  beleagured:  the  remem- 
brance of  which  thing  afterwards  did  break  his  heart  exceedingly!  But 
he  was,  at  length,  more  effectually  awakened  hj  a  sermon  of  Dr.  Sibs) 
wherein  was  discoursed  the  misery  of  those  who  had  only  a  negative  right- 
eousness, or  a  civil,  sober,  honest  blamelessness  before  men.  Mr.  Cotton 
became  now  very  sensible  of  his  own  miserable  condition  before  God;  and 
the  arrows  of  these  convictions  did  stick  so  fast  upon  him,  that  after  no 
less  than  three  year's  disconsolate  apprehensions  under  them,  the  grace  of 
God  made  him  a  thoroughly  renewed  Christian,  and  filled  him  with  a 
sacred  joy,  which  accompanied  him  unto  the  fulness  of  joy  for  ever.  For 
this  cause,  as  persons  truly  converted  unto  God  have  a  mighty  and  lasting 
affection  for  the  instruments  of  their  conversion ;  thus  Mr.  Cotton's  vener- 
ation for  Dr.  Sibs  was  after  this  very  particular  and  perpetual:  and  it 
caused  him  to  have  the  picture  of  that  great  man  in  that  part  of  his  house 
where  he  might  oftenest  look  upon  it.     But  so  the  yoke  of  sore  tempta- 

*  His  words  are  not  those  of  a  mau. 


256  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

tions  and  afflictions  and  long  spiritual  trials,  fitted  bim  to  be  an  eminently 
useful  servant  of  God  in  his  generation! 

§  6.  Some  time  after  this  change  upon  the  soul  of  Mr.  Cotton,  it  came 
•unto  his  turn  again  to  preach  at  St.  Maries;  and  because  he  was  to  preach, 
an  high  expectation  was  raised,  through  the  whole  university,  that  they 
should  have  a  sermon,  flourishing  indeed,  with  all  the  learning  of  the 
tchole  umvcrsity.  Many  difliculties  had  Mr.  Cotton  in  his  own  mind  now 
what  course  to  steer.  On  the  one  side,  he  considered  that  if  he  should 
iircach  with  a  scriptural  and  Christian  plainness^  he  should  not  only  wound 
his  o\yji  fame  exceedingly,  but  also  tempt  carnal  men  to  I'evive  an  old 
caviV'that  religion  made  scholars  turn  dunceSjj'  whereby  the  name  of 
God  rnight  sufler  not  a  little.  On  the  other  side,  he  considered  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  preach  with  such  a  plainness,  as  became  the  oracles  of 
God,  which  are  intended  for  the  conduct  of  men  in  the  paths  of  life,  and 
not  for  theatrical  ostentations  and  entertainments,  and  the  Lord  needed 
not  any  sin  of  ours  to  maintain  his  own  glory.  Hereupon  Mr.  Cotton 
resolved  that  he  would  preach  a  plain  sermon,  even  such  a  sermon  as  in 
his  own  conscience  he  thought  would  be  most  pleasing  unto  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  and  he  discoursed  practically  and  powerfully,  but  very 
solidly  upon  the  plain  doctrine  of  repentance.  The  vain  wits  of  the  uni- 
versity, disappointed  thus,  with  a  more  excellent  sermon,  that  shot  some 
troublesome  admonitions  into  their  consciences,  discovered  their  vexation 
at  this  disappointment  by  their  not  humming,  as  according  to  their  sinful 
and  absurd  custom  they  had  formerly  done ;  and  the  Vice-Chancellor,  for 
the  very  same  reason  also,  graced  him  not,  as  he  did  others  that  pleased 
him.  Nevertheless,  the  satisfaction  which  he  enjoyed  in  his  own  faithful 
soul,  abundantly  compensated  unto  him  the  loss  of  any  human  fiivour  or 
honour;  nor  did  he  go  without  many  encouragements  from  some  doctors, 
then  having  a  better  sence  of  religion  upon  them,  who  prayed  him  to  per- 
severe in  the  good  loay  of  preaching,  which  he  had  now  taken.  But  per- 
haps the  greatest  consolation  of  all  was  a  notable  effect  of  the  sermon  then 
preached!  The  famous (^Dr.  Preston^then  a  fellow  of  Queen's  College  in 
Cambridge,  and  of  great  note  in  the  university,  came  to  hear  Mr.  Cotton 
with  the  same  itching  ears  as  others  were  then  led  withal.  For  some  good 
while  after  the  beginning  of  the  sermon,  his  frustrated  expectation  caused 
him  to  manifest  his  uneasiness  all  the  ways  that  were  then  possible;  but 
before  the  sermon  was  ended,  like  one  of  Peter's  hearers,  he  found  himself 
"pierced  at  the  heart:"  his  heart  within  him  was  now  struck  with  such 
resentments  of  Bis  own  interior  state  before  the  God  of  heaven,  that  he 
could  have  no  peace  in  his  own  soul,  till  with  a  wounded  soul  he  had 
repaired  unto  Mr.  Cotton;  from  whom  he  received  those  further  assist- 
ances, wherein  he  became  a,  spiritual  fatheiyVii\io  one  of  the  greatest  mea 
in  his  age. 

§  7.  ^EEe  well-disposed  people  of   Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  after  this, 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  257 

invited  Mr.  Cotton  to  become  their  minister;  witli  which  invitation,  out 
of  a  sincere  and  serious  desire  to  serve  our  Lord  in  his  gospel,  after  the 
solemnest  addresses  to  heaven  for  guidance  in  such  a  solemn  affair,  he  com- 
plied. IlAt  this  time  the  mayor  of  the  town,  with  a  more  corrupt  party, 
having  procured  another  scholar  from  Cambridge,  more  agreeable  to  them, 
would  needs  have  him  to  preach  before  Mr.  Cotton :  but  the  cliurch-warden 
pretending  to  more  of  influence  upon  their  ecclesiastical  matters,  over 
ruled  it.  However,  when  the  matter  came  to  a  wte,  amongst  those  to 
whom  the  right  of  election  did  by  charter  belong,  there  was  an  equi-vote 
for  Mr.  Cotton  and  that  other  person ;  only  tlie-mayor,  who  had  the  cast- 
ing vote,  by  a  strange  mistake,  pricked  for  Mr.  Cotton.  When  the  mayor 
saw  his  mistake,  a  new  vote  was  urged  and  granted;  wherein  it  again 
proved  an  equi-vote;  but  the  mayor  most  unaccountably  mistook  again,  as 
he  did  before.  Extreamly  displeased  hereat,  he  pressed  for  a  third  vote; 
but  the  rest  would  not  consent  unto  it;  and  so  the  election  fell  upon  Mr. 
Cotton,  by  the  invgluntary  cast  of  that  very  hand  which  had  most  opposed 
it.  This  obstruction  to  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Cotton  in  Boston  bcinw  thus 
conquered,  another  followed ;  for  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocess,  having  under- 
stood that  Mr.  Cotton  was  infected  with  Puritanism,  set  himself  immedi- 
ately to  discourage  his  being  there;  only  he  could  object  nothing,  but, 
"  That  Mr.  Cotton  being  a  young  man,  he  was  not  so  fit,  upon  that  score, 
to  be  over  such  a  numerous  and  such  a  factious  people."  And  Mr.  Cotton 
having  learned  no  otherwise  to  value  himself  than  to  concur  with  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Bishop,  intended  therefore  to  return  unto  Cambridge : 
but  some  of  his  friends,  against  his  inclination,  knowing  the  true  ivay  of 
doing  it,  soon  charmed  the  Bishop  into  a  declared  opinion  that  Mr.  Cotton 
was  an  honest  and  a  learned  man.  Thus  the  admission  of  Mr.  Cotton 
unto  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  in  Boston  was  accomplished. 

§  8.  Mr.  Cotton  found  the  vaoxQ  peacecdjle  reception  among  the  people, 
through  his  own  want  of  internal  ^:>race;  and  because  his  continual  exer- 
cises, from  his  internal  temj)tations  and  afflictions,  made  all  people  see,  that 
instead  of  serving  this  or  that  party,  his  chief  care  was  about  the  salvation 
of  his  own  soul.  But  the  stirs,  which  had  been  made  in  the  town,  by  the 
Arminian  controversies,  then  raging,  put  him  upon  further  exercises; 
whereof  he  has  himself  given  us  a  narrative  in  the  ensuing  words: 

"When  I  was  first  called  to  Boston  in  Lincolnsliire,  so  it  was,  that  IMr.  Earon,  son  of  Dr. 
Baron,  (the  divinity  reader  of  Cambridge,)  first  broached  that  whicli  was  tlien  called  Luther- 
anism,  since  Arminianism;  as  being  indeed  himself  learned,  acute,  plausible  in  discourse,  and 
fit  to  insinuate  into  tlie  hearts  of  his  neighbours.  And  thougli  he  were  a  physitian  by  pro- 
fession, (and  of  good  skill  in  that  art,)  yet  he  spent  the  greatest  strength  of  his  studies  in 
clearing  and  promoting  the  Arminian  tenets.  Wiience  it  came  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  great 
feasts  of  the  town,  tine  ehiefest  discourse  at  the  table,  did  ordinarily  fall  upon  Arminian 
points,  to  the  great  offence  of  godly  ministers,  both  in  Boston,  and  neighbour-towns.  I 
coming  among  them,  a  young  man,  thought  it  a  part  both  of  modesty  and  prudence  not  to 
speak  much  to  the  points,  at  first,  among  strangers  and  ancients:  until  afterwards,  after 

YoL.  I.— 17 


258  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

Iiearing  of  many  discourses,  in  public  meetings,  and  mucii  private  discourse  with  the  doctor, 
I  had  learned  at  length  whore  all  the  great  strength  of  the  doctor  lay.  And  then  observing 
(by  the  strength  of  Ciirist)  how  to  avoid  such  expressions  as  gave  him  any  advantage  in  the 
expressions  of  others,  I  began  publickly  to  pieach,  and  in  private  meetings  to  defend  the  doc- 
trine of  God's  r/pr/irt/ p/^r/ion,  before  uU  foresight  of  good  or  eri7,  in  tlie  ere. tare;  and  the 
redemption  (ex  gratia)  only  of  the  cleet ;  the  eflectnal  vacation  of  a  sinner,  Per  irrcsistibilem 
gratitc  vim*,  without  all  respeet  of  the  preparation  oi' free  will;  and  finally,  the  impossibility 
of  the  fall  of  a  sincere  believer,  either  totally  or  finally,  from  a  state  of  grace.  Hereupon, 
when  the  doctor  hud  objected  many  things,  and  heard  my  answers  to  those  scruples  which 
lie  was  wont  most  plausibly  to  urge;  presently  after,  our  publick  feasts  and  neighbourly 
meetings  were  silent  from  all  further  debates  about  predestination,  or  any  of  the  points  which 
depend  thereupon,  and  all  matters  of  religion  were  carried  on  calmly  and  peaceably." 

About  half  a  year  after  Mr.  Cotton  had  been  at  Boston,  thus  usefully 
employed,  he  visited  Cainbridge,  that  he  might  then  and  there  proceed 
Batchcllor  of  Divinity,  which  he  did:  and  his  Goncio  ad  Clerum\  on  Matt. 
V.  13,  Vos  estis  Sal  TerrceX  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  judicious.  Nor 
was  he  less  admired  for  his  very  singular  acutenesS  in  di-^putation,  when 
he  answered  the  divinity  act  in  the  schools;  wherein  he  had  for  his  oppo- 
nent a  most  acute  antagonist — namely.  Dr.  Chappel — who  was  afterwards 
Provost  of  Trinity-Colledge  in  Dublin;  and  one  unhappily  successful  in 
promoting  the  new  Pelagianism. 

§  9.  Settled  now  at  Boston,  his  dear  friend,  holy  Mr.  Bayns,  recom- 
mended unto  him  a  pious  gentlewoman,  one  Iv[rs.  Elizabeth  Ilorrocks,  the 
sister  of  Mr.  James  Ilorrocks,  a  famous  minister  in  Lancashire,  to  become 
his  consort  in  a  married  estate.  And  it  was  remarkable  that  on  the  very 
day  of  his  wedding  to  that  eminently  vertuous  gentlewoman,  he  first 
received  that  assurance  of  God's  love  unto  his  own  5ozy/,  by  the  spirit  of 
God,  effectually  applying  his  promise  of  eternal  grace  and  life  unto  him, 
which  happily  kept  with  him  all  the  rest  of  his  days:  for  which  cause  he 
would  afterwards  often  say,  '^od  made  that  day,  a  day  of  double  marriage 
to  mel'li  The  ?t']/e,  which  by  the  favour  of  God  he  had  now  found,  was  a 
very  great  help  unto  him,  in  the  service  of  God;  but  especially  upon  this, 
among  many  other  accounts,  that  the  people  of  her  own  sex,  observing 
her  more  than  ordinary  discretion,  gravity,  and  holiness,  would  still  improve 
the  freedom  of  their  address  unto  her,  to  acquaint  her  with  the  exercises 
of  their  own  spirits;  who,  acquainting  her  husband  with  convenient  inti- 
mations thereof,  occasioned  him  in  his  publick  ministry  more  particularly 
and  profitably  to  discourse  those  things  that  were  of  everlasting  benefit. 

§  10.  After  he  had  been  three  years  in  Boston,  his  careful  studies  and 
pra^firs  brought  him  to  apprehend  more  of  evil  remaining  itnreformed  in 
the^^urch  of  England/than  he  had  heretofore  considered;  and  from  this 
time  he  became  a  conscientious  non-conformist,  umd  the  unscriptural  cer- 
emonies and  constitutions  yet  maintained  by  that  church  '^  but  such  was 
his  interest  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  that  his  non-conformity,  instead  of 

•  By  the  irresistible  power  of  Grace.  t  Address  to  the  Clergy.  %  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  259 

being  disturbed,  was  indeed  ^Tftbraced  by  the  greatest  part  of  the  town^ 
However,  at  last,  complaints  being  made  against  him  unto  the  Bishop's 
courts,  he  was  for  a  ichile  then  put  under  the  circumstances  of  a  silenced 
minister;  in  all  which  while,  he  would  still  give  his  presence  at  the  puhlick 
sermons,  though  never  at  the  common  prayers  of  the  conformable.  He  was 
now  offered,  not  only  the  liberty  of  his  ministry,  but  very  great  j^referment 
in  it  also,  if  he  would  but  conform  to  the  scrupled  rites,  though  but  in  one 
act,  and  but  for  one  time;  nevertheless,  his  tender  soul,  afraid  of  being 
thereby  polluted,  could  not  in  the  least  comply  with  such  temptations,  A 
storm  of  many  troubles  upon  him  was  now  gathering ;  but  it  was  very 
strangely  diverted !  For  that  YQry  man  who  had  occasioned  this  affliction 
to  liim,  now  became  heartily  afilicted  for  his  own  sin  in  doing  of  it;  and  a 
stedfast,  constant,  prudent  friend ;  presenting  a  pair  of  gloves  to  a  proctor 
of  an  higher  court,  then  appealed  unto  that  proctor  without  Mr.  Cotton's 
knowledge,  swore.  In  Animani  Domini,'^  that  Mr.  Cotton  was  a  conformable 
man;  which  things  issued  in  Mr.  Cotton's  being  restored  unto  the  exercise 
of  his  ministry. 

§  11.  The  storm  of  persecution  being  thus  blown  over,  Mr.  Cotton  enjoyed 
rest  for  many  years.  In  which  time  he  faithfully  employed  his  great 
abilities,  not  in  gaining  men  to  this  or  that  ptarty  of  Christians,  but  in 
^quainting  them  with  the  more  essential  and  substantial  points  of  Chris- 
tianity-j-j  In  the  space  of  twenty  years  that  he  lived  at  Boston,  on  the 
Lord^s  days  in  the  afternoons,  he  thrice  went  over  the  body  of  divinity  in  a 
catechistical  icay ;  and  gave  the  heads  of  his  discourse  to  young  scholars, 
and  others  in  the  town,  that  they  might  answer  to  his  questions  in  the 
congregation;  and  the  answers  he  opened  and  applied  unto  the  general 
advantage  of  the  hearers.  Whilst  he  was  in  this  way  handling  the  sixth 
commandment,  the  words  of  God  which  he  uttered  were  so  quick  and  pow- 
erful, that  a  woman  among  his  hearers,  who  had  been  married  sixteen 
years  to  a  second  Itusband,  now  in  horror  of  conscience,  openly  confessed 
her  murdering  her  former  husband,  by  poison,  though  thereby  she  exposed 
herself  to  the  extremity  of  being  burned.  In  the  forenoons  of  the  Lord's 
days,  he  preached  over  the  first  six  chapters  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  the 
whole  book  of  Ecclesiastes ;  the  prophecy  of  Zephaniah ;  the  prophecy  of 
Zechariah,  and  many  other  scriptures.  When  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
administred,  which  was  once  a  month,  he  handled  the  eleventh  chapter  in 
the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  the  thirteenth  chapter  in  the  sec- 
ond book  of  the  Chronicles:  and  some  other  pertinent  paragraphs  of  the 
Bible.  In  his  lectures,  he  went  through  the  whole  first  and  second  Epistles 
of  John;  the  whole  book  of  Solomon's  Song;  the  Parables  of  our  Saviour 
to  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  ^is  house  also  was  full  of  young 
students;  whereof  some  were  sent  unto  him  out  of  Germany,  some  out  of 
Holland,  but  most  out  of  Cambrid^\  for  Dr.  Preston  would  still  advise 

•  In  the  spirit  of  the  Lord. 


2(50  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

his  near  fledged  pupils,  to  go  live  with  Mr.  Cotton,  that  they  might  be 
iitted  for  publick  service;  insomuch  that  it  was  grown  almost  a  proverb, 
"That  Mr.  Cotton  was  Dr.  Preston's  seasoning  vessel:"  and  of  those  that 
issued  from  this  learned  family,  fimous  and  useful  in  their  generation,  the 
well-known  Dr.  LLill  was  not  the  least.  Moreover,  he  kept  a  dailij  lecture 
m  his  house,  which,  as  very  reverend  ear-witnesses  have  expressed  it, 
?/'ITe  performed  with  much  grace,  to  the  edification  of  the  hearers:"  and 
/unto  this  lecture  many  pious  people  in  the  town  would  constantly  resort, 
\  until  upon  a  suspicion  of  some  inconveniency,  which  might  arise  from  the 
'growing  mimerousness  of  his  auditory,  he  left  it  off.  However,  besides  his 
ordinary  lecture  every  Thursday,  he  preached  thrice  more;  ever}'-  week, 
on  the  lueeh-days;  namely,  on  Wednesdays  and  Thursdays,  early  in  the 
morning,  and  on  Saturdays  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  And  besides  these 
immense  labours,  he  was  frequently  employed  on  extraordinary  days,  kept 
Pro  Temporis  et  Causis*  whereon  he  would  spend  sometimes  no  less  than 
six  hours  in  the  word  and  prayer.  Furthermore,  it  was  his  custom,  once 
a  year,  to  visit  his  native-town  of  Derby,  where  he  was  a  notable  excep- 
tion to  the  general  rule  of  "  A  prophet  without  honour  in  his  own  country ;" 
and  by  his  vigilant  cares  this  town  was  for  many  years  kept  supplied  with 
able  and  faithful  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Thus  was  this  good  man  a  most 
indefatigable  doer  of  good. 

§  12.  The  good  spirit  of  God,  so  plentifully  and  powerfully  accompanied 
the  ministry  of  this  excellent  man,  thatfa  great  reformation  was  thereby 
wrought  in  the  town  of  Bostom  ^  Profaneness  Avas  extinguished,  superstition 
was  abandoned,  religion  was  embraced  and  practised  among  the  l>ody  of  the 
people;  yea,  the  mayor,  with  most  of  the  magistrates,  were  now  called 
Puritans,  and  the  Satanical  party  was  become  insignificant.  As  to  the 
matter  of  non-conformity,  Mr.  Cotton  was  come  to  forbear  the  ceremonies 
enjoyned  in  the  Church  of  England ;  for  which  he  gave  this  account : 

"The  grounds  were  two:  first,  The  significacy  and  efficacy  put  upon  tliem,  in  the  preface 
to  the  book  of  Common-Prayer:  That  'they  were  neither  dumb  nor  darli,  but  apt  to  stir  up 
the  dull  mind  of  man,  to  the  remembrance  of  his  duty  to  God,  by  some  notable  and  special 
signification,  whereby  he  maybe  edified;'  or  words  to  the  like  purpose.  The  sccoiid  was 
the  limitation  of  church-power,  even  of  the  highest  apostolical  commission,  to  the  'observa- 
'  tion  of  the  commandments  of  Christ,'  Mat.  xxviii.  20.  Which  made  it  appear  to  me  utterly 
unlawful  for  any  church-power  to  enjoyn  the  observation  of  indifferent  ceremonies,  which 
Christ  had  not  commanded:  and  all  the  ceremonies  were  alike  destitute  of  the  commandment 
of  Christ,  though  they  had  been  indijferent  otherwise;  which  indeed  others  have  justly 
pleaded  they  were  not." 

But  this  was  not  all :  for  Mr.  Cotton  was  also  come  to  believe,  that  Scrip- 
ture bishops  were  a})pointed  to  rule  no  larger  a  diocess  than  a  particular 
congregation;  and  that  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  with  the  keys  of  eccle- 
siastical government,  arc  given  by  him  to  a  congregational  church.      It 

•  Acciiidii)!,'  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  261 

hence  came  to  pass,  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  now  worshipped  in 
Boston,  without  the  use  of  the  liturgy^  or  of  those  vestments,  which  are  by 
Zanchy  called  Execrabiles  Fesfes;*  yea,  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  laid  aside, 
not  only  in  baptism,  but  also  in  the  mayor's  mace,  as  worthy  to  be  made  a 
jSTehushtau,  because  it  had  been  so  much  abused  unto  idolatry.  And  besides 
all  this,  there  were  some  scores  of  pious  people  in  the  town,  who  more 
exactly  formed  themselves  into  an  Evangelical  Church-State,  by  entring 
into  covenant  with  God,  and  with  one  another,  "to  follow  after  the  Lord, 
in  the  purity  of  his  worship."  However,  ithe  main  bent  and  aim  of  Mr. 
Cotton's  ministry  was,  "to  preach  a  crucified  Christ;'!- and  the  inhabitants 
of  Boston  observed,  that  God  blessed  them  in  their  secular  concernments, 
remarkably  the  more,  through  his  dwelling  among  them;  for  many  stran- 
gers, and  some,  too,  that  were  gentlemen  of  good  quality,  resorted  unto 
Boston,  and  some  removed  their  habitations  thither  on  his  account; 
whereby  the  prosperity  of  the  place  was  very  much  promoted. 

§  13.  As  his  desert  of  itwas  very  high,  so  the  respect  which  he  met 
withal  was  far  from  low.  xne  best  of  his  hearers  loved  him  greatly,  and 
the  worst  of  them  feared  him,  as  "  knowing  that  he  was  a  righteous  and 
an  holy  man^Q  Yea,  such  was  the  greatness  of  his  learning,  his  wisdom, 
his  holiness,  that  great  vien  took  no  little  notice  of  him.  A  very  honour- 
able person  rode  thirty  miles  to  see  him;  and  afterwards  professed,  "That 
he  had  as  lieve  hear  Mr.  Cotton's  ordinary  exposition  in  his  family,  as 
any  minister's  publick  preaching  that  he  knew  in  England."  Whilst  he 
continued  in  Boston,  Dr.  Preston  would  constantly  come  once  a  year  to 
visit  him,  from  his  exceeding  value  for  Mr.  Cotton's  friendship.  Arch- 
Bishop  Williams  did  likewise  greatly  esteem  him  for  his  incomparable 
parts;  and  when  he  was  keeper  of  the  great  seal,  he  recommended  Mr. 
Cotton  to  the  royal  favour.  Moreover,  the  Earl  of  Dorchester  and  of 
Lindsey  had  much  regard  unto  him:  which  happened  partly  on  this  occa- 
sion; the  Earl's  coming  into  Lincolnshire,  about  the  dreining  of  some 
fenny  grounds,  Mr.  Cotton  was  then  in  his  course  of  preaching  on  Gal. 
ii.  20.  Intending  to  preach  on  the  duties  of  "living  by  faith  in  adversity;" 
but  considering  that  these  noblemen  were  not  much  acquainted  with  aj(jlic- 
tions,  he  altered  his  intentions,  and  so  ordered  it,  that  when  they  came  to 
Boston,  he  discoursed  on  the  duties  of  "living  by  faith  in  prosperity:" 
when  the  noblemen  were  so  much  taken  with  what  they  heared,  that  they 
assured  him,  if  at  any  time  he  should  want  a  friend  at  court,  they  would 
improve  all  their  interest  for  him.  And  when  Mr.  Cotton  did  plainly, 
but  wisely  admonish  them,  of  certain  pastimes  on  the  Lord^s  day,  whereby 
they  gave  some  scandal,  they  took  it  most  kindl}^  from  him,  and  prom- 
ised a  reforMOition.  But  none  of  the  roses  cast  on  this  applauded  actor, 
smothered  "that  hunible,  that  loving,  that  gracious  disposition,  which  was  his 
perpetual  ornament.j 

*  Execrable  gowns. 


202  M  AG  N  ALIA    C  II R  I  S  T  I    AMEKICANA; 

§  14.  At  length,  doubtless  to  chastise  the  seldom  unchastiscd  evils  of 
divisions,  crept  in  among  the  Christians  of  Boston,  it  pleased  the  God  of 
Heaven  to  deprive  them  of  Mr.  Cotton's  ministry,  by  laying  a  (erti.an 
ague  upon  him  for  a  year  together.  But  being  invited  unto  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln's,  in  pursuance  to  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  that  he  shouLl 
change  the  air,  he  removed  thither;  and  thereupon  he  happily  recovered. 
Nevertheless,  by  the  same  sickness  he  then  lost  his  excellent  wife;  who 
having  lived  with  him  childless  for  eighteen  years,  went  from  him  now, 
to  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord ;\  whereupon  he  travelled  further  a  field,  unto 
London,  and  some  other  places,  whereby  the  recovery  of  his  lost  healtli 
was  further  perfected.  About  a  year  after  this,  he  practically  appeared  in 
opposition  to  Tertullianism,  by  proceeding  unto  a  second  marriage ;  wherein 
one  Mrs.  Sarah  Story,  a  vertuous  widow,  yery  dear  to  his  former  wife, 
became  his  consort;  and\by  her  he  had  both  sons  and  daughters}^ 

§  15.  Although  our  Lor^  hath  hitherto  made  the  discretion  and  vigil- 
ancy  of  Mr.  Thomas  Leveret  (afterwards  a  douhhj  honoured  elder  of  the 
church,  in  another  land)  the  happy  occasion  of  diverting  many  designs  to 
molest  Mr.  Cotton  for  his  non-conformity,  yet  when  the  sins  of  the  place 
had  ripened  it  for  so  dark  a  vengeancfe  of  heaven  as  the  removing  of  this 
eminent  light,  a  storm  of  persecution  could  no  longer  be  avoided.  A 
debauched  fellow  in  the  town,  who  had  been  punished  by  the  magistrates 
for  his  debaucheries,  contrived  and  resolved  a  revenge  upon  them,  for  their 
justice:  and  having  no  more  effectual  way  to  vent  the  cursed  malice  of 
his  heart,  than  by  bringing  them  into  trouble  at  the  High  Commission 
Court,  up  he  goes  to  London,  with  informations  to  that  court,  that  the 
magistrates  did  not  kneel  at  the  sacrament,  nor  observe  some  other  ceremo- 
nies by  law  imposed.  When  some  that  belonged  unto  the  court  signified 
unto  this  informer  that  he  must  put  in  the  niini'iter''s  name:  "Nay,"  (said 
he)  "the  minister  is  an  honest  man,  and  never  did  me  any  wrong:"  but 
it  being  farther  pressed  upon  him,  that  all  his  complaints  would  be  insig- 
nificant, if  the  minister'' s  name  were  not  in  them,  he  then  did  put  it  in : 
and  letters  missive  were  dispatched  incontinently,  to  convent  Mr.  Cotton 
before  the  infamous  High  Commission  Court.  But  before  we  relate  what 
became  of  Mr.  Cotton,  we  will  enquire  what  became  of  his  accuser.  The 
renowned  Mr.  John  Eogers  of  Dedham,  having  been  on  his  lecture  day, 
just  before  his  going  to  preach,  advised  that  Mr.  Cotton  was  brought  into 
this  trouble,  he  took  occasion  to  speak  of  it  in  the  sermon,  with  just 
lamentations  for  it;  and  among  others  he  used  words  to  this  purpose:  "As 
for  that  man,  who  hath  caused  a  faithful  pastor  to  be  driven  from  his  flock, 
he  is  a  wisp,  used  by  the  hand  of  God  for  the  scowring  of  his  people:  but 
mark  the  words  now  spoken  by  a  minister  of  the  Lord!  I  am  verily  per- 
swaded,  the  judgments  of  God  will  overtake  the  man  that  has  done  this 
thing:  either  he  will  die  under  an  liedge,  or  something  else,  more  than 
the  ordinary  death  of  men  shall  befal  him."    Now,  behold,  how  this  pre- 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY     OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  263 

diction  was  accomplisLed:  tliis  miserable  man,  quickly  after  tliis,  dyed  of 
the  jj>/a/7z/e,  under  an  liedge^  in  Yorkshire;  and  it  was  a  long  time  ere  any 
one  could  be  found  that  would  bury  him.     This  His  to  turn  persecutor. 

§  16.  Mr.  Cotton,  knowing  that  letters  missive  were  out  against  him,  from 
the  High  Commission  Court,  and  knowing  that  if  he  appeared  there,  he 
could  expect  no  other  than  to  be  choaked  with  such  a  perjietual  impris- 
onment as  had  already  murdered  such  men  as  Bates  and  Udal,  he  con- 
cealed himself,  as  well  as  he  could,  from  the  raging  p)ursevants.  Appli- 
cation was  made,  in  the  mean  time,  to  the  Earl  of  Dorset,  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  old  engagement  unto  Mr.  Cotton;  and  the  earl  did  indeed 
intercede  for  him,  until  the  Arch-bishop  of  Canterbury,  who  would  often 
wish,  "Oh!  that  I  could  meet  with  Cotton!"  rendred  all  his  intercessions 
both  ineffectual  and  unseasonable.  Hereupon  that  noble  person  sent  word 
unto  him,  that  if  he  had  been  guilty  of  drtmJceymess,  or  uncleanness,  or 
any  such  lesser  fait,  he  could  have  obtained  his  pardon;  but  inasmuch  as 
he  had  been  guilty  of  non-conformity^  and  puritanism^  the  crime  was 
unpardonable;  and  therefore,  said  he,  "you  must  fly  for  your  safety." 
Doubtless,  it  was  from  such  unhappy  expey-iments  that  Mr.  Cotton  afterwards 
published  this  complaint:  "The  ecclesiastical  courts  are  like  the  courts  of 
the  high-priests  and  Pharisees,  which  Solomon  by  a  spirit  of  prophecj^ 
stileth,  dens  of  lions,  and  mountains  of  leopards.  And  those  who  have  to 
do  with  them,  have  found  them  markets  of  the  sins  of  the  people,  the  cages 
of  uncleanness,  the  forges  of  extortion,  the  tabernacles  of  bribery,  and  they 
have  been  contrary  to  the  end  of  civil  government,  which  is  the  punish- 
ment  of  evil-doers,  and  i\\Q  praise  of  them  which  do  welV 

§  17.  Mr.  Cotton,  therefore,  now,  with  supplications  unto  the  God  of 
Heaven  for  his  direction,  joined  consultations  of  good  men  on  earth;  and 
among  others,  he  did,  with  some  of  his  Boston  friends,  visit  old  Mr.  Dod, 
unto  whom  he  laid  open  the  difficult  case  now  before  him,  without  any 
intimation  of  his  own  inclination,  whereby  the  advice  of  that  holy  man 
might  have  been  at  all  forestalled.  Mr.  Dod,  upon  the  whole,  said  thus 
unto  him:  "I  am  old  Peter,  and  therefore  must  stand  still,  and  bear  the 
brunt ;  but  you,  being  young  Peter,  may  go  whether  you  will,  and  ought, 
being  persecuted  in  one  city,  to  flee  unto  another."  And  when  the  Boston 
friends  urged,  "that  they  would  support  and  protect  Mr.  Cotton,  though 
privately ;  and  that  if  he  should  leave  them,  very  many  of  them  would 
be  exposed  unto  extreme  temptation:"  he  readily  answered,  "That  the 
removing  of  a  minister  was  like  the  draining  of  a  fish  pond :  the  good  fish 
will  follow  the  water,  but  eels,  and  other  baggage  fish,  will  stick  in  the 
mud."  AVhich  things,  when  Mr.  Cotton  heard,  he  was  not  a  little  confirmed 
in  his  inclination  to  leave  the  land.  Nor  did  he  forget  the  concession  of 
Cyprian,  that  a  seasonable  flight  is,  in  effect,  "a  confession  of  our  faith:" 
for  it  is  a,  profession  that  our  faith  is  dearer  unto  us,  than  all  the  enjoyments 
from  which  wejly.     But  that  which  is  further  memorable  in  this  matter 


254  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

i?,  that  as  tlic  great  God  often  makes  his  truth  to  spread  by  the  sufferings 
of  them  that  profess  the  trutli,  four  hundred  were  converted  by  the  death 
of  one  persecuted  Cecilia:  and  the  Scotch  Bishop  would  leave  off  burning 
of  the  fafithful,  because  the  smoke  of  Hamilton  infected  as  many  as  it  blew 
upon.  '!phus  the  silencing  and  removing  of  Mr.  Cotton,  which  was  to  him 
a  thing  little  short  of  martyrdom,  was  an  occasion  of  more  thorough 
repentance  in  sundry  of  his  bereived  people,  who  now  began  to  consider 
that  God,  by  taking  away  their  minister,  was  punishing  their  former 
unfru  iff  Illness  under  the  most  fruitful  ministry  which  they  had  thus  long 
enjoyed.  And  there  was  yet  another  such  effect  of  the  matter,  Avhich  is 
now  to  be  related^ 

§  18.  To  avoid  them  that  thirsted  for  his  mine,  Mr.  Cotton  travelled 
under  a  changed  name  and  garh^  with  a  full  purpose  of  going  over  for  Hol- 
land; but  when  he  came  near  the  place  where  he  would  have  shipped 
himself,  he  met  "with  a  kinsman,  who  vehemently  and  effectually  perswaded 
him  to  divert  into  London.  Here  the  Lord  had  a  tcork  for  him  to  do, 
which  he  little  thought  of.  Some  reverend  and  renowned  ministers  of 
our  Lord  in  that  great  city,  who  yet  had  not  seen  sufficient  reason  to 
expose  themselves  unto  persecutions  for  the  sake  of  non-conformity^  but 
looked  upon  the  imposed  ceremonies  as  indifferent  and  sufferable  trifles, 
and  weighed  not  the  aspect  of  the  second  commandment^  upon  all  the  parts 
and  means  of  instituted  ivorship>,  took  this  o}>portunity  for  a  conference  with 
Mr.  Cotton;  being  perswaded,  that  since  he  was  "no  passionate,  but  a  very 
judicious  man,"  they  should  prevail  with  him  'Jr'ather  to  conform,  than  to 
leave  his  tcork  and  his  Icmd.\  Unto  the  motion  of  a  conference  \Mr.  Cotton 
most  readily  yieldedj  and  first,  all  their  arguments  for  conformity,  together 
with  Mr.  Byfield's,  Mr.  Whately's  and  Mr.  Sprint's,  were  produced;  all 
of  which  Mr.  Cotton  answered,  unto  their  Avonderful  satisfaction.  Then 
he  gave  his  arguments  for  his  non-conformity,  and  the  reasons  why  he 
must  rather  forgo  his  ministry,  or  at  least  his  country,  than  wound  his  con- 
science with  unlawful  compliances;  the  issue  whereof  was,  that  instead  of 
^ringing  Mr.  Cotton  back  to  what  he  had  now  forsaken,  he  brought  them 
off  altogether  from  what  they  had  hitherto  practised :  every  one  of  those 
eminent  persons — Dr.  Goodwin,  Mr.  Nye,  and  Mr.  Davenport — now  became 
all  that  he  was,  and  at  last  left  the  kingdom  for  their  being  so.  But  Mr. 
CottQji  being  now  at  London,  there  were  three  places  which  ofll^red  them- 
selves to  him  for  his  retreat;  Holland,  Barbadoes,  and  New-England.  As 
for  Holland,  the  character  and  condition  which  famous  Mr.  Hooker  had 
reported  thereof,  took  off  his  intentions  of  removing  thither.  And  Barba- 
does had  not  near  such  encouraging  circumstances,  upon  the  best  accounts, 
as  New-England;  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  a  more  than  ordinary 
thing  to  be  done  for  his  glory,  in  an  American  wilderness,  and  so  would 
send  over  a  more  than  ordinary  man,  to  be  employed  in  the  doing  of  it. 
Thither,  even  to  that  religious  and  reformed  plantation,  after  the  solemn- 


OE,    THE    IITSTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  265 

est  applications  to  Heaven  for  direction,  this  great  person  bent  his  resolu- 
tions: and  letters  procured  from  the  church  of  Boston,  by  Mr.  Winthrop, 
the  governour  of  the  colony,  had  their  influence  on  the  matter. 

§  19.  The  God  that  had  carried  him  through  the  fire  of  persecution  was 
now  graciously  with  him  in  his  passage  through  the  water  of  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  and  he  enjoyed  a  comfortable  voyage  over  the  "great  and  wide 
sea."~\There  were  then  three  eminenFlninisters  of  God  in  the  ship; 
namely,  Mr.  Cotton,  Mr.  Hooker,  and  Mr.  Stone ;  which  glorious  triumvi- 
rate coming  together,  made  the  poor  people  in  the  wilderness,  at  their 
coming,  to  say,  that  the  God  of  heaven  had  supplied  them  with  what 
would  in  some  sort  answer  their  three  great  necessities ;  Cotton  for  their 
clothing^  Hooker  for  %h.&\v  fishing^  and  Stone  for  their  huilding:  but  by  one 
or  other  of  these  three  divines  in  the  ship,  there  was  a  sermon  preached 
every  day,  all  the  while  they  were  aboard;  yea  they  had  three  sermons, 
or  expositions,  for  the  most  part  every  day :  of  Mr.  Cotton  in  the  morning, 
Mr.  Hooker  in  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Stone  after  supper  in  the  evening.  And 
after  they  had  been  a  month  upon  the  seas,  Mr.  Cotton  received  a  mercy, 
which  God  had  now  for  twenty  3'ears  denied  unto  him,  in  the  birth  of  his 
eldest  son,  whom  he  called  Sea-horn^  in  the  remembrance  of  the  never-to- 
be-forgotten  blessings  which  he  thus  enjoyed  upon  the  seas.  But  at  the 
end  of  seven  weeks  they  arrived  at  New-England,  September  3,  in  the  j^ear 
1633 ;  where  he  put  a  shore  at  New-Boston,  which  in  a  few  years,  by  the 
smile  of  God — especially  upon  the  holy  wisdom,  conduct,  and  credit  of 
our  Mr.  Cotton — upon  some  accounts  of  growth,  came  to  exceed  Old  Boston 
in  every  thing  that  renders  a  town  considerable.  And  it  is  remarkable 
that  his  arrival  at  New-England,  was  just  after  the  people  there  had  been, 
by  solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  seeking  unto  God,  that  inasmuch  as  they 
had  been  engaging  to  walk  with  him  in  his  ordinances,  according  to  his 
word,  he  would  mercifully  send  over  to  them,  such  as  might  be  "eyes 
unto  them  in  the  wilderness,"  and  strengthen  them  in  discerning  and  fol- 
lowing of  that  word. 

§  20.  There  were  divers  churches  gathered  in  the  country,  before  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Cotton;  but  upon  his  arrival,  the  points  of  church-order 
were  with  more  of  exactness  revived,  and  received  in  them,  and  further 
observed  in  such  as  were  gathered  after  them.  He  found  the  whole 
country  in  a  perplexed  and  a  divided  estate,  as  to  their  civil  constitution,  but 
at  the  publick  desires,  preaching  a  sermon  on  those  words,  (Hag.  ii.  4,) 
"Be  strong,  O  Zerubbabel,  saith  the  Lord;  and  be  strong,  0  Joshua,  son 
of  Josedech  the  high-priest;  and  be  strong,  all  yejDCople  of  the  land,  saith 
the  Lord,  and  work:  for  I  am  with  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  The 
good  spirit  of  God,  by  that  sermon,  had  a  mighty  influence  upon  all  ranks 
of  men,  in  the  infant-plantation;  who  from  this  time,  carried  on  their 
affairs  with  a  new  life,  satisfaction,  and  unanimity.  It  was  then  requested 
of  Mr.  Cotton  that  he  Avould,  from  the  laws  wherewith  God  governed  his 


2(36 


MAGNA  LI  A    CHRIST  I    AMERICANA; 


ancient  ])Coplc,  form  an  ahdract  of  such  as  were  of  a  moral  and  a  lasting 
equiti/;  which  he  performed  as  acceptably  as  judiciously.  But  inasmuch 
as  very  much  of  an  Athenian  democraaj  was  in  the  mould  of  the  govern- 
ment, by  the  royal  charter  which  was  then  acted  upon,  Mr.  Cotton  effect- 
ually recommended  it  unto  them  that  none  should  be  electors,  nor  elected 
therein,  except  such  as  were  visible  suhjects  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  per- 
sonally confederated  in  our  churches.  In  these,  and  many  other  ways,  he 
projiounded  unto  them  an  endeavour  after  a  theocracy,  as  near  as  might 
be^to  that  which  was  the  glory  of  Israel,  the  "peculiar  people." 

\But  the  ecclesiastical  constitution  of  the  country  was  that  on  which  he 
employed  his  peculiar  caresJN^nd  he  was  one  of  those  olive-trees  which 
afforded  a  singular  measure  of  oyl  for  the  illumination  of  our  sanctuary. 

§  21,  "The  churches  now  had  rest,  and  were  edified:  and  there  were 
daily  added  unto  the  churches  those  that  were  to  be  saved."  Now,  though 
the  poor  people  were  fed  with  "the  bread  of  adversity,  and  the  waters  of 
affliction,"  yet  they  counted  themselves  abundantly  compensated  by  this, 
that  "their  ej'es  might  see  such  teachers"  as  were  now  to  be  seen  among 
them.  The  faith  and  the  order  in  the  churches  was  generally  glorious, 
whatever  little  popular  confusioris,  might  in  some  few  places  eclipse  the 
glo7-y.  But  the  warm  sunshine  will  produce  a  swarm  of  insects;  whilst 
matters  were  going  on  thus  prosperously,  the  cunning  and  malice  of  Satan, 
to  break  the  prosperity  of  the  churches,  brought  in  a  generation  of  hypo- 
crites, who  "crept  in  unawares,  turning  the  grace  of  our  God  into  lasciv- 
iousness."  A  company  of  Antinomian  and  Familistical  sectaries  were 
strangely  crouded  in  among  our  more  orthodox  planters;  by  the  artifices 
of  which  busie  opinionists  there  was  a  dangerous  blow  given,  first  unto  the 
faith,  and  so  unto  the  peace  of  the  churches.  In  the  storm  thus  raised, 
it  is  incredible  what  obloquy  came  to  be  cast  upon  Mr.  Cotton,  as  if  he 
had  been  the  patron  of  these  destroyers;  merely  because  they,  willing  to 
have  a  "great  person  in  admiration,  because  of  advantage,"  falsly  used  the 
name  of  this  "great  person,"  by  the  credit  thereof  to  disseminate  and  dis- 
semble their  errors;  and  because  the  chief  of  them,  in  their  private  con- 
ferences with  him,  would  make  such  fallacious  profession  of  gospel-truths, 
that  his  Christian  and  abused  charity  would  not  permit  him  to  be  so  hasty 
as  many  others  were  in  censuring  of  them.  However,  the  report  given  of 
Mr.  Cotton  on  this  occasion,  by  one  Baily,  a  Scotchman,  in  a  most  scan- 
dalous pampldet,  called,  "J.  Dissivasive,''^  written  to  cast  an  odium  on  the 
churches  of  New-England,  by  vilifying  Jiim,  that  was  one  of  their  most 
eminent  servants,  are  most  horrid  injuries;  for  there  being  upon  the  encour- 
agement of  the  success  which  the  old  Nieene,  Constantinopolitan,  Ephesine, 
and  Chalccdonian  councils  had,  in  the  extinguishing  of  several  successive 
heresies,  a^ouncil  now  called  at  Cambridge:^  Mr.  Cotton,  after  some  debates 
with  the  Eeverend  Assembly,  upon  some  controverted  points  of  justifica- 
tian,  most  vigorously  joined  with  the  other  ministers  of  the  country  in 


OR,     THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  267 

I  testifying  against  the  hateful  doctrines,  whereby  the  churches  had  been 
troubled^"^.  Indeed,  there  did  happen  2Mroxis7ns  in  this  Jiour  of  temj^tatioti 
betweeiPmr.  Cotton  and  some  other  zealous  and  worthy  persons,  which, 
though  they  did  not  amount  unto  the  heat  and  heighth  of  those  that  hap- 
pened between  Chrysostom  and  Epiphanius,  or  between  Hieron  and  Ruf- 
finus,  yet  they  inclined  him  to  meditate  a  removal  into  another  colony. 
But  a  certain  scandalous  writer,  having  publickly  reproached  Mr.  Cotton 
with  his  former  inclination  to  remove^  there  was  thereby  provoked  his  pub- 
lick  and  patient  answer;  which  being  a  summary  narrative  of  this  whole 
business,  I  shall  here  transcribe  it: 

"There  was  a  generation  of  Familists  in  our  own  and  other  towns,  who,  under  pretence 
of  holding  forth  what  I  had  taught,  touching  union  with  Christ,  and  evidencing  that  union, 
did  secretly  vent  sundry  and  dangerous  errors  and  heresies,  denying  all  inherent  righteous- 
ness, and  all  evidencing  of  a  good  estate  tliereby  in  any  sort,  and  some  of  them  also  denying 
the  immortalily  nf  the  soul,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  When  they  were  questioned  by 
some  brethren  about  those  things,  they  carried  it  as  if  they  had  held  forth  nothing  but  what 
they  had  received  from  me:  whereof,  when  I  was  advised  to  clear  my  self,  I  publickly  preached 
against  those  errors.  Then  said  the  brethren  to  the  erring  party, '  See,  your  teacher  dechxres 
himself  clearly  to  differ  from  you.'  'No  matter,'  (say  the  otiier)  'what  he  saith  in  publiek; 
we  understand  him  otherwise,  and  we  know  what  he  saith  to  us  in  private.'  Yea,  and  I  my 
self  could  not  easily  believe  that  those  erring  brethren  and  sisters  were  so  corrupt  in  their 
judgments  as  they  were  reported;  they  seeming  to  me  forward  Christians,  and  utterly  denying 
any  such  tenents,  or  any  thing  else,  but  what  they  received  from  my  self.  All  which  bred 
in  sundry  of  the  country  a  jealousie  that  I  was  in  secret  a  fomenter  of  the  spirit  of  fomilism, 
if  not  leavened  my  self  that  way.  Which  I  discerning,  it  wrought  in  /ne  thoughts  (as  it  did 
in  many  other  sincerely  and  godly  brethren  of  our  church)  not  of  a  separation  from  the 
churches,  but  of  a  remoial  to  New-Haven,  as  being  better  known  to  the  pastor,  and  some 
others  there,  than  to  such  as  were  at  that  time  jealous  of  me  here.  The  true  ground  whereof 
was  an  inward  loathness  to  be  troublesome  unto  godly  minds,  and  a  fear  of  the  unprofitable- 
ness of  my  ministry  there,  where  my  toay  was  suspected  to  be  doubtful  and  dangerous.  I 
chose  therefore  rather  to  meditate  a  silent  departure  in  peace,  than  by  tarrying  here,  to  make 
way  for  the  breaking  forth  of  templalions.  But  when,  at  the  Synod,  I  had  discovered  the 
corruption  of  the  judgment  of  the  erring  brethren,  and  saw  their  fraudulent  pretence  of  holding 
forth  no  other  but  what  they  received  from  me,  (when  as  indeed  they  plead  for  gross  errors 
contrary  unto  my  judgment,)  I  thereupon  did  bear  witness  against  them;  and  when  in  a 
private  conference  with  some  chief  magistrates  and  elders,  I  perceived  that  my  removal  upon 
such  differences  was  unwelcome  to  them,  and  that  such  points  need  not  to  occasion  any  dis- 
tance (neither  in  place  nor  in  heart)  amongst  brethren,  I  then  rested  satisfied  in  my  abode 
amongst  them,  and  so  have  continued,  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  unto  this  day." 

'Tis  true,  such  w^as  Mr.  Cotton's  holy  ingenuity^  that  when  he  perceived 
the  advantage  which  erroneous  and  heretical  persons  in  his  church  had 
from  his  abused  charity  taken  to  spread  their  dangerous  opinions,  before 
he  was  aware  of  them,  he  did  publickly  sometimes  with  tears  bewail  it, 
"That  the  enemy  had  sown  so  many  tares  whilst  he  had  been  asleep." 
Nevertheless,  'tis  as  true,  that  nothing  ever  could  be  laser  than  the  disin- 
genuity  of  those  j^'^t'^^phleteers,  who  took  advantage  hence  to  catch  these 
tears  in  their  veuemous    ink  horns,  and  employ  them  for  so  manj^  blots 


2G8 


MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  K  1ST  I    AMERICANA; 


upon  the  memory  of  a  righteous  man,  "worthy  to  be  had  in  everlasting 

remembranee." 

§  22,  When  the  virulent  and  violent  Edwards  had  been  after  a  most 
unchristian  manner  bespattering  the  excellent  Burroughs,  that  reviled 
saint,  in  his  answer,  had  that  passage:  "The  extreme  eagerness  of  some 
to  asperse  our  names,  makes  us  to  think  that  God  hath  made  more  use  of 
our  names  than  we  were  aware  of." — "We  see  by  their  anger,  even  almost 
to  madness,  bent  that  way,  that  they  had  little  hope  to  prevail,  with  all 
their  argument  against  the  cause  we  profess,  till  they  could  get  down  our 
esteem  (such  as  it  was)  in  the  hearts  of  the  people." — "But  our  names  are 
not  in  the  power  of  their  tongues  and  pens;  they  are  in  the  hands  of 
God,  who  will  preserve  them  so  far  as  he  hath  use  of  them ;  end  farther, 
we  shall  have  no  use  of  them  our  selves."  That  bitter  spirit  in  Baily 
must  for  such  causes  expose  the  name  of  the  incomparable  Cotton  unto 
irreparable  injuries:  for,  from  the  meer  hearsays  of  that  uncharitable 
writer,  hastily  published  unto  the  world,  the  learned  and  worthy  D.r.  Hoorn- 
beck,  not  much  less  against  the  rules  of  charity^  printed  a  short  account 
of  Mr.  Cotton,  whereof  an  ingenious  author  truly  says,  there  was  in  it, 
"  Quot  fere  Vei'ha^  tot  Errores  famosissimi ;  neque  tantum  quot  Capita,  tot 
Carpenda,  sed  quot  fere  Senteniiarum  pundtda,  tot  Dispunrjertday-^  That 
scandalous  account,  it  is  pity  it  should  be  read  in  English,  and  greater 
pity  that  ever  that  reverend  person  should  make  it  be  read  in  Latin; 
but  this  it  was:  "COTTONUS,  horrore  Ordinis  Episcopalis,  in  Aliud  Extrcmum 
prolapsus,  Omnia  plehi  absque  Vinculo  Ecdesiarmn  concedehat. — CoTTONUS 
isle,  primiun  in  Anglia,  alterius  Longe  Sententice  fiierat,  unde  et  j^lurimoruni 
Errorum  lleresiumque  Reus,  Maximus  Ordinis  istius,  vel  potius  Ataxias, 
'promptor  extitit;  hahuitque  secum,  quemadniodiun  MoNTANUS  olim  Maximil- 
LAM,  suam  HuTCHINSONAM,  de  qua  varia  et  prodigiosa  multa  referunt."f 
^Erom  these  miserable  historians,  who  would  imagine  what  a  slur  has  been 
abroad  cast  upon  the  name  of  as  holy,  as  learned,  as  orthodox,  and  emi- 
nent a  servant  of  our  Lord,  in  his  Reformed  Churches,  as  was  known  in 
his  age!  ^Among  the  rest,  it  is  particularly  observable  how  a  laborious 
and  ingenious  foreigner,  in  his  '•'■  Bihliotheca  Anglorum  Theologica,^^  having 
in  his  index  mentioned  a  hook  of  this  our  Mr.  Cotton,  under  the  stile  of 
^'Johannis  Cottoni,  VlA  VlT^,  Liher  UtiUssimus,^''X  presently  adds,  ^'xilius 
Johannes  Cottonus  malce  Notce  Homo:^^^  whereas  'twas  only  by  the  misre- 
presentations of  contentious  and  unadvised  men,  that  John  Cotton,  the 

•  Almost  as  many  iiotuble  errors  as  words;  nnd  not  only  reprehensible  notions  enough  to  match  the  number 
of  chapters,  but  such  an  ubunduncc  of  matlers  worthy  of  being  utterly  expunged,  as  ahnost  to  outnumber  the 
punctuiillon-marks. 

t  Cotton,  driven  by  his  horror  of  the  Episcopal  order  into  the  opposite  extreme,  gave  up  every  thing  to  those 
out  of  the  pale  of  the  Church.  This  Cotton,  who  had  clierixhed  widely  dilferent  sentiments  in  England,  becoming 
afterwards  guilty  of  very  many  errors  and  heresies,  was  the  greatest  promoter  of  this  new  order,  or  rather  disorder; 
and  had  by  his  side  his  Ann  Hutchinson,  as  Montanus  once  had  his  Maxilla,  about  whom  they  tell  many  and 
various  marvels. 

X  John  Cotton'a  "  lyay  of  Life  "  is  a  most  useful  work.         §  The  other  John  Cotton  was  a  man  of  evil  repute. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  269 

experimental  autlior  of  sucli  an  useful  book,  must  be  branded  with  a  iiote 
of  infamy.  But  if  the  reader  will  deal  justly,  he  must  join  these  gross 
calumnies  upon  Cotton  with  the  fables  of  Luther's  devil,  Zuinglius'  dreams, 
Calvin's  brands,  and  Junius'  cloven  foot.  If  Hoornbeck  ever  saw  Cotton's 
mild,  but  full  reply  to  Baily,  which,  as  the  good  spirited  Beverly  says, 
would  have  been  esteemed  a  sufl&cient  refutation  of  all  these  wretched 
slanders,  iV^s^  Fratrum  qiiorundain  aures  erunt  ad  veritatem,  tanqimm  Asjn- 
dum,  ohduratce,^  'tis  impossible  to  excuse  his  wrongful  dealings  with  a  ven- 
erable minister  of  our  Lord!  Pray,  sir,  charge  not  our  Cotton  with  an 
Horror  Ordinis  Episcopalis ;  until  you  have  chastised  your  friend  Hono- 
rius  Reggius,  that  is  Georgius  Hornius,  for  telling  us,  as  Yoetius  quotes  it: 
'■'■  Midlorum  Animos  Siibiit  Recordatio  illius,  quod  Venerahilis  Beza,  non  sine 
Proplietioe.  Spiritu,  olim  rescripsit  Knoxo^  Ecdesice  Scoticoi  Refonnatori:  Sicut 
Ep)iscopi  Papatum  pepererunt^  ita  Oculis  pcene  ipsis  jam  cernitur^  Pseudo-Epis- 
copos,  papains  Reliquias,  Epicureismura  Terris  Invectaros.  Atque  hac  prce- 
mittere  Vision,  ut  eo  manifestius  esset  Britanniam  diutiics  Ejnscopos  non 
potuisse  ferre,  nisi  in  Papismum  et  Atheisinwn  Lahi  vclletJ^f  Charge  not  our 
Cotton  with  an  Omnia  Plehi  absque  Vinculo  Aliarum  Ecclesiarum  concede- 
hat;  until,  besides  the  whole  scope  and  scheme  of  his  ecclesiastical  writ- 
ings, which  allow  no  more  still  unto  the  fraternity,  than  Parker,  Ames, 
Cartwright;  and  advance  no  other  than  that  aristocrasie  that  Beza,  Zan- 
chy,  Whitaker,  Bucer,  and  Blondel  pleaded  for;  you  have  better  construed 
liis  words  in  his  golden  preface  to  Norton's  answer  unto  the  Sylloge  Quaes- 
tionum,  ''^ Neque  nos  Regimen  p)roprie  dictum  cdihi  quam  penes  Preshyteres 
stabilendum  Gupimus:  Gonvenimus  amboin  Subjecto  Pegiminis  Ecclesiastici: 
Gonvenim.us  etiam  in  Regida  Pegiminis,  id  Administrentur  Omnia  Juxta 
Ganonem  Sacrarum  Scriptturarum :  Gonvenimus  etiam  in  Fine  Pegiminis,  ut 
Omnia  Transigantur  ad  Edijicatioiiem  Ecclesioi,  non  ad  Pomjxim  aut  Luxum, 
Secidarem:  Synodos  nos,  una  Vobiscum,  cum  opus  fuerit,  et  Suscipimus  et 
vene7'amur.  Quantillam  est,  quod  Res  tat,  quod  Distat!  Actus  Pegiminis,  quos 
vos  a  Synodis  peragi  Velletis,  eos  a  Synodis  porrigi  Ecclesiis,  et  ab  Ecclesiis, 
ex  Synodali  DiORTHOSEi,  peragi  peteremusy\  Charge  not  our  Cotton  with 
an  Ataxias  Promotor  Extitit,  until  you,  your  self.  Doctor,  have  revoked 
3'our  own  two  concessions,  which  are  all  the  Ataxies  that  ever  could,  with 

*  Unless  the  ears  of  tlie  brethren  shall  be  as  deaf  as  those  of  adders  to  the  truth. 

+  Many  were  reminded  of  what  the  venerable  Beza,  not  without  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  formerly  wrote  to 
Knox,  the  Reformer  of  the  Scottish  church :  "  As  the  bishops  begot  papacy,  so  now  it  is  almost  visible  to  the  eye 
itself  that  pseudo-bishops,  tlie  relics  of  papacy,  are  about  to  introduce  Epicureanism  among  mankind,"  And  it 
seemed  to  escape  him  that,  for  this  very  reason,  it  was  more  evident  that  Britain  could  not  endure  bishops  longer, 
unless  she  was  prepared  to  relapse  into  papacy  and  atheism. 

X  Nor  do  we  desire  to  establish  the  doctrine,  that  church  government  is  not  properly  claimed  elsewhere  than 
among  Presbyterians.  We  both  agree  in  the  rule  of  church  government,  that  all  things  should  be  conducted 
according  to  the  canon  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  agree  also  concerning  the  proper  end  of  church  government, 
that  all  things  should  be  done  for  the  edification  of  the  church,  not  for  show  or  luxury.  We,  as  well  as  you,  both 
convoke  and  venerate  Councils  (Synods)  when  they  become  necessary.  How  narrow  then  is  the  line  which  sepa- 
rates us!  Those  acts  of  chui'ch  government  which  you  wish  to  see  adminis'ercd  by  .''ynnds,  we  desire  to  see  trans- 
ferred from  the  Synods  to  the  churches,  and  by  the  chmches  administered  with  all  the  precision  of  a  Synod  itself. 


270  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

SO  mucli  cOS  the  least  pretence,  be  imputed  unto  this  renowned  person: 
^'' Eccksia  jxirticidaris  qmdihet  Suhjedum  est  Adixqnatum  et  proprium  plencB 
pol&ikilis  Ecdesimticce ;  nee  Congrue  dicitur  ejus  Synodo  Dependentia^  and, 
Neque  enim  Synodi  in  alias  Ecclesias  potestatem  habent  Iinperantem,  quce 
Superiorum  est,  in  Inferiores  sibi  Subditos;  Non- Communionis  Senterdia  Pot- 
estatem Sammam  dcnotat.^^*  As  for  the  Cottonus  Plurimorum  Errorum 
Ha^resiiimque  Reus,  were  old  Austin  alive,  he  would  have  charged  no 
less  a  crime  than  that  of  sacriledge  upon  the  man  that  thus,  without  all 
colour,  should  rob  the  church  of  a  name  which  would  justly  be  dear  unto 
it;  for,  as  the  great  Caryl  hath  expressed  it,  "The  name  of  Cotton  is  as 
an  ointment  poured  forth."  But  for  the  top  of  all  these  calumnies,  Cuttoni 
Hutchinsona,  instead  of  a  resemblance  to  Montani  Maximilla,  the  truer 
comparison  would  have  been,  Mulier  istd,  qiae  per  Cidnmniam  notissimam 
Objiciebatur  Atlianasio ;-\  all  the  favour  which  that  prophetess  of  Thyatira 
had  from  this  angelical  man,  was  the  same  that  the  provoked  Paul  showed 
unto  the  Pythoniss.  In  fine,  the  histories  which  the  world  has  had  of  the 
New-English  churches,  under  the  influence  of  Mr,  Cotton,  I  have  some- 
times thought  much  of  a  piece  with  what  we  have  in  the  old  histories  of 
Lysimachus;  that  when  a  lejirous,  a  scabby  sort  of  people  were  driven  out 
of  Eg3'pt  into  the  wilderness,  there  was  a  certain  man  called  Moses,  who 
counselled  them  to  march  on  in  a  body,  till  they  came  to  some  good  soyl. 
This  Moses  commanded  them  to  be  kind  unto  no  man;  to  give  bad  advice 
rather  than  good,  upon  all  occasions;  and  to  destroy  as  many  temples  as 
they  could  find;  so,  after  much  travel  and  trouble,  they  came  to  afruitfrd 
soyl,  where  they  did  all  the  mischief  that  Moses  had  recommended,  and 
built  a  cit}'',  which  was  at  first  called  Ilierosyla,  from  the  spoiling  of  the 
temples;  but  afterwards,  to  shun  the  disgrace  of  the  occasion,  they  changed 
it  into  llierosohjme,  and  bore  the  name  of  Hierosolymitans.  Bat  thus  must 
a  bad  report,  as  well  as  a  good  report,  follow  such  a  man  as  Mr,  Cotton, 
whose  only  fault,  after  all,  was  that  with  which  that  memorable  ancient 
Nazienzen  was  taxed  sometimes;  namely,  the  fault  of  Mansuetude. 

§  23.Yrhese  clouds  being  thus  happily  blown  over,  the  rest  of  his  days 
were  spent  in  a  more  settled  peace  J^  and  Mr,  Cotton's  growing  and  spread- 
ing fame,  like  Joseph's  bough,  "ran  over  the  wall"  of  the  Atlantic  ocean, 
unto  such  a  degree,  that  in  the  year  1641  some  great  persons  in  England 
were  intending  to  have  sent  over  a  ship  on  purpose  to  fetch  him  over, 
for  the  sake  of  the  service  that  such  a  man  as  he  might  then  do  to  the 
church  of  God,  then  travelling  in  the  nation.  But  although  their  doubt 
of  his  willingness  to  remove  caused  them  to  forbear  that  method  of  obtain- 
ing him,  yet  the  principal  members  in  both  houses  of  parliament  wrote 
unto  him,  with  an  opi)ortunity  for  his  return  into  England;  AvLich  had 

•  Kach  pniticuliir  church  is  a  fit  and  proper  depository  of  plenary  ecclesiastical  power,  nor  can  it  be  ju'tly 
styled  a  dependancy  of  the  Synod.  Nor  have  Synod.-!  any  such  rnlini;  amhority  over  the  churches  as  a  superior 
exercises  over  an  inferior.    The  right  of  decreeing  non-communion  indicates  independent  sovereignly, 

t  That  woman  whom  an  infamous  calumny  connected  with  the  name  of  Athanasius. 


OR,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  271 

prevailed  with  him,  if  the  dismal  showers  of  bloody  quickly  after  breaking 
upon  the  nation,  had  not  made  such  afflictive  impressions  upon  him  as  to 
prevent  his  purpose.  Pe  continued  therefore  in  Boston  unto  his  dying 
day  jjcounting  it  a  great  favour  of  Heaven  unto  him,  that  he  was  delivered 
from  "the  unsettledness  of  habitation,"  which  was  not  among  the  least 
of  the  calamities  that  exercised  the  apostles  of  our  Lord,  Nineteen  years 
and  odd  months  he  spent  in  this  place,  doing  of  good  publickly  and  pri- 
vately, unto  all  sorts  of  men,  as  it  became  "a  good  man  full  of  faith,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Here,  in  an  expository  way,  he  went  over  the  Old 
Testament  once,  and  a  second  time  as  far  as  the  thirtieth  chapter  of  Isaiah; 
and  fhe'whole  New  Testament  once,  and  a  second  time  as  far  as  the  elev- 
enth chapter  to  the  Hebrews.  Upon  the  Lord's-days  and  lecture-days,  he 
preached  thorow  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  the  prophesies  of  Haggai  and 
Zechariah,  the  books  of  Ezra,  the  Revelation,  Ecclesiastes,  Canticles, 
second  and  third  Epistles  of  John,  the  Epistle  to  Titus,  both  Epistles  to 
Timothy;  the  E23istle  to  the  Romans;  with  innumerable  other  scriptures 
on  incidental  occasions.  Though  he  had  also  the  most  remarkable  faculty, 
perhaps  of  any  man  living,  to  meet  every  remarkable  occasion  with  perti- 
nent reflections^  whatever  text  he  were  upon,  without  ever  wandring  out  of 
sight  from  his  text:  and  it  is  possible  there  might  sometimes  be  a  particu- 
lar operation  of  providence,  to  make  the  works  and  zvords  of  God  meet  in 
the  ministry  of  his  holy  servant.  But  thus  did  he  "abound  in  the  works 
of  the  Lord!" 

§  24.  At  length,  upon  desire,  going  to  preach  a  sermon  at  Cambridge, 
(which  he  did  on  Isa.  liv.  13:  "Thy  children  shall  be  all  taught  of  the 
Lord;"  and  from  thence  gave  many  excellent  councils  unto  the  students 
of  the  college  there)  he  took  wet  in  his  passage  over  the  ferry ;  but  he 
presently  felt  the  effect  of  it,  by  the  failing  of  his  voice  in  sermon-time; 
which  ever  until  now  had  been  a  clear,  neat,  audible  voice,  and  easily 
heard  in  the  most  capacious  auditory.  Being  "found  so  doing,"  as  it  had 
often  been  his  declared  wish,  "  That  he  might  not  outlive  his  work !"  (saying 
upon  higher  principles  than  once  Curius  Dentatus  did,  Ilalle  esse  se  Mor- 
tuum,  quam  Vivere:  that  he  had  rather  be  dead,  than  live  dead;  and  with 
Seneca,  Ultimum  malorum  est  ex  vivorimi  Namero  exire,  ante  quam  moria- 
ris:)*  his  illness  went  on  to  an  inflammation  in  his  lungs;  from  whence  he 
grew  somewhat  asthmatical ;  but  there  was  a  complication  of  other  scor- 
bictic  effects,  which  put  him  under  many  symptoms  of  his  approaching  end. 
On  the  eighteenth  of  November  he  took  in  course,  for  his  text,  the  four 
last  verses  of  the  second  Epistle  of  Timothy,  giving  this  reason  for  his 
insisting  on  so  many  verses  at  once,  "Because  else  (he  said)  I  shall  not 
live  to  make  an  end  of  this  Epistle;"  but  he  chiefly  insisted  on  those 
words,  "Grace  be  with  you  all."  Upon  the  Lord's  day  following,  he 
preached  his  last  sermon  on  Joh.  i.  14,  about  that  "glory  of  the  Lord 

•  It  is  the  extreme  of  all  evils  to  depart  from  life,  before  death. 


272  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICAN  A; 

Jesus  Christ,"  from  the  faith  to  the  sight  whereof  he  was  now  hastening. 
After  this,  in  that  study  which  had  been  perfumed  with  many  such  days 
before,  he  now  spent  a  day  in  secret  humiliations  and  supplications  before 
the  Lord ;  seeking  the  special  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  great 
work  of  dying,  that  was  now  before  him.  What  glorious  transactions 
mi'dit  one  have  heard  passing  between  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  an 
excellent  servant  of  his,  now  coming  unto  him,  if  he  could  have  had  an 
/leari/ir/ place  behind  the  hangings  of  the  chamber,  in  such  a  day !  But  hav- 
iii'T  finished  the  duties  of  the  day,  he  took  his  leave  of  his  beloved  study, 
saying  to  his  consort,  "I  shall  go  into  that  room  no  more!"  And  he  had 
all  along  presages  in  his  heart  that  God  would,  by  his  present  sickness, 
give  him  "an  entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Wherefore,  "setting  his  house  in  order,"  he  was  now  so  far  from 
unwilling  to  receive  the  mercy  stroke  of  death,  as  that  he  Avas  desirous  to  be 
with  Ilim,  "with  whom  to  be,  is  by  far  the  best  of  all."  And  although 
the  chief  ground  of  his  readiness  to  be  gone,  was  from  the  unutterably 
sweet  and  rich  enter tai)iments  which  he  did  hy  foretaste  as  well  as  hy  p)rom- 
isc,  know  tliat  the  Lord  had  reserved  in  the  heavenly  regions  for  him,  yet 
he  said  it  contributed  unto  this  readiness  in  him,  when  he  considered  the 
saints,  whose  company  and  communion  he  was  going  unto;  particularly 
Perkins,  Ames,  Preston,  Hildersham,  Dod,  and  others,  which  had  been 
2)eculiarly  dear  unto  himself;  besides  the  rest,  in  that  general  assembly. 

§  25.'  While  he  thus  lay  sick,  the  magistrates,  the  ministers  of  the 
country,  and  Christians  of  all  sorts,  resorted  unto  him,  as  unto  a  pvhlitk 
father,  full  of  sad  apprehensions  at  the  withdraw  of  such  a  p)uhUck  bless- 
ing; and  the  "gracious  words  that  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth,"  while  he 
had  strength  to  utter  the  profitable  conceptions  of  his  mind,  caused  them 
to  reckon  these  their  visits  the  gainfulest  that  ever  they  had  madeT^A-mong 
others,  the  then  president  of  the  college,  with  many  tears,  desired  of  Mr. 
Cotton,  before  his  departure,  to  bestow  his  blessing  on  him:  saying,  "I 
know,  in  my  heart,  they  whom  you  bless  shall  be  blessed."  And  not  long 
before  his  death,  he  sent  for  the  elders  of  the  church,  whereof  he  himself 
also  was  an  elder;  who  having,  according  to  the  apostolical  direction, 
prayed  over  him,  he  exhorted  them  to  "feed  the  flock  over  which  they 
were  overseers,"  and  increase  their  loatch  against  those  declensions  which  he 
saw  the  professors  of  religion  falling  into:  adding,  "I  have  now,  through 
grace,  been  more  than  forty  years  a  servant  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  have  ever  found  him  a  good  master."  When  his  colleague,  Mi-. Wil- 
son, took  his  leave  of  him  with  a  wish  that  God  would  lift  up  the  "light 
of  his  countenance"  upon  him,  he  instantly  replied,  "God  hath  done  it 
already,  brother!"  lie  then  called  for  his  children,  with  whom  he  left  the 
gracious  covenant  of  God,  as  their  never-failing  portion:  and  now  desired 
that  he  might  be  \e^t  p)rivate  the  rest  of  his  minutes,  for  the  more  freedom 
of  his  aj>i)lieati(,)iis  unto  the  Lord.      So  lying  speecldess  a  few  hours,  he 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  273 

\ breathed  his  blessed  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  heavenly  Lord  on  the 
twenty;: third  of  Jjecember^  1652,  ',entring  on  the  sixtj-eighth  year  of  his 
own  age:  and  on  the  day — ^yea,  at  the  hour — of  his  constant  weekly 
labours  in  the  lecture,  wherein  he  had  been  so  long  serviceable,  even  to 
all  the  churches  of  New-England.  Upon  Tuesday,  the  twenty-eighth  of 
December,  he  was  most  honourably  interred,  with  a  most  numerous  con- 
course of  people,  and  the  most  grievous  and  solemn  funeral  that  was  ever 
known  perhaps  upon  the  American  strand ;  and  the  lectures  in  his  church, 
the  whole  winter  following,  performed  by  the  neighbouring  ministers,  were 
but  so  many  funeral  sermons  upon  the  death  and  worth  of  this  extraor- 
dinary person:  among  which,  the  first,  I  think,  was  preached  by  Mr. 
Kichard  Mather,  who  gave  unto  the  bereaved  church  of  Boston  this  great 
character  of  their  incomparable  Cotton:  "Let  us  pray  that  God  would 
raise  up  some  Eleazar  to  succeed  this  Aaron:  but  you  can  hardly  expect 
that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  spirit  of  God  should  dwell  in  any  one,  as 
dw^elt  in  this  blessed  man!"  And  generally  in  the  other  churches  through 
the  country,  the  expiration  of  this  general  blessing  to  them  all,  did  produce 
funeral  sermons  full  of  honour  and  sorrow;  even  as  many  miles  above  an 
hundred,  as  New-Haven  was  distant  from  Massachuset-bay,  when  the 
tidings  of  Mr.  Cotton's  decease  arrived  there,  Mr.  Davenport  with  many 
tears  bewailed  it,  in  a  publick  discourse  on  that  in  2  Sam.  i.  26,  "I  am 
distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan,  very  pleasant  hast  thou  been 
unto  me."    Yea,  they  speak  of  Mr.  Cotton  in  their  lamentations  to  this  day! 

It  is  a  memorable  saying  of  Algazel,  In  quo  Lumen  ReUgionis  el  Devoiio- 
nis,  Fumus  generatus  ex  Lumine  Scientice  nan  extinguit,  ille  'perfecius  est: 
Sed  qids  est  hie,  ut  adoremus  eum?^  Reader,  I  will  show  thee  such  a  man  • 
one  in  whom  the  light  of  learning  accompanied  the /re  of  goodness,  met  in 
an  high  degree :  but  thou  shalt  adore  none  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
made  him  such  a  man. 

§  26.  IIow  vast  a  treasure  of  learning  was  laid  in  the  grave,  which  was 
opened  on  this  occasion,  can  scarce  credibly  and  sufficiently  be  related. 
Mr,  Cotton  was  indeed  a^iost  universal  scholar,  and  a  living  system  of  tlie 
liberal  arts,  and  a  loalMng  library.  \  It  would  be  endless  to  recite  all  his 
particular  accomplishments,  but  only  three  articles  of  observation  shall 
be  offered.  First,  hi-\i^ graynmar,  he  had  a  yqtj  singular  skill  in  those 
three  languages,  the  knowledge  whereof  was  the  inscription  on  the  cross  of 
our  Saviour,  proposed  unto  the  i^erpetual  use  of  his  churclh  )  The  Hebrew 
he  understood  so  exactly,  and  so  readily,  that  he  was  able  to  discours'fm  it. 
In  the  Greek  he  was  a  critic,  so  accurate  and  so  well  versed,  that  he  need 
not,  like  Austin,  to  have  studied  in  his  reduced  age.  Thus,  if  many  of 
the  ancients  committed  gross  mistakes  in  their  interjyretations  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, through  their  want  of  skill  in  the  originals,  Mr.  Cotton  was  better 
qualified  for  an  interpreter.      He  both  y  rote  and  spoke  Latin ,  also  with 

*  For  translation,  see  page  252. 

Vol.  L— 18 


97^  MAGNA  LI  A     CHUISTI    AMERICANA; 

oreat  facility;  and  with  a  most  Ciceronian  elegancy,  exemplified  in  one 
published  composure.  Next,  for  his  fo^^he  was  compleatly  furnished 
therewith  to  encounter  the  subtilcst  acTversary  of  the  truth.  But  although 
he  had  been  educated  in  the  penpatetak  way,  yet,  like  the  other  puritans 
of  those  times,  he  rather  alfected  the  Ramaen  discipline;  and  chose  to  fol- 
low the  methods  of  that  excellent  Kamus,  who,  like  Justin  of  old,  was 
not  only  a  philosopher^  but  a  Christian,  and  a  martyr  also;  rather  than  the 
more  cmjity,  trifling,  altercative  notions,  to  which  the  works  of  the  Pagan 
xVristotle,  derived  unto  us  through  the  mangling  hands  of  the  apostate 
Porphyrie,  have  disposed  his  disciples.  Lastly,  for  his  Tlicolo<jle^  (here 
'twas  that  he  had  his  greatest  extraordiuariness^  and  most  of  all,^is  Text- 
ual IJlvinitij.  \ll\s  abilities  to  expound  the  Scriptures,' caused  him  to  be 
admired  by  the  ablest  of  his  hearers.  Although  his  incomparable  modesty 
would  not  permit  him  to  speak  any  more  than  the  hast  of  hiviseJf,  yet 
unto  a  private  friend  he  hath  said,  "That  he  knew  not  of  any  difficult 
place  in  all  the  whole  Bible,  which  he  had  not  weighed,  some  what  unto 
satisfaction."  And  hence,  though  he  ordinarily  bestowed  much  pains 
upon  his  publick  sermons,  yet  he  hath  sometimes  preached  most  admir- 
ably, without  any  warning  at  all;  and  a  nciu  note  upon  a  text  before  him, 
occurring  to  his  mind,  but  just  as  he  was  going  into  the  assembly,  has 
taken  up  his  discourse  for  that  hour,  so  pertinently  and  judiciously,  that 
the  most  critical  of  his  auditors  imagined  nothing  extemporaneous. 
Indeed,  his  library  was  vast,  and  vast  was  his  acquaintance  with  it;  but 
although  amongst  his  readings  he  had  given  a  special  room  unto  ilie  fathej-s, 
and  unto  the  school-men^  yet  at  last  he  preferred  one  Calvin  above  them 
all.  If  Erasmus,  when  offered  a  bishoprick  to  write  against  Luther,  could 
answer,  "There  was  more  divinity  in  a  page  of  Luther,  than  in  all  Tliomas 
Aquinas,"  'tis  no  wonder  that  Salmasius  could  so  venerate  Calvin  as  to 
say,  "That  he  had  rather  be  the  author  of  that  one  book,  ^ihe  Institutions,^ 
written  by  Calvin,  than  have  written  all  that  was  ever  done  by  Grotius." 
i-Even  such  a  Calvinist  was  our  Cotton!  Said  he,  "I  have  read  the  fathers 
and  the  school-men,  and  Calvin  too;  but  I  find  that  he  that  has  Calvin, 
has  them  all/^)  And  being  asked,  why  in  his  latter  days  he  indulged  noc- 
turnal studies  more  than  formerly,  he  pleasantly  replied,  "Because  I  love  to 
sweeten  my  mouth  with  a  piece  of  Calvin  before  I  go  to  sleep." 

§  27.  Indeed,  in  his  common  preaching,  he  did  as  Basil  reports  of 
Ephrem  Syrus,  Plurimuni  distare  a  Mundana  ^Sapientia:"  and  though  he 
were  a  great  scholar,  yet  he  did  conscientiously  forbear  making  to  the 
common  people  any  ostentation  of  it.  ^_e  had  the  art  of  concealing  his  ar£^ 
and  thought  with  Sobinus,  Non  minus  est  Virtus  Popuhriter  <puim  Argute 
Loqui,\  and  }>[r.  Dod,  "That  Latin  for  the  most  part  was  flesh  in  a  ser- 
mon."    Accordingly,  when  he  was  handling  the  deepest  subjects,  a  speech 

•  He  abslaiiied  from  displays  of  worldly  wisdom. 

t  Speaking  so  as  to  reach  tho  popular  uriderstunding,  is  no  less  an  accomplishment  than  eloquence  itself. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  275 

of  that  import  was  frequent  with  him,  *di  desire  to  speak  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood by  the  meanest  capacity!"  -And  he  would  sometimes  give  the  same 
reason  for  it,  which  the  great  Austin  gave:  "If  I  preach  more  scholastic- 
ally,  then  only  the  learned,  and  not  the  unlearned,  can  so  understand  as 
to  profit  by  me ;  but  if  I  preach  plainly,  then  both  learned  and  unlearned 
will  understand  me,  and  so  I  shall  profit  all."  When  a  golden  key  of  ora- 
tory would  not  so  well  open  a  mystery  of  Christianity,  he  made  no  stick  to 
take  an  iron  one^  that  should  be  less  rhetorical.  You  should  hear  few  terms 
of  art,  few  latinities,  no  exotic  or  obsolete  phrases,  obscuring  of  the  truths 
which  he  was  to  bring  unto  the  people  of  God.  Nevertheless,  his  more 
judicious  and  observing  hearers  could,  by  his  most  untrimmed  sermons^ 
perceive  that  he  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  abilities.  Hence,  when 
a  Dutchman  of  great  learning  heard  Mr.  Cotton  preach  at  Boston,  in  Eng- 
land, he  professed,  "That  he  never  in  his  life  saw  such  a  conjunction  of 
learning  and  plainness  as  there  was  in  the  preaching  of  this  worthy  man." 
The  glory  of  God,  and  not  his  own  glory,  was  that  at  which  he  aimed  in 
his  labours;  for  which  cause,  at  the  end  of  his  notes,  he  still  inserted  that 
clause,  Tihi Domine:  or,  "For  thy  glory,  O  God  !"  For  this  delivery,  though 
it  were  not  like  Farel's,  noisy  and  thundering,  yet  it  had  in  it  a  very  awful 
majesty,  set  off  with  a  natural  and  becoming  motion  of  his  right  hand;  and 
the  Lord  was  in  the  still  voice  at  such  a  rate,  that  Mr.  Wilson  would  say, 
"Mr.  Cotton  preaches  with  such  authority,  demonstration,  and  life,  that 
methinks,  when  he  preaches  out  of  any  prophet  or  apostle,  I  hear  not  him; 
I  hear  that  very  prophet  and  apostle;  yea,  I  hear  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
himself  speaking  in  my  heart,"  And  the  success  which  God  gave  to  these 
plain  labours  of  his  faithful,  humble,  diligent  servant,  was  beyond  what 
most  ministers  in  the  country  ever  did  experience :  there  have  been  few  that 
have  seen  so  many  and  mighty  effects  given  to  the  "travels  of  their  souls." 
§  28.  He  was  even  from  his  youth  to  his  age  an  indefatigable  student, 
under  the  conscience  of  the  apostolical  precept,  "Be  not  slothful  in  busi- 
ness, but  fervent  in  spirit  serving  the  Lord,"  He  was  careful  to  redeem 
his  hours,  as  well  as  his  days ;  and  might  lay  claim  to  that  character  of 
the  blessed  martyr,  "Sparing  of  sleep,  more  sparing  of  words,  but  most 
sparing  of  time."  If  any  came  to  visit  him,  he  would  be  very  civil  to 
them,  having  learned  it  as  his  duty,  "  To  use  all  gentleness  towards  all  men :" 
and  yet  he, would  often  say  with  some  regret,  after  the  departure  of  a 
visitant,  \l  had  rather  have  given  this  man  an  handful  of  money,  than 
have  been  kepi  thus  long  out  of  my  study:"  reckoning,  with  Pliny,  the 
time  not  spent  in  study,  for  the  most  part,  sweeled  aivay.  For  which  cause 
he  went  not  much  abroad;  but  he  judged  ordinarily  that  more  benefit  was 
obtained,  according  to  the  advice  of  the  wise  King,  by  conversing  with 
the  dead  [in  hooks']  than  with  the  living  [in  talks:']  and  that  needkss  visits 
do  commonly  unframe  our  spirits,  and  perhaps  disturb  our  comforts.  He 
was  an  early  riser,  taking  the  morning  for  the  Muses;  and  in  his  latter 


276 


MAGNALIA    CUKISTI    AMERICANA; 


days  forbearing  a  supper,  he  turned  his  former  supping-time  into  a  read- 
ing, a  thinking,  a  praying-time.  Twelve  hours  in  a  day  he  commonly 
studied  and  would  call  that  a  scholar's  day ;  resolving  rather  to  wear  out 
with  using  than  with  rusting.  In  truth,  had  he  not  been  of  an  healthy 
and  hearty  constitution,  and  had  he  not  made  a  careful,  tliough  not  curi- 
ous diet  serve  him,  instead  of  an  Hippocrates,  his  continued  labour  must 
have  made  his  life^  as  well  as  his  labour,  to  have  teen  but  of  a  short  con- 
tinuance. And,  indeed,  the  work  which  lay  upon  him  could  not  have 
been  performed  without  a  labour  more  than  ordinary.  For  besides  his 
constant  preaching,  more  than  once  every  week,  many  cases  were  brought 
unto  liim  far  and  near,  in  resolving  whereof,  as  he^ook  much  time,  so  he 
did  much  good,  being  a  most  excellent  casin^\:^^  was  likewise  very 
deeply  concerned  in  peaceable  and  effectual  dis(^§itions  of  the  contro- 
versies about  church -government,  then  agitated  in  the  Church  of-X3:^t/ 
And  though  he  chiefly  gave  himself  to  reading,  and  doctrine,  and  exhort- 
ation, depending  much  on  the  ruling  elders  to  inform  him  concerning  the 
state  of  his  particular  flock,  that  he  might  the  better  order  himself  in  "the 
word  and  prayer,"  yet  he  found  his  church-work,  in  this  regard  also,  to 
call  for  no  little  painfulness,  watchfulness,  and  faithfulness. 

§  29.  lie  was  one  so  "clothed  with  humility,"  that,  according  to  the 
emphasis  of  the  apostolical  direction,  by  this  livery  his  relation  as  a  dis- 
ciple to  the  lowly  Jesus  was  notably  discovered ;  and  hence  he  was  patient 
and  peaceable,  even  to  a  proverb.  He  had  a  more  than  common  excellency 
in  that  cool  spirit,  which  the  oracles  of  wisdom  describe  as  "the  excellent 
spirit  in  the  man  of  understanding;"  and  therefore  Mr.  Norton  would 
parallel  him  with  Moses  among  the  patriarchs,  with  Melancthon  among  the 
reformers.  He  was  rather  excessive  than  defective  in  self-denial,  and  had 
tlie  Nimia  Humilitas,^  which  Luther  sometimes  blamed  in  Staupicius; 
yea,  he  was  at  last  himself  sensible,  that  some  fell  very  deep  into  the  sin 
of  Corah,  through  his  extreme  forbearance,  in  matters  relating  to  his  own 
just  ri'jhts  in  the  church  of  God.  He  has,  to  a  judicious  friend,  thus 
expressed  himself:  "Angry  men  have  an  advantage  above  me ;  the  people 
dare  not  set  themselves  against  such  men,  because  the}^  know  it  wont  be 
born ;  but  some  care  not  what  they  say  or  do  about  me,  because  they  know 
I  wont  be  angry  with  them  again."  One  would  have  thought  the  ingenuity 
of  such  a  spirit  would  have  broke  the  hearts  of  men,  that  had  indeed  the 
hearts  of  men  in  them;  yea,  that  the  hardest  flints  would  have  been  broken, 
as  is  usual,  upon  such  a  soft  bag  of  Cotton!  But,  alas!  lid  found  it  other- 
wise, even  among  some  who  pretended  unto  high  attainments  in  Chris- 
tianity. Once  particularly,  an  humorous  and  imperious  brother,  following 
Mr.  Cotton  home  to  his  house,  after  his  publick  labours,  instead  of  the 
grateful  respects  with  which  those  holy  labours  were  to  have  been  encour- 
aged, rudely  told  him  that  his  ministry  was  become  generally  either  daik 

*  Excessive  meekness. 


OE,     THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


277 


or  flat:  whereto  this  meek  man,  very  mildly  and  gravely,  made  only  this 
answer:  "Both,  brother,  it  may  be,  both:  let  me  have  your  prayers  that 
it  may  be  otherwise."  But  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  man  sick  thus  of 
wanton  singularities,  afterwards  died  of  those  damnable  heresies,  for  which 
he  was  deservedly  excommunicated. — Another  time,  when  Mr,  Cotton  had 
modestly  replied  unto  one  that  would  much  talk  and  crack  of  his  insight 
into  the  revelations:  "Brother,  I  must  confess  my  self  to  want  light  in  those 
mysteries."  The  man  went  home,  and  sent  him  a  pound  of  candles:  upon 
which  action  this  good  man  bestowed  only  a  silent  smile.  He  would  not 
set  the  beacon  of  his  great  soul  on  fire  at  the  landing  of  such  a  little  cock- 
boat. He  learned  the  lesson  of  Grregory,  "It  is  better,  many  times,  to  fly 
from  an  injury  by  silence,  than  to  overcome  it  by  replying:"  and  he  used 
that  practice  of  Grynseus,  "To  revenge  wrongs  by  Christian  taciturnity." 
I  think  I  may  not  omit,  on  this  occasion,  to  transcribe  a  remarkable 
passage,  which  that  good  man,  Mr,  Flavel,  reports,  in  a  sermon  on  gosj^el- 
unity.     His  words  are  these: 

"  A  company  of  vain,  wicked  men,  having  inflamed  their  blood  in  a  tavern  at  Boston,  and 
seeing  that  reverend,  meeic,  and  holy  minister  of  Christ,  Mr.  Cotton,  coming  along  the 
street,  one  of  them  tells  his  companion.  Til  go,  saith  he,  'and  put  a  trick  on  old  Cotton,' 
Down  he  goes,  and  crossing  his  way,  whispers  these  words  into  his  ear:  'Cotton,'  said  he, 
'thou  art  an  old  fool.'  Mr.  Cotton  replied,  'I  confess  I  am  so:  the  Lord  make  both  me  and 
thee  wiser  than  we  are,  even  wise  unto  salvation.'  He  relates  this  passage  to  his  wicked 
companions,  which  cast  a  great  damp  upon  their  sports,  in  the  midst  of  a  frolick." 

And  it  may  pass  for  a  branch  of  the  same  temper  in  him,  that  he 
extremely  hated  all  Allotrio  Episcopacy:  and  though  he  knew,  as  practically 
as  most  men  in  the  world,  "That  we  have  a  call  to  do  good,  as  often  as  we 
have  power  and  occasion;"  yet  he  was  slow  of  apprehending  any  occasion 
at  all,  though  he  might  have  had  never  so  much  power  to  meddle  for 
good,  any  where  but  within  the  sphere  of  his  own  proper  calling.  As 
he  understood  that  Leontius  blamed  Constantine  for  interposing  too  far  in 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  thus  Mr.  Cotton,  on  the  other  side,  had  a  great  aver- 
sion from  engaging  in  any  civil  ones.  He  would  religiously  decline  taking 
into  his  cognisance  all  civil  controversies,  or  umpirages,  and  whatever 
looked  heterogeneous  to  the  calling  of  one  whose  whole  business  'twas 
to  feed  the  flock  of  God.  Nevertheless,  in  the  things  of  God,  of  Christ, 
of  conscience,  his  condescending  Uraper  did  not  hinder  him  from  the  most 
immoveable  resolution.  He  would  not  so  "follow  peace  with  all  men,"  as  to 
abandon  or  prejudice,  one  jot,  the  interests  of  holiness. 

§  30.  His  command  over  his  own  spirit  was  particularly  observable  in 
his  government  of  his  flimily,  where  he  would  never  correct  any  thing  in 
a  passion;  but  first,  with  much  deliberation,  shew  Avhat  rule  in  the  holy 
word  of  God  had  been  violated  by  the  fault  lately  committed.  He  was 
indeed  one  that  "ruled  well  his  own  house."  He  therein  morning  and 
evening  read  a  chapter,  with  a  little  applicatory  exposition,  before  and 


273  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

after  wliicli  lie  made  a  prayer;  but  he  was  very  short  in  all,  accounting 
as  Mr.  Dod,  Mr.  Bains,  and  other  great  saints  did  before  him,  "That  it 
was  a  thint^  inconvenient  many  ways  to  be  tedious  in  family  duties."  lie 
also  read  constantly  a  portion  of  tlie-Scripture  alone,  and  he  prayed  over 
what  he  read:  prayed,  I  say;  for  he  was  very  much  in  praye)j,  a  very 
man  of  prayer;  he  would  rarely  sit  oown  to  study,  without  a  prayer  over 
it,  referring  to  the  presence  of  God  accompanying  what  he  did.  It  was  the 
advice  of  the  ancient,  Si  vis  esse  Semper  cum  Deo,  Semper  Ora,  Seyrqyer 
L'^rje:*  and  agreeably  hereunto,  Mr.  Cotton  might  say  with  David,  "Lord, 
I  am  still  with  thee."  But  he  that  was  with  God  all  the  Aveek,  was  more 
intimately  with  him  on  his  own  day,  the  chief  day  of  the  week,  which  he 
observed  most  conscientiously.  The  Sabbath  he  began  the  evening  before : 
for  which  keeping  of  the  Sabbath,  from  evening  to  evening,  he  wrote  argu- 
ments before  his  coming  to  New-England:  and,  I  suppose,  'twas  from  his 
reason  and  practice  that  the  Christians  of  New-England  have  generally 
done  so  too.  When  that  evening  arrived,  he  was  usually  larger  in  his 
exposition  in  his  family  than  at  other  times:  he  then  catechised  his  chil- 
dren and  servants,  and  prayed  with  them,  and  sang  a  psalm;  from  thence 
he  retired  unto  study  and  secret  prayer,  till  the  time  of  his  going  unto  iiis 
repose.  The  next  morning,  after  his  usual  family-worship,  he  betook  him- 
self to  the  devotions  of  his  retirements,  and  so  unto  the  publick.  From 
thence  towards  noon,  he  repaired  again  to  the  like  devotions,  not  permit- 
ting the  interruption  of  any  other  dinner,  than  that  of  a  small  repast 
carried  up  unto  him.  Then  to  the  publick  once  more;  from  whence 
returning,  his  first  work  was  closet-prayer,  then  prayer  with  repetitions 
of  the  sermons  in  the  family.  After  supper,  he  still  sang  a  psalm ;  which 
he  would  conclude  with  uplifted  eyes  and  hands,  uttering  this  doxology — 
"Blessed  be  God  in  Christ  our  Saviour!"  Last  of  all,  just  before  his  going 
to  sleep,  he  would  once  again  go  into  his  prayerful  study,  and  there  briefly 
recommended  all  to  that  God,  whom  he  served  with  a  pure  conscience. 

But  there  was  one  point  of  Sabbath-keeping,  about  which  it  may  not  be 
unuseful  for  me  to  transcribe  a  passage,  which  I  find  him  writing  to  Mr. 
N.  Eogers,  in  the  year  1630: 

"  Studying  for  a  sermon  upon  the  Sabbath-day,  so  far  as  it  might  be  any  wearisome  labour 
to  invention  or  memory,  I  covet  (when  I  can)  willingly  to  prevent  it;  and  would  rather 
attend  unto  the  quickning  of  my  heart  and  afl'eetioiis,  in  the  meditation  of  wiiat  I  am  to 
deliver.  My  reason  is,  much  reading,  and  invention,  and  repetition  of  things  to  commit 
them  to  memory,  is  a  weariness  to  the  flesh  and  spirit  too ;  whereas  the  Sabbath-day  doth 
rather  invite  unto  an  holy  rest.  But  yet,  if  God's  providence  have  straitned  my  time  in  the 
week  days  before,  by  concurrence  of  other  business,  not  to  be  avoided,  I  doubt  not  but  the 
I^rd,  wlio  allowed  the  priests  to  employ  their  labour  in  killing  the  sacrifices  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  will  allow  us  also  to  labour  in  our  callings  on  the  Sabbath,  to  prepare  our  sacrifice  for 
the  people." 

•  If  thou  woiUdst  always  find  thyself  In  the  society  of  GoJ,  spend  all  thine  hours  in  prayer  and  study. 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  £79 

These  were  bis  ordinary  Sabbcaths:  but  he  also  kept  extraordinary  ones, 
upon  the  just  occasions  for  them.  He  was  in  fasting  often,  and  would 
often  keep  whole  days  by  himself,  wherein  he  would  with  solemn  humil- 
iations and  supplications,  implore  the  wanted  mercies  of  Heaven;  yea,  he 
would  likewise  by  himself  keep  whole  days  of  thanksgiving  unto  the  Lord: 
besides  the  many  days  of  this  kind  which  he  celebrated  in  publick  assem- 
blies with  the  people  of  God.     Thus  did  this  man  of  God  continually. 

§  31.  Without  liberality  and  hospitality^  he  had  been  really  as  unde- 
serving of  the  character  of  "a  minister  of  the  gospel,"  as  the  sacrilegious 
niggardliness  of  the  people  does  often  endeavour  to  make  ministers  uncap- 
able  of  answering  that  character.  But  Mr.  Cotton  was  most  exemplary 
for  this  virtue ;  wherein  there  are  of  his  children  that  have  also  learned  of 
him.  The  stranger  and  the  needy  were  still  entertained  at  his  table,  Epis- 
cqpaliter  et  Benigne^^  as  was  the  phrase  instructively  used,  for  a  charitable 
entertainment  of  old.  It  might  be  said  of  him,  as  once  it  was  of  the 
generous  Corinthian,  Semper  aliquis  in  Cottoni  Domo  :\  he  was  ever  shewing 
of  kindness  to  some-body  or  other.  What  Posidonius  relates  of  Austin, 
and  what  Peter  Martyr  affirms  of  Bucer,  was  very  true  of  our  Cotton: 
"His  house  was  like  an  inn,  for  the  constant  entertainment  which  he  gave 
upon  the  account  of  the  gospel."  And  he  would  say,  "If  a  man  want 
an  heart  for  this  charity,  it  is  not  fit  such  a  man  should  be  ordained  a 
minister:"  consenting  therein  to  the  great  canonist,  Ilosjntalitas  usque  adeo 
JCpiscopis  est  necessaria,  ut  si  ah  ea  inveniantur  alicni,  Jure  p)'>'ohihentur  ordi- 
nari.^  While  he  lived  quietlj'  in  England,  he  was  noted  for  his  bountiful 
disposition,  especially  to  ministers  driven  into  England  by  the  storms  of 
persecution,  then  raging  in  Germany:  for  which  cause  Libingus,  Saumer, 
Tolner,  and  others  of  the  German  sufferers,  in  their  accounts  of  him, 
would  stile  him,  Fautor  Doctissirnus,  Clarissimus,  Fidelissimus,  ptluriinumque 
IIonorandus.%  It  was  remarkable  that  he  never  omitted  inviting  unto  his 
house  any  minister  travelling  to  or  through  the  town,  but  only  that  one 
man  who  perfidiously  betrayed  Mr.  Hildersham,  with  his  non-conformist 
associates,  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies.  And  after  he  came  to  New- 
England,  he  changed  not  his  mind  with  his  air;  but  with  a  Quantum  ex 
Quantillo !\  continued  his  beneficence  upon  all  occasions,  though  his  abilities 
for  it  were  much  diminished;  which  brings  to  mind  a  most  memorable 
story.  A  little  church,  whereof  the  worthy  Mr.  White  was  pastor,  being 
by  the  strange  and  strong  malice  of  their  prevailing  adversaries,  forced  of 
Barmudas  in  much  misery,  into  a  desart  of  America,  the  report  of  their 
distresses  came  to  their  fellow-sufferers,  though  not  alike  sufferers,  at  New- 
England.     Mr.  Cotton  immediately  applied  himself  to  obtain  a  collection 

*  With  the  hospitality  becoming  a  bishop.  t  Some  guest  was  always  by  the  hearth  of  Cotton. 

X  Hospitality  is  so  essential  a  qualification  of  a  bishop,  that  if  a  candidate  should  be  found  averse  to  it,  he 
would  be  denied  ordination. 

§  A  most  learned,  renowned,  faithful  and  honoured  patron. 

I  How  much  can  be  made  out  of  very  little ! — i.  c.  a  faculty  of  accomplishing  much  good  with  small  meang. 


230  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

for  the  relief  of  those  distressed  saints;  and  a  collection  of  about  £700 
^vas  iinmeJiatelv  obtained,  whereof  two  hundred  was  gathered  in  that  one 
church  of  Boston,  where  there  was  no  man  who  did  exceed,  and  but  one 
man  who  did  equal,  this  "  deviser  of  liberal  things,"  in  that  contribution, 
lint  behold  the  wonderful  providence  of  God!  This  contribution  arrived 
unto  the  poor  people  on  the  very  day  after  they  had  been  brought  unto  a 
personal  division  of  the  little  meal  then  lefl  in  the  barrel;  upon  the  spend- 
ing whereof,  they  could  foresee  nothing  but  a  lingering  death;  and  on 
that  very  day  when  their  pastor  had  preached  unto  them  upon  that  most 
suitable  text,  Psal.  xxiii.  1:  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want." 

§  32.  The  reader  that  is  inquisitive  after  the  i^i'osopography  of  this  great 
man,  may  be  informed,  that  he  was  a  clear,  fair,  sanguine  complexion,  and 
like  David  of  a  ^^ ruddy  countenance."  He  was  rather  lovo  than  tall,  and 
rather  fat  than  lean,  but  of  a  becoming  mediocrity.  In  his  younger  years 
his  hair  \vas  brown,  but  in  his  latter  years  as  white  as  the  driven  snow. 
In  his  countenance  there  was  an  inexpressible  sort  of  majesty,  which  com- 
manded reverence  from  all  that  approached  him :  this  Cotton  was  indeed 
the  Cato  of  his  age,  for  his  gravity;  but  had  a  glory  with  it  which  Cato 
had  not.  I  cannot  indeed  say,  what  they  report  of  Hilary,  that  "serpents 
were  not  able  to  look  upon  him;"  nevertheless,  it  was  commonly  observed, 
that  the  worser  sort  of  serpents  would,  from  the  awe  of  his  presence  keep 
in  their  poisons.  As  the  keeper  of  the  inn  where  he  did  use  to  lodge, 
when  he  came  to  Derby,  would  profanely  say  to  his  companions,  that  he 
wished  Mr.  Cotton  were  gone  out  of  his  house;  for  "he  was  not  able  to 
swear  while  that  man  was  under  his  roof;"  so  other  wicked  persons  could 
not  show  their  wickedness  whilst  this  holy  and  righteous  man  was  in  the 
company.  But  the  exacter  picture  of  him  is  to  be  taken  from  his  printed 
works,  whereof  there  are  many,  that  "praise  him  in  the  gates,"  though 
few  of  them  were  printed  with  his  own  knowledge  or  consent. 

We  wall  mention  a  catalogue  of  his  works,  because  (as  it  was  said  of 
Calvin's), 

Chara  quibus  fuerat  Cottoni  Vita,  lahorum 
Gratior  ejusdem   Vita  perennis  erit.* 

The  children  of  New-England  are  to  this  day  most  usually  fed  with  his 
excellent  catechism,  which  is  entituled,  ^' Milk  for  BahesJ^ 

His  well-known  sermons  on  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  in  folio,  have  had 
their  acceptance  with  the  church  of  God ;  though  being  preached  in  his 
youth,  and  not  published  by  himself,  there  are  some  things  therein  which 
he  would  not  have  inserted. 

There  are  also  of  his  abroad,  sermons  on  the  thirteenth  of  the  Revela- 
tions, and  on  the  vials,  and  on  Rev.  xx.  5,  6,  and  2  Sam.  vii.,  last  in  quarto. 

As  also,  a  savory  treatise,  entituled,  "  The  Way  of  Life.''''     The  reverend 

•  His  life  was  precious,  for  ho  did  God's  will : 
His  wurks  live  after  biin,  mure  precious  still. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  281 

prefacer  whereto  saith,  "Ever  since  I  had  any  knowledge  of  this  judicious 
author,  I  have  looked  upon  him  as  one  intrusted  with  as  great  a  part  of 
the  church's  treasure,  as  any  other  whatsoever." 

Several  volumes  of  his  expositions  upon  Ecclesiastes  and  Canticles,  are 
also  published  in  octavo. 

As  likewise,  "A  Treatise  of  the  New  Covenant:"  which  being  only  a 
posthumous  piece,  and  only  notes  written  after  him,  is  accordingly  to  be 
judged  of 

And  there  have  seen  the  light,  an  answer  to  Mr.  Ball,  about  forms  of 
prayer.  A  discourse  about  the  grounds  and  ends  of  infant-haptism.  A 
discourse  about  singing  of  psahns,  proving  it  a  gospel-ordinance.  An 
^^  Abstract  of  laws^^  in  Christ's  kingdom,  for  civil  government.  A  treatise 
about  the  holiness  of  church-members;  proving  that  visible  saints  are  the 
matter  of  a  church.  Another  discourse  upon  things  indifferent,  proving 
that  no  church-governours  have  power  to  impose  indifferent  things  upon 
the  consciences  of  men.  Add  hereto,  the  way  of  the  churches  in  New- 
England:  and  that  golden  discourse  of  "TAe  Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven ;"  in  a  written  copy  whereof,  yet  in  our  hands,  there  were  some 
things  which  were  never  printed,  maintaining  that,  in  the  government  of 
the  church,  authority  is  peculiar  to  the  elders  onl}^;  and  answering  all  the 
Brownistical  arguments  to  the  contrary.  But  whereas  there  may  occur  a 
passage  in  his  book  of  ^^  The  Way  of  the  Churches^''  which  may  have  in  it 
a  little  more  of  the  Morellian  tang,  reader,  'twas  none  of  Mr.  Cotton's; 
■Mr.  Cotton  was  troubled  when  he  saw  such  a  passage,  in  an  imperfect  copy 
of  his  writings,  exposed  unto  the  world,  under  his  name,  against  his  loill: 
and  he  took  an  opportunity,  in  the  most  pubHck  manner,  to  declare  as 
much  unto  the  world. 

He  was  also  sometimes  put  upon  writing  yet  more  polemically.  Indeed 
there  was  one  occasion  of  so  writing,  which  he  declined  meddling  withal; 
and  that  was  this:  Mr.  Cotton  having  in  his  younger  years,  written  to  a 
private  friend  some  things,  tending  (at  his  desire)  to  clear  the  doctrine  of 
reprobates  from  the  exceptions  of  the  Arminians;  and  this  manuscript  fall- 
ing into  Dr.  Twiss'  hand,  that  learned  man  published  it,  with  his  own  con- 
futation of  certain  passages  in  it,  which  did  not  agree  so  well  with  the 
doctor's  own  Siipralapsarian  scheme.  Now  when  Mr.  Cotton  saw  himself 
reviled  for  this  cause  by  Baily,  as  being  Pelagian,  he  only  made  this  meek 
reply:  "I  hope  God  will  give  me  opportunity  ere  long  to  consider  of  this, 
the  doctor's  labour  of  love.  I  bless  the  Lord,  who  has  taught  me  to  be 
willing  to  be  taught  of  a  far  meaner  disciple  than  such  a  doctor,  whose 
seholastical  acuteness,  pregnancy  of  wit,  solidity  of  judgment,  and  dex- 
terity of  argument,  all  orthodox  divines  do  highly  honour,  and  whom  all 
Arminians  and  Jesuites  do  fall  down  before,  with  silence.  God  forbid  I 
should  shut  my  eyes  against  any  light  brought  to  me  by  him.  Only  I  desire 
I  may  not  be  condemned  as  a  Pelagian  or  Arminian  before  I  be  heard." 


232  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Moreover,  ^fr.  Cawdrj  fell  hard  upon  him;  to  whom  he  prepared  an 
answer,  which  was  afterwards  published  and  seconded  by  Dr.  Owen.  But 
besides  these,  he  was  twice  compelled  unto  some  other  Eristical  writings: 
once  in  answer  to  Baily;  another  time  in  answer  to  Williams:  in  both  of 
which,  like  Job,  he  "turned  the  books  which  his  adversaries  had  written 
against  him,  into  a  crown."  I  believe  never  any  meer  man,  under  such 
open  and  horrid  injuries  as  these  two  reporters  heaped  upon  Mr.  Cotton, 
did  vinswer  with  more  Christian  patience:  his  answers  are  indeed  a  pattern 
for  all  answerers  to  the  world's  end.  But  it  was  particularly  remarkable 
that,  in  this  matter,  certain  persons,  who  had  fallen  under  the  censures  of 
the  civil  authority  in  the  country,  singled  out  Mr,  Cotton  for  the  object  of 
their  displeasure,  although  he  had,  most  of  all  men,  declined  interesting 
himself  in  the  actions  of  the  magistrate,  and  had  also  done  more  than  all 
men  to  obtain  healing  and  favour  for  those  ungrateful  delinquents.  How- 
ever, the  venomous  tongues  all  this  while  only  licked  a  file,  which  made 
themselves  to.  bleed;  his /awe,  like  the  Jile,  remained  invulnerable;  and 
if  Mr.  Cotton  would,  from  his  own  profitable  experience,  have  added 
another  book  unto  this  catalogue,  it  might  have  been  on  the  subject  han- 
dled by  Plutarch,  De  Capienda  ex  Hostibus  Utilitate.'^  This  is  the  Elenchus 
of  Mr.  Cotton's  published  writings;  wheupon  we  might  make  this  conclusion: 

Digva  Legi  Scribis,  Fads  et  Dignissima  Scribi: 
Scripta  probanl  Doctum,  Te,  Facta,  proburn.f 

§  33.  The  things  which  have  been  related,  cause  us  to  account  Mr.  Cot- 
ton an  extraordinary  person. 


Dives  eras  Donis,  etiamqne  Fiddis  in  Usu, 
Lucratus  Dumino  mxilta  Talcnta  tuo. 

Multus  eras  Stiidiis,  multuj(jue  jMboribns  :  mtio, 
Te,  Fvra,  Templa,  Domus,  Te,  ciipiere  frui, 

Malta  I.aboribus  Scribendo,  Multa  Docendo^ 
Infigilanj  Operi,  JVocte  Dieque,  Dei. 


Multa  Laboribus  Scribendo,  Malta  Ferendo, 
Qua:  nisi  Cottono,  viz  Subeinida  forent. 

Tu  nun  unus  eras,  sed  Mulli ;  Multus  in  uno, 
Multortim  Donis  prwditus  Unus  eras. 

Uno  Te  aviisso,  Multos  Jimisimus  in  Te, 
Sed  neque  per  Multos  liestitucndus  eris.X 


The.se  were  some  of  the  lines  which  the  renowned  Bulkly  justly  wept 
upon  his  grave.  Yea,  we  may,  on  as  many  accounts  as  these  days  will 
allow,  reckon  him  to  have  been  a  "prophet  of  the  Lord:"  and  when  we 
have  entertained  ourselves  with  a  memorable  demonstration  of  ,aV,  in  one 
surprizing  and  stupendious  article  of  our  Church-History,  we  w^ill  put  a 
period  unto  this  part  of  it. 

At  the  time  when  some  unhappy  persons  were  just  going  from  hence 
to  England,  with  certain  j^^t^Hons,  which  had  a  tendency  to  disturb  the 

*  The  art  of  profltiiig  by  enmity. 


t  Tliou  wiitrsl  what  ix  worthy  td  he  renj,  1    Tliy  words  win  Learning's  honours  for  thy  head ; 

And  worthy  to  be  written  are  thy  deeds;  j        Thy  works  shall  merit  Virtue's  nobler  meeds. 

X  His  gifis  were  bonnteons,  and  ho  used  them  well ; 
His  tateiit  hath  made  many  for  his  Lord. 
In  pulpit,  forum  and  ut  home  the  spell 

His  genius  wrought  was  fell  in  every  word. 
He  wrote  much— thought  much— st^eking  still  the  way 
To  do  his  Master*!)  work  both  night  and  day. 


In  swift  succession  sped  thy  toilsome  hours; 

Thy  labours  could  he  borne  by  none  but  thee. 
Thou  wast  not  one,  but  many ;  and  the  powers 

Of  many  seemed  in  thee  combined  to  bo. 
In  losing  thee,  the  loss  of  more  we  trace, 
Yet  many  more  could  not  thy  loss  replace. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  283 

good  order  of  things  in  both  church  and  state,  then  settling  among  us, 
Mr.  Cotton  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  lectures,  on  the  Canticles,  preached 
on  Cant.  ii.  15:  "Take  us  the  foxes,  the  little  foxes,  which  destroy  the 
vines."  Having  thence  observed,  "That  when  God  has  delivered  his 
church  from  the  dangers  of  the  persecuting  bear  and  lyon,  then  there  were 
foxes  that  would  seek  by  policy  to  undermine  it;"  and,  "that  all  those 
who  go  by  a  fox-like  policy  to  undermine  the  churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  shall  be  taken  and  overtaken  by  his  judgments;"  he  came  at  length 
to  his  application.!  where,  with  a  more  than  ordinary  majesty  and  fervency, 
he  after  this  manner  expressed  himself: 

"First,  Let  such  as  live  in  this  country  take  heed,  how  they  go  about  in  any  indirect  way 
or  course  to  prejudice  the  churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  hind,  or  the  government 
of  the  land.  If  you  do,  the  'keeper  of  Israel,  who  neither  slunibereth  nor  sleepeth,'  will 
not  take  it  well  at  your  hands.  He  that  brought  this  people  hither,  and  preserved  them 
from  the  rage  of  persecution,  and  made  this  wilderness  an  hiding-place  for  them,  whilst  he 
was  chastising  our  nation,  with  the  other  nations  round  about  it,  and  has  manifested  his 
gracious  presence  in  the  midst  of  these  his  'golden  candlesticks,'  and  secured  ns  from  the 
plots  of  the  late  Archbishop,  and  his  confederates  abroad,  and  from  the  plots  of  the  heathen 
here  at  home;  there  is  no  question  but  He  will  defend  us  from  the  underminings  of  false 
brethren,  and  such  as  are  joined  with  them.  Wherefore  let  such  know,  that  this  is,  in  many 
respects,  Immaimel's  land,  and  they  shall  not  prosper  that  rise  up  against  it,  but  shall  be 
taken  every  one  of  them  in  the  snares  they  lay  for  it.  This  I  speak  as  a  poor  prophet  of  the 
Lord,  according  to  the  word  of  his  grace  now  before  us!  But  in  the  second  place,  whereas 
many  of  our  brethren  are  going  to  England,  let  me  direct  a  word  unto  thetn  also.  I  desire 
the  gracious  presence  of  our  God  may  go  with  you,  and  his  angels  guard  you,  not  only  from 
the  dangers  of  the  seas,  while  you  are  thereupon,  but  also  from  the  errors  of  the  times,  when 
you  arrive.  Nevertheless,  if  there  be  any  among  you,  my  brethren,  as  'tis  reported  there  are, 
that  have  a  petition  to  prefer  unto  the  High  Court  of  Parliament,  that  may  conduce  to  the 
distraction  and  annoyance  of  the  peace  of  our  churches,  and  the  weakening  the  government 
of  the  land  where  we  live,  let  such  know,  the  Lord  will  never  suffer  them  to  prosper  in  their 
subtil,  malicious,  desperate  undertakings  against  his  people,  who  are  as  tender  unto  him  as 
the  '  apple  of  his  eye.'  But  if  there  be  any  such  among  you,  who  are  to  go,  I  do  exhort 
you,  and  I  would  advise  you  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  when  the  terrors  of  the  Almighty  shaJl 
beset  the  vessel  wherein  you  are,  when  the  heavens  shall  frown  upon  you,  and  the  billows 
of  the  sea  shall  swell  above  you,  and  the  dangers  of  death  shall  threaten  you,  as  I  am  verily 
perswaded  they  will,  I  would  have  you  then  to  'consider  your  ways.'  I  will  not  give  the 
counsel  that, was  taken  concerning  Jonas,  to  cast  such  a  person  into  the  sea;  God  forbid! 
but  I  counsel  such  to  come  then  unto  a  resolution  in  themselves  to  desist  from  their  enter- 
prizes,  and  cast  their  petitions  into  the  sea.  It  may  be  that  hardness  of  heart  and  stoutness 
of  spirit  may  cause  you  to  persist,  and  yet  in  mercy  to  some  gracious  persons  among  you, 
the  Lord  may  deliver  the  ship  from  utter  destruction  for  their  sakes.  But  the  Lord  hath 
further  judgments  in  store:  he  is  the  God  of  the  land,  as  well  as  of  the  sea.  I  speak  this 
also  as  an  unworthy  prophet  of  the  Lord!" 

These  things  were  then  uttered  by  a  person  that  was  as  little  of  an 
enthusiast  as  most  men  in  the  world.     Now  attend  the  event! 

That  ship,  after  many  stresses  of  weather  in  the  harbour,  puts  out  to 
sea ;  but  at  sea  it  had  the  terriblest  passage,  perhaps,  that  ever  was  heard 
of;  the  mariners  not  being  able  to  take  any  observation  of  either  sun  or 


284 


MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 


Star  for  seven  hundred  leagues  together.  Certain  well  disposed  persons 
aboard,  now  calling  to  mind  the  words  of  Mr.  Cotton,  thought  it  necessary 
to  admonish  the  persons  who  were  carrying  over  the  malignant  papers 
ao-ainst  the  country;  and  some  of  those  papers  were  by  them  thereupon 
given  to  the  seamen,  who  immediately  cut  them  in  pieces  and  threw 
them  over.  The  storm  forthwith  abated;  however,  there  afterwards  came 
up  7iew  storms,  which  at  last  hurried  the  ship  among  the  rocks  of  Scilly ; 
where  they  yet  received  a  deliverance,  which  most  of  them  that  considered 
it,  pronounced  miraculous.  When  the  rude  Cornish  men  saw  how  mirac- 
ulously the  vessel  had  escaped,  they  said,  "God  was  a  good  man  to  save 
them  so!"  but  the  most  instructed  obliged  passengers  kept  a  day  of  sol- 
emn Thanksgiving  to  God ;  in  which  even  the  profanest  persons  on  board, 
under  the  impression  of  what  had  happened,  then  bore  a  part.  However, 
the  corn-fields  in  New-England,  still  stood  undisturbed,  notwithstanding 
the  various  names  affixed  unto  the  taiks  of  petitions  against  their  liberties. 
For,  as  Mr.  Cotton  elegantly  expressed  it,  "God  then  rocqued  three  nations, 
with  shaking  dispensations,  that  he  might  procure  some  rest  unto  his 
people  in  this  wilderness!" 

§  34.  This  was  Mr.  Cotton !  what  more  he  was,  let  these  lines,  taking 
no  license  but  from  the  real  truth,  delineate: 


UPON    THE    TOMB    OF   THE    MOST 

LATE    TEACHER    OF    THE    CHURCH 

Here  lies  magnanimuus  huviilily ; 

Majesty,  mee'airss  ;  Chiistiaii  apathy 

On  soft  affections  ;  liberty  in  thrall ; 

A  noble  spirit,  servant  unto  all ; 

Learning's  great  master-piece,  who  yet  would  sit 

As  n  disciple,  at  his  scholars^  feet : 

A  simple  serpent,  or  serpentine  dove. 

Made  up  of  wisdom,  innocence  and  love: 

Neatness  embroider'd  with  it  *e// alone, 

And  ciViVs  canmiized  in  a  gown; 

Embracing  old  and  young,  and  low  and  high, 

Ethics  Imbodyed  in  divinity  ; 

.Ambitious  to  be  lowest,  and  to  raise 

His  brethren's  honour  on  his  own  decays; 

(Thus  doth  the  sun  retire  into  his  bed, 

That  being  gone  the  stars  may  shew  their  head ;) 

Could  wound  at  argument  without  division. 

Cut  to  the  quick,  and  yet  make  no  incision: 

Ready  to  sacrifice  domesticic  notions 

To  churhcs'  peace,  and  ministers'  devotions  : 

Himself,  indeed  (and  singular  in  that) 

Whom  nil  admired  he  admired  not: 

Liv'd  like  an  an/rel  of  a  mortal  birth, 

Convors'd  in  heaven  whilo  he  was  on  earth: 

Though  not,  as  Mows,  radiant  with  light 

Whose  glory  dazzeli'd  the  beholder's  sight, 

Vet  go  divinely  beautified,  you'ld  count 

He  had  been  born  and  bred  upon  the  mount: 

A  living,  breathing  Kible;  tables  where 

Both  covenants,  at  large,  engraven  wore; 

OospeJ  and  lair,  in's  heart,  had  each  its  column; 

His  head  an  index  to  the  sacred  volume ; 

His  very  name  a  tille-pape  ;  and  next, 

His  life  a  commentary  on  the  text. 


REVEREND   MR.  JOHN    COTTON, 

OF    BOSTON    IN    NEW-ENGLAND. 

O,  what  a  monument  of  gloritms  worth, 

When,  in  a  new  edition,  he  comes  forth, 

Without  crratas,  may  we  think  he'U  be 

In  leaves  and  covers  of  eternity! 

A  man  of  might,  at  heavenly  eloquence, 

To  fix  the  ear,  and  charm  the  conscience  ; 

As  if  ApoUos  were  reviv'd  in  him, 

Or  he  had  learned  of  a  seraphim : 

Spake  many  tongues  in  one :  one  voice  and  sense 

Wroughtj'oy  and  sorrow,  fear  and  confidence  : 

Rocks  rent  before  him,  blind  receiv'd  their  sight; 

Souls  leecWd  to  the  dunghill,  stood  upright : 

Infernal /«r(V«  burst  with  rage  to  see 

Their  prisoners  captiv^d  into  liberty : 

A  star  that  in  our  eastern  England  rose, 

Thence  hurry'd  by  the  blast  of  stupid  foes, 

Whose  foggy  darkness,  and  benummed  senses, 

Brookt  not  his  daz'ling  fervent  influences  : 

Thus  did  he  move  on  earth,  from  east  to  west ; 

There  he  went  down,  and  up  to  heaven  for  rest. 

Nor  from  himself,  whilst  living,  doth  he  vary, 

His  death  hath  made  him  an  ubiquitary : 

Where  is  his  sepulchre  is  hard  to  say, 

Who,  in  a  thousand  sepulchres,  doth  lay 

(Their  hearts,  I  mean,  whom  he  hath  left  behind, 

In  them)  his  sacred  reliques,  now,  enshrin'd. 

But  let  his  tnourning  fiock  be  comforted. 

Though  Moses  be,  yet  Joshua  is  not  dead: 

I  mean  renowned  Norton ;  worthy  he, 

Successor  to  our  Moses,  is  to  be. 

O  happy  Israel  in  America, 

la  such  a  Moses,  such  a  Joshua. 

B.  WOODBRIDGE. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  285 

§  35.  Three  sons  and  three  daughters  was  this  renowned  "  walker  with 
God  "  blessed  withal. 

His  eldest  son  did  spend  and  end  his  days  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
at  Hampton :  being  esteemed  a  thorough  scholar,  and  an  able  preacher ; 
and  though  his  name  were  Sea-horn^  yet  none  of  the  lately  revived  heresies 
were  more  abominable  to  him,  than  that  of  his  name-sake,  Pelagius  [or, 
Morgan]  of  whom  the  witness  of  the  ancient  poet  is  true  : 

Pestifero  Vomuit  coluber  Sermone  Britannus.* 

His  second  son  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  at  Plymouth ;  and  one  by 
whom  not  only  the  English,  but  also  the  Indians  of  America,  had  the 
"glad  tidings  of  salvation"  in  their  own  language  carried  unto  them. 

Of  his  two  younger  daughters,  the  first  was  married  unto  a  merchant 
of  good  fashion,  whose  name  was  Mr.  Egginton;  but  she  did  not  long 
survive  the  birth  of  her  first  child,  as  that  child  also  did  not  survive  many 
years  after  the  death  of  her  mother.  The  next  is  at  this  time  living  the 
consort  of  one  well  known  in  both  Englands,  namely  Increase  Mather, 
the  President  of  Harvard  Colledge,  and  the  teacher  of  a  church  in  Boston. 

The  youngest  of  his  sons,  called  Roland,  and  the  eldest  of  his  daughters, 
called  Sarah,  both  of  them  died  near  together,  of  the  small-pox,  which 
was  raging  among  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  in  the  winter  of  the  year 
1649.  The  death  of  those  two  lovely  children,  required  the  faith  of  an 
Abraham,  in  the  heart  of  their  gracious  father;  who  indeed  most  exem- 
plarily  expressed  what  was  required.  On  this  occasion,  I  find,  that  on  a 
spare  leaf  his  almanack,  he  wrote  in  Greek  letters  these  English  verses : 

IN  SARAM.f 


Farewel;  dear  daughter  Sara,  now  thou'rt  gone,  d 

(Whither  thou  much  desiredst)  to  thine  home;        d 

"  Pray,  my  dear  father,  let  me  now  go  home  !"  d 


Were  the  last  words  thou  spak'st  to  me  alone. 
Go  then,  sweet  Sara,  take  thy  sabbath,  rest, 
With  thy  great  Lord,  and  all  in  heaven  blest. 


IN  ROLANDUM.:}: 


Our  eldest  daugrhter,  and  our  youngest  son, 
Within  nine  days,  both  have  their  full  race  run. 
On  th'  twentieth  of  th'  eleventh,  died  she, 
And  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  died  he. 


Both  in  their  lives  were  loveJy  and  vnited, 
And  in  their  deaths  they  were  not  much  divided. 
Christ  gave  them  both,  and  he  takes  both  again 
To  live  with  him ;  blest  be  his  holy  name. 


IN  UTRUMQUE.§ 


"  Suffer,"  saith  Christ,  "  your  littte  ones, 

To  come  forth,  me  unto. 
For  of  such  ones  my  kingdom  is, 

Of  grace  and  glory  too." 
We  do  not  only  suffer  them, 

But  offer  them  to  thee ; 


Uow,  blessed  Lord,  let  us  believe, 

Accepted,  that  they  be : 
That  thou  hast  tou/c  them,  in  thine  arms, 

And  on  them  put  thine  hand. 
And  blessed  them  with  sight  of  thee, 

Wherein  our  blessings  stand. 


But  he  has  at  this  day  five  grandsons,  all  of  them  employed  in  the 
publick  service  of  the  gospel;  whereof,  let  the  reader  count  him  the 
meanest,  that  is  the  tvriter  of  this  history;  and  accept  further  one  little 
piece  of  history,  relating  hereunto. 

The  gathering  of  the  second  church  in  Boston,  was  evidently  very 

•  The  British  serpent  breathed  his  poisoned  speech.  f  To  Sarah.  %  To  Roland.  §  To  both. 


286 


MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


mucli  to  the  disadvantage  of  Mr.  Cotton,  .in  many  of  his  interests.  But 
he  was  a  John,  who  reckoned  liis  joy  fultilled  in  this,  that  in  his  own 
decrease  the  interests  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  increase;  and  there- 
fore with  an  exemplary  self-denial,  divesting  himself  of  all  carnal  respects, 
he  set  himself  to  encourage  the  foundation  of  that  church,  out  of  respect 
unto  the  service  and  worship  of  our  commoyi  Lord.  Now,  it  has  pleased 
the  Lord  so  to  order  it,  that,  many  years  after  his  decease,  that  self-denial 
of  his  holy  servant,  has  turned  unto  some  account,  in  the  opportunities 
which  tliat  very  church  has  given  unto  Ids  children  to  glorify  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  conduct  of  it:  his  son-in-law  has  been  for  more  than  thrice 
ten  years,  and  his  grandson  for  more  than  twice  seven  years,  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  in  that  very  churchy  accommodated  with  happy  opportunities, 
"to  serve  their  generation." 


E  P I T  A  P II I  U  M . 

JOHANNES    COTTONUS, 

Cujus  Ultima  Laus  est, 
Quod  fuerit  inter  Nov-Anglos  Primus.* 


kJ    tLJb    buu)    (L       u>     fXj    duo         vL    X  a 

NORTONUS   IIONORATUS,t  THE   LIFE   OF   MR.  JOHN    NORTON. 

§  1.  There  was  a  famous  John  whose  achievements  gre  by  our  Lord 
emblazoned  in  those  terms:  "He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light."  In 
the  tabernacle  of  old,  erected  by  the  order  and  for  the  worship  of  God, 
there  were  those  two  things,  a  candlestick  and  an  altar;  in  the  one  a  h'yht 
that  might  never  go  out,  in  the  other  ixjire  that  might  never  be  extin- 
guished; and  yet  such  an  affinity  between  these,  that  there  was  a  fire  in  the 
li(/ht  of  the  one,  and  a  lijld  in  the  fire  of  the  other.  Such  a  mixture  of 
hoth  faith  and  love  should  be  in  those  that  arc  employed  about  the  service 
of  the  tabernacle:  and  thougji  the  tabernacle  erected  for  our  Lord  in  this 
wilderness,  had  man}'  such  "  burning  and  shining  lights,"  yet  among  the  chief 
of  them  is  to  be  reckoned,  that  John  which  we  had  in  our  blessed  Norton. 

§  2.  He  was  born  the  sixth  of  May,  1606,  at  Starford  in  Hartfordshire; 
descended  of  honourable  ancestors.  In  his  early  childhood  he  discovered 
a  ripeness  of  wit,  which  gave  just  hopes  of  his  proving  extraordinary ; 
and  under  Mr.  Strange  in  the  school  of  Bunningford,  he  made  such  a 
proficiency,  that  he  could  betimes  write  good  Latin,  with  a  more  than 
common  elegancy  and  invention.     At  fourteen  years  of  age,  being  sent 

•  John  Cotton,  whoso  hii;hc!-t  jiraise  it  is  that  he  was  the  first  man  in  Ncw-Endand. 
+  Norton  duly  honoured. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  287 

■unto  Peter-house,  lie  staid  there  till  after  his  taking  of  his  first  degree; 
where  a  Romish  emissary,  taking  a  curious  and  exact  observation  of  his 
notable  accomplishments,  used  all  the  methods  he  could  think  of  to  have 
seduced  him  over  unto  the  Romish  irreligion :  but  God  intending  him  to  be 
a  pillar  in  his  own  temple^  mercifully  prevented  his  hearkening  unto  any 
temptations  to  become  a  sup)port  unto  the  tower  of  Babel. 

§  3.  In  his  youth  he  was  accustomed  unto  some  youthful  vanities;  espe- 
cially unto  cardplaying ;  an  evil  which  he  did  first  ponder  and  reform, 
upon  a  serious  admonition,  which  a  servant  of  his  father's  gave  unto  him. 
When  he  came  to  consider  that  a  lot  is  a  solemn  appeal  unto  the  God  of 
heaven,  and  even  by  the  rudest  Gentiles  counted  a  saered  thing,  he  thought 
that  playing  with  it,  was  a  breach  of  the  Third  Commandment  in  the  laws 
of  our  God;  it  should  be  used,  he  thought,  rather  prayerfully  than  sport- 
fully. He  considered,  that  the  Papists  themselves  do  not  allow  these 
games  in  ecclesiastical  persons,  and  the  fathers  do  reprove  them  with  a 
vehement  zeal  in  all  sorts  of  persons.  lie  considered,  that  when  the 
Roman  empire  became  Christian,  severe  edicts  were  made  against  these 
games,  and  that  our  Protestant  reformers  have  branded  them  with  an  infam- 
ous character;  wherefore,  inclining  now  to  follow  "whatsoever  things  are 
of  a  good  report,"  he  would  no  longer  meddle  with  games  that  had  so 
much  of  a  scandal  in  them. 

§  4.  An  extreme  disaster  befalling  his  father's  estate,  he  left  the  Uni- 
versity, and  became  at  once  usher  to  the  school,  and  curate  in  the  church 
at  Starford:  where,  a  lecture  being  maintained  by  a  combination  of  sev- 
eral godly  and  able  ministers,  he  on  that  occasion  fell  into  acquaintance 
with  several  of  them;  especially  Mr  Jeremiah  Dyke,  of  Epping,  by  whose 
ministry  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  gave  him  a  discovery  of  his  own  manifold 
sinfulness  and  wretchedness  in  an  unregenerate  state,  and  awakened  him 
unto  such  a  self  examination,  as  drove  him  to  a  sorrow  little  short  of  despair; 
but  after  some  time,  the  same  Holy  Spirit  enabled  him  to  receive  the 
Christ  and  grace,  tendered  in  the  promises  of  the  gospel,  with  an  unspeak- 
able consolation.  Whereupon,  he  thought  himself  concerned  in  that  advice 
of  heaven,  "When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren!" 

§  5.  Having  before  this  been  well  studied  in  the  toiigues  and  arts,  he  was 
the  better  fitted  for  the  higher  studies  of  divinity;  whereto  he  now  wholly 
addicted  himself:  and  being  in  his  own  happy  experience  acquainted  with 
faith,  and  repentance,  and  holiness,  he  did  from  that  experience  now  make 
lively  sermons  on  those  points  unto  his  hearers.  He  soon  grew  eminent  in  his 
ministry;  setting  oft' the  truths  he  delivered,  not  only  with  such  ornaments 
of  laconic  and  well-contrived  expression  as  made  him  worthy  to  be  called 
"the  master  of  sentences,"  but  also  with  such  experimental p>assages  of  devo- 
tion, as  made  him  admired  for  "a  preacher  seeking  out  acceptable  words." 

§  6.  His  accomplishments  rendered  him  as  capable  of  jjreferments,  as 
most  in  his  age;  but  preferments  were  then  so  clogged  with  troublesome 


288 


MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 


and  scruplesome  impositiojis,  that  Mr.  Norton,  as  well  as  other  conscien- 
tious young  ministers,  his  contemporaries,  declined  medling  with  them. 
Ilis  aversion,  and  indeed  autlpaOiy  to  Arminianism  (after  he  was,  as  Brad- 
wardin  speaks,  Gratice  Radio  Visitatus,)*  and  his  dislike  of  the  ceremonies, 
particularly  hindered  him  from  a  considerable  benefice,  whereto  his  unkle 
mi'dit  have  helped  him.  l3r.  Sibs  also,  the  master  of  Katharine  Ilall,  in 
Cambridge,  taken  with  his  abilities,  did  earnestly  solicite  him,  to  have 
accepted  of  a  fellowship  in  that  College ;  but  his  conscience  being  now- 
satisfied  in  the  unlawfulness  of  some  things  then  required  in  order  there- 
unto, would  not  permit  him  to  do  it.  One  asked  once  a  great  prelate  at 
court,  how  it  came  to  pass,  that  such  a  preacher,  (an  ancient  chaplain 
there,)  a  wise,  grave,  holy  man,  did  not  rise? — meaning  by  way  of  prefer- 
ment: the  prelate  answered  him,  "Truly,  let  me  tell  you,  that  I  verily 
think  he  never  will  rise  until  the  resurrection."  Truly,  let  me  now  tell 
the  world,  that  such  were  the  principles  of  Mr.  Norton,  there  was  no  like- 
lihood of  his  rising  in  this  world,  as  things  then  went  in  the  world. 
"Wherefore  he  contented  himself  with  a  more  private  life,  as  chaplain  in 
two  Knights'  house,  at  High  Lever  in  Essex,  namely.  Sir  William  Mash- 
am's;  there  waiting,  till  God  might  furnish  him  with  unexcepiahle  oppor- 
tunities for  his  more  publick  preaching  of  the  gospel.  But,  generally, 
all  those  who  had  any  taste  of  his  ministry,  had  a  very  high  opinion  of 
it ;  nor  was  there  any  man  in  that  part  of  the  country  more  esteemed 
than  lie  was,  for  all  sorts  of  excellencies;  insomuch,  that  when  he  came 
away,  an  ancient  minister  said,  "He  believed  there  was  not  more  grace 
and  holiness  left  in  all  Essex,  than  what  Mr.  Norton  had  carried  with  him." 

§  7.  His  natural  temper  had  a  tincture  of  choler  in  it;  but  as  the  sowrest 
and  harshest  fruits  become  the  most  j^leasant,  when  tempered  with  a  due 
proportion  of  sweetness  added  thereunto,  so  the  grace  of  God  sweetned  the 
disposition  of  this  good  man,  into  a  most  affable,  courteous,  and  complais- 
ant behaviour,  which  rendered  him  exceeding  amiable.  Indeed,  when  the 
apostle  speaks  of  the  spirit,  and  soul,  and  body,  being  sanctified,  some  do  by 
spirit  understand  the  natural  temper  or  humour ;  and  accordingly  the  spirit 
of  this  quick  man  being  sanctified,  he  became  a  man  of  an  excellent  spirit. 

%  8.  Vast  was  the  treasure  of  learning  in  this  reverend  man.  He  was 
not  only  a  most  accurate  grammarian,  which  is  abundantly  manifested  by 
his  printed  works  in  divers  languages;  but  an  universal  schohir:  never- 
theless, 'twas  as  a  school-man  that  he  showed  himself  the  most  of  a  scliolar. 
He  accounted  that  the  excellency  of  a  scholar,  lay  more  in  distinctness 
of  judgment,  than  in  elegancy  of  language ;  and  therefore,  though  he  had 
a  neater  style  than  most  other  men,  yet  he  was  desirous  to  furnish  him- 
self ad  pugnam,\  rather  than  ad  pompam.^  Hence,  having  intimately 
acquainted  himself  with  the  subtilties  of  scholastic  divinity,  he  made  all 
to  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  of  grace,  unto  which  he  made  all  the 

•  Visiu-d  by  n  beam  of  Divine  grace.  f  For  buttle.  J  For  show. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  289 

spoils  of  the   schools   gloriously  subservient.      He  was  a  most   elegant 
preacher,  and  the  true  follower  of  Dr.  Sibs! 

§  9.  But  let  his  excellencies  have  been  what  they  will,  there  was  in  those 
days  a  set  of  men  resolved  that  the  church  of  God  should  lose  the  benefit 
of  all  those  excellencies,  except  the  person  which  had  them  could  comply 
with  certain  uninstituted  I'ites  in  the  worship  of  God;  which  our  Mr. 
Norton  could  not;  and  it  was  that  which  made  him  ours.  This  drove 
him  to  the  remote  regions  of  America,  where  he  hoped^  as  well  he  mighty 
that  there  would  never  be  done  so  unreasonable  a  thing,  as  to  obstruct 
that  evangelical  worship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  sake  whereof 
those  regions  have  been  added  unto  the  English  dominions.  Wherefore 
in  the  year  1634,  having  married  a  gentlewoman  both  of  good  estate  and 
of  good  esteem,  he  took  shipping  for  New-England,  acompanied  in  the 
same  ship  with  the  famous  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard. 

§  10.  In  the  road  betwixt  Harwich  and  Yarmouth,  he  very  narroAvly 
escaped  a  terrible  shipwrack:  for  by  the  vehemency  of  a  storm  all  their 
anchors  gave  way,  so  that  they  were  driven  within  a  cable's  length  of 
the  sands ;  but  yet  the  anchor  of  their  hope  in  God,  held  fast  unto  the  last. 
Mr.  Shepard  having  taken  the  mariners  above  decks,  Mr.  Norton  took  the 
passengers  between  decks,  and  each  of  them  with  their  company,  applied 
themselves  unto  fervent  prayer,  whereto  the  Almighty  God  gave  a  present 
answer  in  their  wonderful  deliverance.  After  this  tempest,  which  disap- 
pointed their  voyage  to  New-England  for  that  season,  Mr.  Norton  returned 
unto  his  friends  in  Essex,  where  Mr.  Dyke  welcomed  him,  as  one  come  from 
the  dead;  professing  to  him,  "That  he  would  have  given  many  pounds 
for  such  a  tryal  of  his  faith,  as  this  his  friend  had  newly  met  withal." 

§  11.  The  next  year  Mr.  Norton  renewed  his  voyage  to  New-England; 
but  intervening  accidents  made  it  very  late  in  the  year  before  he  could  begin 
the  voyage :  and  so,  coming  upon  the  American  coast  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber, they  encountred  with  another  very  terrible  storm,  which  lasted  eight- 
and-forty  hours  with  great  extremity,  and  had  broken  the  vessel  to  pieces,  if 
it  had  not  had  a  strength  more  than  ordinary.  One  wave  remarkably  washed 
some  of  the  sea-men  overboard  on  one  side,  and  tjien  threw  them  in  again  on 
the  other:  and  so  vehement  was  the  storm,  that  they  were  forced  at  length  to 
undergird  the  ship  with  the  cable,  that  they  might  keep  her  sides  together. 
But  within  ten  days  after  this,  they  were  brought  safe  into  Plymouth  hfirbour. 

§  12.  There  had  been  some  overtures  between  him  and  Mr.  Winslow, 
the  agent  of  Plymouth,  now  on  board  with  him,  about  his  accepting  of  a 
settlement  in  that  plantation;  and  the  people  of  Plymouth  now  courte- 
ously and  earnestly  invited  him,  accordingly  to  continue  with  them. 
Nevertheless,  the  state  of  things  in  the  Massachuset-colony,  was  more 
agreeable  unto  him ;  and  the  church  of  Ipswich  made  their  speedy  appli- 
cations unto  him,  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  them.  This  occasioned 
his  deliberation  with  his  friends  in  the  bay  what  course  to  steer. 
Vol.  I.— 19 


290  MAGNALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

§  13.  While  he  sojourned  in  his  unsettled  state  at  Boston,  he  came  into 
acquaintance  with  the  ministers  thereabouts,  who  entertained  him  with  a 
very  high  opinion  of  him;  especially  Mr.  Mather  of  Dorchester,  who, 
though  of  longer  standing  than  he,  yet  consulted  him  as  an  oracle,  in 
matters  of  greatest  consequence  unto  him;  and  found  him  so  accomplished 
and  experienced  a  person,  that  he  maintained  a  most  valuable  friendship 
with  him  to  the  last.  Yea,  though  he  were  yet  a  young  man,  and  short 
of  thirty,  when  he  first  came  into  the  country,  yet  the  magistrates  of  the 
colony  soon  became  so  sensible  of  his  abilities,  as  to  make  use  of  him  in 
some  of  their  most  arduous  affairs.  And  there  happened  several  occa- 
sions to  try  the  scholastick  eminencies  whereto  he  was  arrived ;  one  of 
which  was,  w^ien  there  was  in  these  parts  a  French  friar,  who  found  in 
Mr.  Norton  a  Protestant  equal  to  his  own  school-men,  and  well  acquainted 
with  them  all.  Indeed,  there  was  in  him  the  union  of  two  excellencies^ 
which  do  not  always  meet.  It  was  the  character  of  Hortensius,  that  he 
was  weak  in  writing,  and  yet  able  to  speak :  it  was  the  character  of  Aber- 
icus,  that  he  was  weak  in  speech,  and  yet  able  in  writing:  but  our  Norton 
was  in  both  of  these  a  very  able  person. 

§  14.  It  was  the  church  of  Ipswich  that  our  Lord  gave  so  rich  a  thing 
as  his  eminent  servant  Norton :  but  besides  the  constant  labours  of  this 
holy  and  fruitful  man,  in  that  particular  church,  he  there  did  several  great 
services  of  a  more  extensive  influence  to  the  whole  Church  of  God ; 
whereof  one  was  this:  Gulielmus  Apollonii,  at  the  direction  of  the  divines 
in  Zealand,  in  the  year  1644,  sent  over  to  New-England  a  number  of 
questions,  relating  to  our  way  of  church-government;  whereto  the  minis- 
ters of  New-England  unanimously  imposed  upon  Mr.  Norton  the  task  of 
drawing  up  an  answer,  which  he  finished  in  the  year  1645,  and  it  was,  I 
suppose,  the  first  Latin  book  that  ever  was  written  in  this  country.  What 
satisfaction  it  gave,  may  be  gathered,  not  only  from  the  attestations  of  Dr. 
Goodwin,  Mr.  Nye,  Mr.  Sympson,  thereunto ;  but  also  from  the  expressions 
of  Dr.  Hornbeck,  who  frequently  magnifies  the  reason,  and  the  candour 
of  our  New-English  divine,  even  in  those  points  wherein  he  does  himself 
dissent  from  him.  Nor  is  it  amiss  to  add  the  words  in  Dr.  Fuller's  Church- 
History,  hereupon ;  which  are :  "  Of  all  the  authors  I  have  perused  con- 
cerning these  opinions,  none  to  me  was  more  informative  than  Mr.  John 
Norton,  one  of  no  less  learning  than  modesty,  in  his  answer  to  Apollonius, 
pastor  in  the  church  of  Middleburgh." 

§  15.  It  will  do  no  hurt  for  me  to  repeat  one  passage  on  this  occasion, 
which  to  me  seemed  worthy  of  some  remark.  While  Mr.  Norton  was 
deeply  engaged  in  writing  his  Latin  account  of  our  church-discipline, 
some  of  his  more  accurate  and  judicious  hearers  imagined  that  his  publick 
sermons  wanted  a  little  of  that  exactness  which  did  use  to  attend  them ; 
whereof  one  said  something  to  that  Mr.  Whiting  whom  I  may  well  call 
the  angel  in  the  church  of  Lyn.     Mr.  Whiting  hereupon,  in  a  very  respect- 


OE,     THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  291 

ful  and  obliging  manner,  spoke  to  Mr.  Norton,  saying,  "Sir,  there  are  some 
of  your  people  who  think  that  the  services  wherein  you  are  engaged  for 
all  the  churches,  do  something  take  off  the  edge  of  the  ministry,  wherein 
you  should  serve  your  own  particular  church;  I  would  entreat  you,  sir, 
to  consider  this  matter;  for  our  greatest  work  is  to  preach  the  gospel  unto 
that  flock  whereof  we  are  overseers."  Our  great  and  good  man  took  the 
excellent  oyl  of  this  intimation  with  the  kindness  which  became  such  a 
man,  and  made  it  serviceable  unto  his  holy  studies. 

§  16.  Another  considerable  service,  which  then  called  for  the  studies 
of  this  excellent  man,  was  the  advising,  modelling,  and  recommending 
the  Platform  of  Church- Discipline^  agreed  by  a  Synod  at  Cambridge,  in  the 
year  1647.  Into  that  Platform  he  would  fain  have  had  inserted  certain 
propositions  concerning  the  ivatch  which  our  churches  are  to  have  over  the 
children  born  in  them;  which  propositions  were  certainly  the  first  p)rinciples 
of  New-England;  only  the  fierce  oppositions  of  one  eminent  person  caused 
him  that  was  of  a, peaceable  temper  to  forbear  urging  them  any  further;  by 
which  means,  when  those  very  propositions  came  to  be  advanced  and 
embraced  in  another  Synod,  more  than  twice  seven  years  after,  many 
people  did  ignorantly  count  them  novelties.  Moreover,  when  the  Synod 
first  assembled,  it  was  a  thing  of  some  unhappy  consequence  that  the 
church  of  Boston  would  not  send  any  messengers  unto  it:  but  Mr.  Norton 
preaching  the  next  lecture  there,  wherein  he  handled  the  nature  of  coujisils, 
and  the  power  of  civil  magistrates  to  call  such  assemblies,  and  the  duty  of 
the  churches  in  regarding  their  advice,  the  church  of  Boston  were  there- 
withal so  satisfied,  as  to  testifie  their  communion  with  the  rest  of  the 
churches,  by  sending  three  messengers  to  accomjDany  their  elders  now  in 
the  Synod,  And  when  the  result  of  the  Synod  came  to  try  its  acceptance 
in  the  churches,  he  did  his  part,  especially  in  his  own,  with  a  prudent 
and  pious  diligence  to  obtain  it;  which  was  happily  accomplished. 

§  17.  There  was  yet  one  comprehensive  service  more,  which  this  learned 
man  here  did  for  the  church  of  God;  and  that  was  this:  a  gentleman  of 
New-England  had  written  a  book,  entituled,  "  The  Meritorious  Price  of 
Man's  Redemption  f  wherein  he  pretends  to  prove,  "That  Christ  suffered 
not  for  us  those  unutterable  torments  of  God's  wrath,  which  are  commonly 
called  hell-torments,  to  redeem  our  souls  from  them:  and  that  Christ  bore 
not  our  sins  by  God's  impidation,  and  therefore  also  did  not  bear  the  curse 
of  the  law  for  them."  The  General  Court  of  the  colony,  concerned  that 
the  glorious  truths  of  the  gospel  might  be  rescued  from  the  confusions 
whereinto  the  essay  of  this  gentleman  had  thrown  them,  and  afraid  lest 
the  church  of  God  abroad  should  suspect  that  New-England  allowed  of 
such  eochorhitarit  aberratio7is,  appointed  Mr.  Norton  to  draw  up  an  answft' 
to  that  erroneous  treatise.  This  work  he  peformed  with  a  most  elaborate 
and  judicious  pen,  in  a  book  afterwards  published  under  the  title  of,  "J. 
Discussion  of  that  greed  point  in  Divinity,  the  sufferings  OF  Christ:  and 


292  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

die  Questions  about  his  Active  and  Passive  Righteousness,  and  the  Imputation 
thereo/.^^  In  that  the  true  principles  of  the  gospel  are  stated  with  so  much 
dcmonslmdon,  as  is  indeed  unanswerable.  The  great  assertion  therein 
explained  and  maintained,  is,  (according  to  the  express  words  of  the 
reverend  author,)  "That  the  Lord  Jesus  Ciirist,  as  God-man,  and  Mediator, 
according  to  the  will  of  the  Father,  and  his  own  voluntary  consent,  fully 
obeyed  the  laiv,  doing  the  command  in  a  way  of  ivorks^  and  suffering  the 
essential  punishment  of  the  curse,  in  a  way  of  obedient  satisfaction  unto 
divine  justice,  thereby  exactly  fulfilling  the  first  covenant:  which  active 
and  passive  obedience  of  his,  together  with  his  original  righteousness,  as  a 
suret}^,  God,  of  his  rich  grace,  actually  imputeth  unto  believers:  whom, 
upon  the  receipt  thereof,  by  the  grace  of  faith,  he  declareth  and  accepteth,  as 
perfectly  righteous,  and  acknowledgeth  them  to  have  a  right  unto  eternal  life^ 

And  in  every  clause  of  this  position,  the  author  expressed  not  his  OAvn 
sence  alone,  but  the  sence  of  all  the  churches  in  the  country:  in  testimony 
whereof,  there  published  at  the  end  of  the  book  an  instrument  signed  by 
five  considerable  names.  Cotton,  Wilson,  Mather,  Symmes,  and  Tompson, 
who  in  the  name  of  others,  declare,  "As  they  believe,  they  do  also  profess, 
that  the  obedience  of  Christ  to  the  whole  law,  which  is  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness, is  the  matter  of  our  justification:  and  the  impudation  of  our  sins  to 
Christ  (and  thereupon  his  suffering  the  sence  of  the  ivrath  of  God,  upon  him 
for  our  sin)  and  the  imputation  of  his  obedience  and  sufferings  to  us,  are 
ihe  formal  cause  of  our  justification:  and  that  they  who  deny  this,  do  now 
take  away  both  of  these,  both  matter  nw^form  oi  our  justification,  which  is 
the  life  of  our  souls  and  of  our  religion,  and  therefore  called  ihe  justification 
of  life:' 

This  being  the  primitive  doctrine  of  y?^s^//Zca^/on,  among  the  churches 
of  New-England  the  things  that  were  judged  opposite  hereunto,  in  the 
renowned  Richard  Baxter's  '^Aphorisms  of  Justification,^''  did  then  give  a 
great  and  just  offence  unto  the  faithful  in  this  country:  yea,  they  looked 
upon  many  things  in  his  writings,  to  be,  as  Photius  has  it,  upon  some 
things  in  Clemens  Alexandrinus;  that  is  to  say,  things  expressed,  ix'  uyiwj, 
not  snfehj  and  soundly ;  albeit,  the  other  more  practical  and  savory  books 
of  that  holy  man,  were  highly  valued  in  these  American  regions;  and  not 
a  few  have  here  blessed  God  for  him  and  for  his  labours.  And  as  in  those 
eld^r  days  of  New-England,  the  esteem  which  our  churches  had  for  that 
eminent  man,  did  not  hinder  them  from  rejecting  that  neiv  coveriant  of 
works,  with  which  they  thought  he  confounded  that  most  important  article, 
upon  the  notions  whereof  the  church  either  stands  or  falls :  thus  it  is  a 
qrief  of  mind  unto  our  churches  at  this  day,  to  find  that  great  and  good 
man,  in  some  of  his  last  tvorJcs,  under  the  blinding  heat  of  his  indignation 
against  some  which  we  also  account  unjustifiable,  yea,  dangerous  opinions 
and  expressions  of  Dr.  Crisp,  reproaching  some  of  the  most  undoubted 
points  in  our  common  faith.     We  read  him  unaccountably  enumerating 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  293 

among  errors,  which,  he  says,  have  "corrupted  Christianity,"  and  "sub- 
verted the  gospel,"  such  things  as  these: 

"They  feign,  that  God  made  a  covenant  with  Adam,  that  if  he  stood,  God  would  continue 
him  and  his  posterity;  and  if  he  fell,  God  would  take  it,  as  if  all  his  posterity  then  person- 

ally  sinned  in  him. Feigning  God  to  make  Adam,  not  only  the  natural  father  and  root 

of  mankind,  but  also  arbitrarily,  a  constituted  representer  of  all  the  persons  that  should  spring 
from  him.  Whence  they  infer,  that  Christ  was  by  God's  imposition,  and  his  own  sponsion, 
made  the  legal  representative  person  of  every  one  of  the  elect,  taken  singularly:  so  that  what 
he  did  for  them,  God  reputeth  them  to  have  done  by  him.  Hereby  they  falsly  make  the 
person  of  the  Mediator,  to  be  the  legal  person  of  the  sinner. 

" They /org-e  a  law,  that  God  never  made,  that  saith,  'Thou  or  thy  surety  shall  obey  per- 
fectly, or  die." 

"They/efg'n  God  to  have  made  an  eternal  covenant  with  his  Son. 

"They/e/g-n  Christ  to  have  made  such  an  exchange  with  the  elect,  as  that,  having  taken 
all  their  sins,  he  hath  given  them  all  his  righteousness;  not  only  the  fruit  of  it,  but  the  thing 
in  it  self. 

"  They  say  that,  by  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness,  habitual  and  actual,  we  are 
judged  perfectly  just. 

"They  talk  of  Justijicalion  in  meer  ignorant  confusion. They  say,  that  to  Justife  is 

not  to  7nake  righteous,  but  to  judge  righteous. 

"  They  err  grosly,  saying,  that  by  [faith  imputed  for  7-ighteousness]  and  [our  being  justified 
by  faith]  is  not  meant,  the  act,  or  habit  oi'  faith,  but  the  object,  Christ's  righteousness:  not 
sticking  thereby  to  turn  such  texts  into  worse  than  nonsence. 

[All  these  are  Mr.  Baxter's  words,  in  his  ^^  Defence  of  Christ,^''  chap.  II.] 
These  things,  which  our  churches  with  amazement  behold  Mr.  Baxter 
thus  QoMmg  fictions^  false] loods,  forgeries^  ignorant  confusions^  and  gross  errors, 
were  defended  by  Mr.  Norton,  as  the  "faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints:" 
nor  do  our  churches  at  this  day  consider  them,  as  any  other,  than  "glori- 
ous truths  of  the  gospel;"  which,  as  they  were  maintained  by  Mr.  Norton. 
So  two  divines,  which  were  the  scholars  of  Mr.  Norton,  well  known  in 
both  Englands,  Nathanael  and  Increase  Mather,  {Fratrum  dulce  Par;)* 
and  a  third,  a  worthy  minister  of  the  gospel,  Mr.  Samuel  Willard,  now 
living  in  the  same  house  from  whence  Mr.  Norton  went,  unto  "that  not 
made  with  hands,"  have  in  their  printed  labours  most  accurately  expressed 
them  and  confirmed  them.  Hence,  although  as,  on  the  one  side,  I  have 
this  passage  of  Mr.  Baxter's  in  a  letter  from  him,  written  but  a  few  months 
before  he  died,  "I  am  as  zealous  a  lover  of  the  New-England  churches  as 
any  man,  according  to  Mr.  Norton's  and  the  Synod's  model:"  so,  on  the 
other  side,  the  memory  of  Mr.  Baxter  is  on  many  accounts  zealously  loved 
among  the  churches  of  New-England,  yet  espousing  the  principles  for 
their  establishment,  wherein  Mr.  Norton  had  appeared:  nevertheless,  inas- 
much as  Mr.  Baxter,  just  before  his  entrance  into  his  "everlasting  rest," 
requested  of  my  parent,  then  in  London:  "Sir,  if  you  know  of  any  errors 
in  any  of  my  writings,  I  pray  you  to  confute  them  after  I  am  dead."    I 

*  A  charming  pair  of  brothers. 


294:  MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  K  I  ST  I    AMERICANA; 

thought  it  not  amiss  to  regard  so  far  the  gospel-truths  oi' justification  at  this 
day  hibouring,  as  to  take  occasion  from  the  mention  of  Mr.  Norton's  book, 
to  say,  tliat  in  that  one  hook  of  his,  there  is  a  confutation  of  Mr.  Baxter, 
Avho  seems  to  oppose  those  things,  wliich  the  churches  of  New-England 
judf^e  cannot  be  denied  without  corrupting  of  Christianity,  and  subverting 
of  the  gospel.  But  waving  any  further  mention  of  the  book,  I  cannot  leave 
unmentioned  a  couple  of  passages  in  the  preface  of  it,  which  is  dedicati  )]y 
to  the  General  Court  of  the  Massachuset  colony.  One  is  this:  "I  appeal 
to  any  competently  judicious  and  sober-minded  man,  if  the  denial  of  rule 
in  the  Presbytery,  of  a  decisive  voice  in  the  Synod,  and  of  the  power  of 
the  magistrate  in  matters  of  religion,  do  not  in  this  point  translate  the 
Papal  power  unto  the  brotherhood  of  every  congregation."  Another  is  this : 
"You  have  been  among  i\\e  first  of  magistrates^  which  have  approved  and 
practised  the  Congregational  way ;  no  small  favour  from  God,  nor  honour 
to  your  selves,  with  the  generation  to  come,  when  that  shall  appear  to  be 
the  loay  of  Christ.''^ 

§  18.  But  we  say  nothing  of  Norton,  if  we  don't  speak  of  an  orthodox 
evangelist.  Being  himself  such  an  one,  he  digested  the  subtleties  of  the 
school-men  into  solid  and  wholesome  Christianity,  which  he  published  in 
a  treatise  entituled,  "  The  Orthodox  Evangelist f^  wherein  he  handles  the 
abstruse  points  of  the  existence  and  subsistence^  and  ejficience  of  God,  and 
the  person  of  Christ,  and  the  methods  of  the  Spirit  in  uniting  us  to  him ; 
and  the  doctrine  of  justification^  with  ihe  future  and  happy  state  of  the 
saints;  all  in  such  a  manner,  that  Mr.  Cotton  saw  cause  to  say  in  his  pre- 
face to  this  treatise,  "Clusters  of  ripe  grapes  passing  under  the  press,  are 
fit  to  be  transported  unto  all  nations;  thus,  such  gifts  and  labours  passing 
under  the  press,  may  be  fitly  communicated  to  all  churches.  The  physi- 
cians do  speak,  there  are  Pillulce  sine  Quibus  esse  nolo ;*  so  there  are  Libelli 
sine  quibus,  'some  books,'  /Sine  quibus  esse  nolo;-[  and  this  is  one  of  them." 
This  book  he  dedicated  unto  his  own  church,  in  Ipswich;  and  in  the  close 
of  his  dedication,  I  cannot  forget  this  emphatical  passage:  "You  are  our 
glory  and  joy:  forget  not  the  emphasis  in  the  word,  our:  ministers,  com- 
pared with  other  Christians,  have  little  to  joy  in  in  this  world :  it  is  not 
with  the  ministers  of  the  present,  as  with  the  ministers  of  late  times;  nor 
with  your  exiles,  as  with  some  others.  Let  this  our,  or  if  you  please  your 
condition,  for  therein  you  have  been  both  partakers  with  us  and  sup- 
porters of  us,  be  your  provocation."  Thus,  and  more  than  thus  useful, 
was  this  Bradwardin  of  New-England,  while  Ipswich  had  him. 

§  19.  When  Cotton,  that  "man  of  God,"  lay  sick  of  the  sickness  whereof 
he  died,  his  church  desired  that  he  would  nominate  and  recommend  a  fit 
person  to  succeed  him;  and  he  advised  them  to  apply  themselves  unto 
Mr.  Norton,  hoping  that  the  church  of  Ipswich,  being  accommodated  with 
such  another  eminent  person  as  Mr.  Rogers,  would,  out  of  respect  unto 

•  PilU  which  I  do  not  like  to  be  without.  f  Books  I  cannot  dispense  with. 


OE,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


295 


tbe  general  good  of  all  the  people  of  God  throughout  the  land,  so  far 
deny  themselves,  as  to  dismiss  him  from  themselves.  That  which  gave 
encouragement  unto  this  business,  was  not  a  dream  of  Mr.  Cotton's,  though 
it  was  indeed  a  strange  thing,  that  Mr.  Cotton  in  his  illness,  being  solicit- 
ous what  counsel  to  give  unto  his  church,  he  dreamed  that  he  saw  Mr. 
Norton  riding  unto  Boston,  to  succeed  him,  upon  a  ivhite  horse^  in  circum- 
stances that  were  exactly  afterwards  accomplished:  and  when  Mr.  Wilson, 
with  his  flock,  saw  the  thing  accomplished,  it  caused  them  to  look  upon 
Mr.  Norton,  almost  with  the  same  eye  that  old  Narcissus,  with  the  church 
at  Jerusalem,  did  upon  Alexander,  when  upon  the  warning  of  a  voice 
from  heaven,  to  take  him,  whom  they  should  so  find,  they  found  him  out 
of  the  city,  provided  for  them.  But  it  was  a  design  which  Mr.  Norton 
had  of  returning  for  England:  a  design  which  he  had  so  laid  before  his 
people,  as  to  obtain  their  grant,  that  if  upon  staying  a  twelvemonth  longer 
among  them,  there  did  occur  no  occasion  for  him  to  alter  his  purposes, 
they  would  not  oppose  his  going.  Now  when  the  agents  of  the  church  at 
Boston  made  this  motion  to  the  church  of  Ipswich,  there  was  much  debate 
about  it ;  wherein  at  length  an  honest  brother  made  this  proposal :  "  Breth- 
ren, a  case  in  some  things  like  to  this  was  once  that  way  determined:  'we 
will  call  the  damsel,  and  enquire  at  her  mouth:'  wherefore  I  propose,  that 
our  teacher  himself  be  enquired  of,  whether  he  be  inclined  to  go?"  They 
then  put  that  question  to  Mr.  Norton  himself,  who  being  troubled  at  the 
offer  of  the  question  unto  him,  answered,  "That  if  they  judged  such  rea- 
sons as  caused  his  removal  from  Europe  into  America,  now  called  for  his 
removal  from  Ipswich  to  Boston,  he  should  resign  himself;  but  he  could 
not  be  active."  However,  at  length,  they  consented  that  he  should  for 
the  present  go  sojourn  at  Boston,  to  try  and  see  how  far  the  will  of  God 
about  this  matter,  might  be  afterwards  discovered ;  but  after  Mr.  Norton 
was  gone,  many  of  the  people  fell  into  a  very  unreasonable  indisposition 
towards  Mr.  Eogers,  as  if  he  had  not  been  active  enough,  although  he  had, 
indeed,  been  as  active  as  he  well  could  be  to  retain  his  collegue  among 
them.  The  melancholly  temper  of  Mr.  Rogers  felt  so  deep  an  impression 
from  those  paroxisms,  and  viurmurings  of  the  people,  that  it  is  thought  his 
end  was  thereby  hastned;  but  the  church,  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Rogers, 
renewing  their  demands  of  Mr.  Norton's  return,  a  council  was  upon  that 
occasion  called;  which  council  advised  Ipswich  to  grant  Mr.  Norton  a  fair 
dismission  unto  the  service  of  Boston,  and  in  Boston,  of  all  New-England. 
However,  divers  lesser  councils,  that  were  successively  called  on  this  occa- 
sion, could  not  comfortably  procure  this  dismission,  till  at  last  the  govern- 
our  and  magistrates  of  the  colony  called  a  council  for  this  end ;  in  their 
order  for  which,  they  intimate  their  concern  lest,  while  the  two  churches 
were  contending  which  of  them  should  enjoy  Mr.  Norton,  they  should 
both  of  them,  and  the  whole  country  with  them,  lose  that  reverend  person, 
by  his  prosecuting  his  inclination  to  remove  into  England.     Hereupon 


296 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


such  a  dismission  could  not  be  denied;  but  now  Boston  joyfully  receiving 
Mr.  Norton,  Ipswich  applied  themselves  unto  Mr.  Cobbet,  who  afterwards 
continued  a  rich  blessing  among  them.  And  Mr.  Norton  did  indeed  the 
juirt  of  a  surviving  brother  for  Mr.  Cotton,  in  raising  up,  or  at  least  keep- 
ing up  the  name  of  that  great  man,  by  publishing  a  most  elegant  account 
of  his  lij\  part  whereof  was  afterwards  transcribed  by  Sam,  Clark  into 
his  collections. 

§  20.  Mr.  Norton  being  now  transplanted  into  that  garden  which  our 
Lord  liad  in  Boston,  did  there  bring  forth  much  of  i\\3ii  fruit  whereby  the 
"Heavenly  Father  was  glorified."  There  he  preached,  he  wrote,  he  prayed, 
and  maintained  without  any  prelntical  Ejn'scojMaj,  a  care  of  all  the  churches. 
And  New-England  being  a  country  whose  interests  w^ere  most  remarkably 
and  generally  enwrapped  in  its  ecclesiastical  circumstances,  there  were 
many  good  ofUces,  which  Mr.  Norton  did  for  the  peace  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, by  his  wise  counsels  upon  many  occasions,  given  to  its  counsellors.  In 
truth,  if  he  had  never  done  any  thing,  but  that  one  thing  of  preventing 
by  his  wise  interposition,  the  acts  of  hostility  which  were  like  to  pass 
between  our  people,  and  the  Dutch  at  Manhatoes,  that  alone  were  well 
worth  his  coming  into  the  station  which  he  now  had  at  Boston.  But  the 
service  which  now  most  signalized  him,  was,  his  agency  at  White-hall; 
for  it  being  found  necessary  to  address  the  restored  King;  the  worshipful 
Simon  Bradstreet,  Esq.  and  this  reverend  Mr.  John  Norton,  were  sent 
over  as  agents  from  the  colon}'-,  with  an  address  unto  his  Majesty;  wherein 
there  were,  among  others,  the  following  passages: 

"We  supplicate  your  Majesty  for  your  gracious  protection  of  us,  in  the  continuance  both 
of  our  civil,  and  of  our  religious  liberties;  according  to  tlie  grantees'  known  end  of  suing 
for  the  patent,  conferred  upon  this  plantation  by  your  royal  father.  'Our  liberty  to  walk  in 
the  faith  of  the  gospel,  with  all  good  conscience,  according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel,'  was 
the  cause  of  our  transporting  our  selves,  with  our  wives,  our  little  ones,  and  our  substance, 
from  that  pleasant  land,  over  the  Atlantick  Ocean,  into  the  vast  wilderness;  choosing  rather 
the  pure  Scripture-worship,  with  a  good  conscience,  in  this  remote  wilderness,  than  the  plea- 
sures of  England,  with  submissions  to  tho  impositions  of  the  then  so  disposed,  and  so  far 

prevailing  hierarchy,  which  we  could  not  do  without  an  evil  conscience." "We  are  not 

seditious  :is  to  the  interests  of  Ctesar,  nor  schismatical  as  to  the  matters  of  religion.     Wo 

distinguish  between  churches,  and  their  impurities." "We  could  not  live  without  the  pwi- 

lick  worship  of  God,  nor  be  permitted  the  public  worship,  without  such  a  yoke  of  suhscriplion 
and  conformity,  as  we  could  not  consent  unto  without  sin.  That  we  might,  therefore,  enjoy 
divine  worship,  free  from  human  mixtures,  without  offence  to  God,  man,  and  our  own  con- 
sciences, we,  with  Imve,  but  not  without  tears,  departed  from  our  country,  kindred,  and 
fathers'  houses,  into  this  Patmos." 

It  was  in  February,  1661-2,  that  they  began  their  voyage,  and  it  was 
in  September  following  that  they  returned:  Mr.  Norton's  place  being  the 
mean  time  supplied  by  the  neighbouring  ministers,  taking  of  their  turns. 
And  by  tJicir  hands  the  country  received  the  King's  letters,  wherein  he 
signified,  that  the  expressions  of  their  loyalty  and  affection  to  him,  were 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  297 

very  acceptable,  and  that  confirming  to  them  their  privileges^  he  would 
cherish  them  with  all  manner  of  encouragement  and  protection. 

§  21.  Such  has  been  i\ie  jealous  disposition  of  our  New-Englanders  about 
their  dearly  bought  privileges^  and  such  also  has  been  the  various  under- 
standing of  the  people  about  the  extent  of  those  privileges,  that  of  all  the 
agents  which  they  have  sent  over  unto  the  Court  of  England,  for  now 
forty  years  together,  I  know  not  any  one  who  did  not,  at  his  return,  meet 
with  some  very  froward  entertainment  among  his  country-men  :  and  there 
may  be  the  ivisdom  of  the  holy  and  righteous  God,  as  well  as  the  malice 
of  the  evil  one,  acknowledged,  in  the  ordering  of  such  temptations.  Of 
these  temptations,  a  considerable  share  fell  to  Mr.  Norton;  concerning 
whom  there  were  many  who  would  not  stick  to  say,  that  "he  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  mine  to  all  our  liberties;"  and  his  melancholly  mind  ima- 
gined that  his  best  friends  began  therefore  to  look  awry  upon  him. 

§  22.  In  the  spring  before  his  going  for  England,  he  preached  an  excel- 
lent sermon  unto  the  representatives  of  the  whole  colony,  assembled  at 
the  Court  of  Election,  wherein  I  take  particular  notice  of  this  passage : 
"Moses  was  the  meekest  man  on  earth,  yet  it  went  ill  with  Moses,  'tis  said, 
for  their  sakes.  How  long  did  Moses  live  at  Meribah?  Sure  I  am,  it 
killed  him  in  a  short  time;  a  man  of  as  good  a  temper  as  could  be  expected 
from  a  meer  man ;  I  tell  you,  it  will  not  only  kill  the  people,  but  it  will 
quickly  kill  Moses  too!"  And  in  the  spring  after  his  return  from  England, 
he  found  his  own  observation  in  himself  too  much  exemplified.  It  was 
commonly  judged  that  the  smothered  griefs  of  his  mind,  upon  the  unkind 
resentments  which  he  thought  many  people  had  of  his  faithful  and  sincere 
endeavours  to  serve  them,  did  more  than  a  little  hasten  his  end ;  an  end 
whereat  John  Norton  went,  according  to  the  anagram  of  his  name  into 
HONNOR.  But  he  had  the  privilege  to  enter  into  immortality,  without  such 
a  formal  and  feeling  death,  as  the  most  of  'mortals  encounter  with;  for 
though  in  the  forenoon  of  April  5,  1663,  it  Avas  his  design  to  have  preached 
in  the  afternoon,  he  was  that  afternoon  taken  with  a  sudden  lypothymie, 
which  presently  and  easily  carried  him  away  to  those  glories,  wherein 
the  "weary  are  at  rest;"  but  it  was  a  dark  night  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston  had  upon  the  noise  of  his  death ;  every  corner  of  the  town  was 
filled  with  lamentations,  which  left  a  character  upon  that  night,  unto  this 
day  not  forgotten!  His  dearest  neighbour,  Mr.  Richard  Mather,  wept  over 
him  at  his  funeral,  which  was  on  the  next  lecture  day,  a  sermon  most 
agreeable  to  the  occasion;  and  the  son  of  his  fellow-traveller,  Mr.  Thomas 
Shepard,  was  one  of  the  many  who  bestowed  their  elegies  upon  him; 
using  this,  among  his  other  strokes: 


The  schoolmen's  i)oc(ors,  whomsoe'er  they  call, 
Stiblil,  seraphick,  or  angelical ; 
Dull  souls!  their  tapers  burnt  exceeding  dim; 
They  might  to  school  again,  to  learn  of  him. 

Lombard  must  out  of  date ;  we  now  profess 
Korton  the  master  of  the  sentences  : 


Scotus,  a  dunce  to  him ;  should  we  compare 
Aquinas  here,  none  to  be  named  are. 

Of  a  more  heavenly  strain  his  notions  were ; 
More  pure,  sublime,  scholastical,  and  clear. 
More  like  th'  Apostles  Paul  and  John,  I  wist, 
Was  this  our  orthodoz  Evangelist. 


293  MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  R  I  S  T  I    AMERICANA; 

Which  lines  accompanied  with  Mr.  Wilson's  anagrammatising  of  JOHAN- 
NES NoRTONUS  into  Nonne  is  Ilonoratus?*  will  give  him  his  deserved 
character. 

§  28.  He  that  shall  read  the  tragical  romances,  written  hy  that  brazen- 
iaced  lyar  Bolsecus,  concerning  the  deaths  of  such  men  as  Calvin  and 
Bcza,  or  such  monstrous  writings  as  those  of  Tympius,  Cochleus,  Genebard, 
and  some  others,  who  would  bear  the  world  in  hand,  that  Luther  and 
GLcolampadius  learned  the  Protestant  religion  of  the  devil,  and  were  at 
last  killed  by  him;  and  that  Bucer  had  his  guts  pulled  out  and  cast  about 
by  the  devil;  will  not  wonder  if  I  tell  him  that,  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Norton,  the  Quakers  published  a  libel,  by  them  called,  "  A  Representation 
to  King  and  Parliament;''''  wherein,  pretending  to  report  some,  "remarkable 
j  udgments  upon  their  persecutors, "  they  insert  this  passage :  "  John  Norton, 
chief  priest  in  Boston,  by  the  immediate  power  of  the  Lord,  was  smitten, 
and  as  he  was  sinking  down  by  the  fire-side,  being  under  just  judgment, 
he  confessed  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him,  and  so  he  died." — 
Which  they  mention  as  o,  judgment  upon  a,  persecutor.  Whereas,  the  death 
of  this  good  man  was  attended  with  no  circumstances  but  what,  unto  a 
good  man,  might  be  eligible  and  comfortable,  and  circumstanced  far  otherwise 
than  it  was  by  those  revilers  rejjresented.  But  it  was  necessary  for  that 
enchanted  people  thus  to  revenge  themselves  upon  one  who,  amongst 
his  other  services  to  the  church  of  God,  already  mentioned,  had,  at  the 
desire  of  the  General  Court,  written  a  book,  entituled,  "  2'he  Heart  of  New- 
England  rent  at  the  Blasphemies  of  the  Present  Generation  ;  or^  a  Brief  Tract- 
ate concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the  Quakers:^''  which  doctrine  was  in  this  tract- 
ate solidly  confuted.  And  perhaps,  it  had  been  better  if  this  had  been  all 
the  confutation;  which  I  add,  because  I  wall  not,  I  cannot  make  my  self 
a  vindicator  for  all  the  severities  with  which  the  zeal  of  some  eminent  men 
hath  sometimes  enraged  and  increased,  rather  than  reclaimed  those  miserable 
heretichs:  but  wish  that  the  Quakers  may  be  treated  as  Queen  Elisabeth 
directed  the  Lord  President  of  the  North  to  treat  the  Papists ;  when  she 
advised  him  to  convince  them  with  argument,  rather  than  suppress  them 
with  violence;  to  that  purpose  using  of  the  words  of  the  prophets.  Nolo 
Mortem  Peccatoris.\ 

§  24.  Not  long  after  his  death,  his  friends  published  three  sermons  of 
his,  which  for  the  circumstances  of  them  could  have  been  entituled, 
"These  were  the  last  words  of  that  servant  of  the  Lord."  The  first  of 
the  sermons,  was  the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  at  the  Court  of  Elec- 
tion at  Boston,  It  is  on  Jer.  x.  17,  entituled,  "Sion  the  Out-cast  healed 
of  her  Wounds:"  and  there  are  two  or  three  passages  in  it,  which  I  cannot 
but  recommend  unto  the  peculiar  consideration  of  the  present  generation: 

"To  differ  from  our  ortliodox,  pious,  and  learned  brethren,  is  such  an  affliction  to  a  Cliris- 
tian  and  an  injjenuous  spirit,  as  notliing  but  love  to  the  trutli  could  arm  a  man  of  peace 
•  Is  he  not  honoured  V  t  I  would  not  die  the  death  of  a  transgressor. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  299 

against.  Our  profession  being  in  a  way  differing  from  tliese  and  those,  it  concerns  us,  that 
our  walking  be  very  cautelous,  and  that  it  be  without  giving  any  just  offence." 

Again. — "  In  matters  of  state  and  church,  let  it  be  shown  that  we  are  his  disciples,  who 
said,  '  give  unto  Ctcsar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  give  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's;'  and  in  matters  of  religion,  let  it  be  known,  that  we  are  for  reformation,  and  not 
for  separation." 

Once  more. — "I  may  sny  thus  much  (and  pardon  my  speech)  a  more  yielding  ministry 
unto  the  people  than  ours'  I  believe  is  not  in  the  world.  I  beseech  you,  let  not  Csesar  be 
killed  in  the  senate,  after  he  hath  conquered  in  the  field.  Let  us  acknowledge  the  order  of 
the  eldership  in  our  churches,  in  their  way,  and  the  order  of  councils  in  their  way,  duely 
backed  and  encouraged :  without  which  experience  will  witness  that  these  churches  cannot 
long  consist." 

The  second  of  the  sermons,  was  the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  on 
the  Lord's  day.  It  is  on  Joh,  xiv.  3,  entituled,  "  The  Believer's  Consolation 
in  the  remembrance  of  his  Heavenly  Mansion^  pre^mred  for  him  hy  OhristJ' 

The  third  of  the  sermons  was  the  last  sermon  which  he  preached  on 
his  lecture.  It  is  on  Heb.  viii.  5,  entituled,  "  The  Evangelical  Worshipper^ 
subjecting  to  the  prescription  and  sovereignty  of  Scripture  Pattern.^'' 

§  25.  The  three  sermons  thus  pubHshed  as  the  last^i  or  the  clropt  mantle 
of  this  Elias,  are  accompanied  with  the  translation  of  a  letter,  which  was 
composed  in  Latin  by  Mr.  Norton,  and  subscribed  by  more  than  forty 
of  the  ministers,  on  this  occasion.  The  famous  John  Dury  having,  from 
the  year  1635,  been  most  indefatigabl}^  labouring  for  a  pacification  between 
the  reformed  churches  in  Europe,  communicated  his  design  to  the  minis- 
ters of  New-England,  requesting  their  concurrence  and  countenance  unto 
his  generous  undertaking.  In  answer  to  him,  this  letter  was  written; 
and  there  are  one  or  two  passages  which  I  chuse  to  transcribe  from  it, 
because  as  well  the  sp)irit  of  our  Norton,  as  the  story  of  our  country, 
is  therein  indigitated: 

"  Redeunt  in  Memoriam,  et  redeunt  quidem  non  sine  Sancliori  Sympathia,  Beata 
nice  AnimcB,  Melancthonis  et  Parei  NTN  EN  AriOI2,  hie  inter  Reformatos,  ille 
inter  Evangelicos,  Vir  Consummatissimus.  Qiioru7n  Alter  Haganoam  iter  faciens, 
ita  Ingemuit : 

"  Viximus  in  Synodis,  et  jam  moriemur  in  illis. 

^^  Alter  Vero,  Super  Erislica  Eucharistica  Meditahindus,  in  hcBc  Verba  Erupit, 
Defessus  sum  Disputando.  Nimirum,  illis  Judicibus,  Orandum  potius  qiiam — 
Disputandum  ;  Vivendunn,  non  Litigandum.  Forsitan  et  Consilia  Pacis,  quae,  Stim- 
ulantl  recenti  Ira  hactenus,  minus  grata  fuere,  utriusque  partis  Theologi  Rixis  diu- 
turnioribus  aliquandofessi  et  Subacti,  cequis  animis  Suscipere,  non  molesle  ferunt : 
Mare  pacificum  Aquis  Meribanis,  Longo  Rerum  usu  Edocti,  anteferentes." 

"We  may  here  call  to  mind,  and  not  without  some  sacred  sympathy,  those  blessed  souls, 
Melancthon  and  Parens,  now  among  the  blessed — the  one  no  less  famous  among  the  Reformed, 
than  the  other  among  the  Evangelicks.  Of  these,  the  one  going  towards  Haganoa,  with  sighs 
uttered  these  words: 

"  In  Synods  hitherto  we  lived  have. 
And  now  in  them,  return  unto  the  grave. 


300  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"Tlu".  otiior  scTuiuslj'  meditating  on  the  controversy  of  the  Eucharist,  brake  forth  into 
those  wonls:  'I  am  weary  with  disputing.'  Thus,  \i these  might  be  judges,  we  ought  rather 
to  iiray  than  dispiilr,  and  study  to  live  rather  than  contend.  And  perha})s  tiie  divines  of  either 
part,  artiT  they  have  been  wearied  and  broke  in  their  spirits  with  daily  and  continual  conten- 
tion, will  more  readily  accept  of  the  'counsels  of  peace,'  which  hitherto  have  been  less  accept- 
a1>lc,  while  the  sense  of  anger  has  been  spurring  of  them:  after  they  have  been  taught  by 
long  use,  they  may  prefer  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Sea,  before  those  of  Meribah." 

"  Gratias  agimus  Domino  Dureo,  cui  Josephi  Longe  terra  marique  a  fratribus 
Distantis,  meminisse  Cordi  fidt :  Qui  nos  Misellos,  in  Cillicio,  Cillicio  aiitem  ipst 
confuliinus  EvangeUco  Militantes,  tarn  Auspicato  Nuncio  invisere  dignatus  est. : 
Qui  Novani  Angliam,  quasi  particulam  aliquam  Fimbrice  Vestimenti  Aronici, 
nngucnio  prccdivili  delibulam,  in  Album  Syiicrctistni  Longe  celebcrrimi  adscribere 
non  adspernalur :  Qui  porro  Litleris  ad  Syncretismum  horlatoriis,  subinde  nobis 
Ansam  prcebuit  Testimouiurn  hoc,  quale  quale,  perhibendi  Communionis  nostrcefra- 
terjicr,  cum  univcrsa  Cohorte  Protestantiurn,^fZeffi  Jesu  Christi  projilentium.  Ingenue 
cnimfalemnr,  tranquilla  tarn  quum  erant  Omnia,  nee  Signora  Minaniia  s/gnis  ad- 
huc  nobis  conspiciebantur  ;  quippe  quibus,  Episcopis,  ilia  Tempeslale  Rerum  Dom^- 
inis,  publico  Minislerio  Defungi,  necdum  Sacris  frui,  sine  Subscriptione  et  confonn- 
itate,  (ut  loqui  solent)  utque  adeo  Humanarum  Adinventionum  in  Divinis  Commix' 
tione,  non  Liceret,  et  satins  visum  est,  vel  in  Longinquas,  et  Incultas  Terrarum 
Oras,  Cultus  purioris  Ergo  concessisse,  quam  Oneri  Hierarchico,  cum  Rerum 
Omnium  AJluentia,  ConscienticB  aulem  Dispendio,  succubuisse.  At  patriamfugi. 
endo,  710S  Ecclesiarum  Evangelicarum  Communioni  Nunciimi  jnisisse,  hoc  vero  est 
quodjidenter  et  Sancte  pernegamus." 

"We  give  thanks  to  Mr.  Dury  into  whose  heart  it  came  to  remember  Joseph  separate  from 
his  hretheren  at  so  great  a  distance  both  by  sea  and  land :  and  who  hath  vouchsafed  with  so 
comfortable  a  message  to  visit  us  poor  people,  cloathed  in  sackcloth,  for  our  warfare;  yet,  as 
we  trust,  the  sackcloth  of  the  gospel:  who  hath  not  refused  to  put  New-England  as  part  of 
the  skirt  of 'Aaron's  garment,'  upon  which  hath  descended  some  of  the  'precious  oyl,'  into 
the  catalogue  of  the  so  much  famed  'agreement:'  and  who  hath  by  his  letter  exhorting  to 
such  agreement  given  us  an  occasion  to  bring  in  this  testimony,  such  as  it  is,  for  our '  broth- 
erly communion'  with  the  whole  company  of  Protestants  professing  the  faith  of  Christ  Jesus. 
For  we  must  ingenuously  confess,  that  then,  when  all  things  were  quiet,  and  no  threatning 
signs  of  war  appeared,  seeing  we  could  not  be  permitted  by  the  Bishops  at  that  time  prevail- 
ing to  perform  the  office  of  the  ministry  in  publick,  nor  yet  to  enjoy  the  holy  ordinances, 
without  sidiscriplion  and  conformity  (as  they  were  wont  to  speak)  nor  without  the  mixture 
of 'humane  inventions'  with  'divine  institutions,'  we  chose  rather  to  depart  into  the  remote 
and  unknown  parts  of  the  earth,  for  the  sake  of  a  purer  tcorsMp,  than  to  ly  down  under  the 
Hicrarcliy  in  the  abundance  of  all  things,  but  with  jwejndice  of  conscience.  But  that  in  flying 
from  our  country,  we  should  renounce  communion  with  such  churches  as  profess  the  gospel, 
is  a  thing  which  we  confidently  and  solemnly  deny." 

"  Quoscunque  apud  Ccettis,  per  Universum  Evangelicorum  chorum,  Fundamenta- 
lia  Doctrinae  et  Essentialia  Ordinis,  Vigeant,  quamvis  in  plerisque  Controversiae 
Theological  Apicibus  nobiscum  juxta  minus  Sentiant,  illos  tamen  ad  unum  Omnes 
pro  Fratibus  agnoscimus,  Usque  ca-tera  pacificis,  ct  Ordinate  incedentibus,  AEX1A2 
KOINf2NIA2  in  Domino  porrigerc  paralissimos  nos  esse  hisce  palamfacimus.^'' 

"In  whatever  assemblies  amongst  the  whole  company  of  those  that  profess  the  gospel, 
the  fundamentals  of  doctrine,  and  essentials  of  order,  are  maintained,  though  in  many  nice- 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  gQl 

ties  of  controversial  divinity  tliey  are  at  less  agreement  with  us,  we  do  hereby  make  it  man- 
ifest, that  we  do  acknowledge  them  all  and  every  one  for  brethren,  and  that  we  shall  be 
ready  to  give  unto  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  in  the  Lord,  if  in  other  things  they  be 
peaceable,  and  walk  orderly." 

§  26.  This  was  our  Norton !    and  we  might  have  given  yet  a  fuller 
account  of  him,  if  we  could  have  seen  the  Diary,  which  he  -kept  of  hi? 
daily  walk.     However,  he  was  well  known  to  be  a  great  example  of  holi- 
ness, ivatchfulness,  and  extraordinary  wisdom;  and  though  he  left  no  chil- 
dren, yet  he  has  a  better  name  than  that  of  sons  and  of  daughters.     Moreover, 
there  was  one  considerable  part  of  ministerial  ivork,  wherein  he  not  only 
went  beyond  most  of  his  age,  but  also  proved  a  leader  unto  ma.T\j  followers. 
Though   the  ministers  of  New-England   counted   it  unlawful  for  them, 
ordinarily,  to  perform  their  ministerial  acts  of  solemn  and  publick  prayer 
by  reading  or  using  any  "forms  of  prayer"  composed  by  other 2)ersons  for 
them;  they  reckoned  "an  ability  to  express  the  case  of  a  congregation  in 
prayer,"  to  be  a  ministerial  gift,  which  our  Lord  forbids  his  ministers  to 
neglect;  they  supposed  that  a  minister  who  should  only  read  "forms  of 
sermons"  composed  for  him,  would  as  truly  discharge  the  duty  of  preach- 
ing, as  one  that  should  only  read  such  "forms  of  prayers,"  would  the 
duty  of  praying,  in  it:  they  could  not  find  that  any  humane  "forms  of 
prayers "  were  much  used  in  any  part  of  the  church,  until   about  four 
hundred  j-ears  after  Christ,  nor  any  made  for  more  than  some  single  prov- 
ince, wniW  six  hundred  ye^TB]  nor  any  imposed  until  eight  hundred,  when 
all  manner  of  "ill-formed  things"  began  to  be  found  in  the  temple  of  God; 
nevertheless,  very  many  of  our  greatest  ministers,  in  our  more  early  times, 
did  not  use  to  expatiate  with  such  a  significant  and  admirable  variety  in 
their  prayers  before  their  sermons,  as  many  of  our  later  times  have  attained 
unto;   nor  indeed  then  did  they,  nor  still  do  ive,  count  all  "forms  of  prayer" 
simply  unlawful.     But  the  more  general  improvements  and  expressions 
of  "the  gift  of  prayer,"  in  our  ministers  have  since  been  the  matter  of 
observation;  and  particularly  Mr.  Norton  therein  was  truly  admirable! 
It  even  transported  the  souls  of  his  hearers  to  accompany  him  in   his 
devotions,  wherein  his  graces  would  make  wonderful  salleys  into  the  vast 
field  of  entertainments,  and  achnoiuledgements,  with  which  we  are  furnished 
in  the  new-covenant,  for  onr  prayers.     I  have  heard  of  a  godly  man  in  Ips- 
wich, who,  after  Mr.  Norton's  going  to  Boston,  would  ordinarily  travel  on 
foot  from  Ipswich  to  Boston,  which  is  about  thirty  miles,  for  nothing  but 
the  weekly  lecture  there;  and  he  would  profess,  "That  it  was  worth  a  great 
journey,  to  be  a  partaker  in  one  of  Mr.  Norton's  prayers.     This  pattern 
of  prayer  in  Mr.  Norton,  had  some  influence  upon  it,  that  since  his  time, 
our  pulpits  have  been  fuller  than  ever  of  "experimental  demonstrations," 
that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  inay  on  all  occasions  present  their  suppli- 
cations before  God,  in  the  discharge  of  their  ministry,  with  more  pertinent, 
more  affecting,  more  expanded  enlargements,  than  any  form  could  aflurd 


302  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

unto  them.  New-England  can  show,  even  young  ministers,  who  never  did 
in  all  things  repeat  one  j'^rayer  twice  over,  in  that  part  of  their  ministry 
wherein  we  are  "first  of  all,  to  make  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions, 
and  thanksgivings;"  and  yet  sometimes,  for  much  more  than  an  hour 
together,  they  pour  out  their  souls  unto  the  Almighty  God  in  such  a  fer- 
vent, copious,  and  yet  proper  manner,  that  their  most  critical  auditors,  can 
complain  of  nothing  disagreeable^  but  profess  themselves  extreamly  edifyed. 
But  our  praying  Norton,  who,  while  he  was  among  us,  "prayed  with 
the  tongue  of  angels;"  is  now  gone  to  "praise  with  the  angels"  for  ever. 

EPITAPIIIUM. 

JOHANNES   NORTONUS. 

Quis  fuerat.  Ultra  si  quaras, 
Dignus  es  qui  Nescias.* 


uiiiiliriajil,    i  i  I  o 
MEMORIA   WILSON  I  A,   THE   LIFE    OF   MR.   JOHN   WILSON. 

§  1.  Such  is  the  natural  tendency  in  humane  minds  to  poetry,  that  as 
'tis  observed,  the  Eoman  historian,  in  the  very  first  line  of  his  history,  fell 
upon  a  verse, 

Urhem  Fomam,  In  Principio  Rcges  hahuere;^ 

So  the  Roman  orator^  though  a  very  mean  poet,  yet  making  an  oration 
for  a  good  one,  could  not  let  his  first  sentence  pass  him,  without  a  perfect 
hexameter, 

In  Qua  me  non  Inficinr,  mediocriter  Esse,  t 

If,  therefore,  I  were  not  of  all  men  the  most  unpoetical,  my  reader  might 
now  expect  an  entertainment  altogether  in  verse;  fori  am  going  to  write 
the  life  of  that  New-English  divine,  who  had  so  nimble  a  faculty  of  putting 
his  devout  thoughts  into  verse,  that  he  signalized  himself  by  the  greatest 
frequency,  perhaps,  that  ever  man  used,  of  sending  j9oe??is  to  all  persons,  in 
all  places,  on  all  occasions ;  and  upon  this,  as  well  as  upon  greater  accounts, 
was  a  David  unto  the  Jlodcs  of  our  Lord  in  the  wilderness : 

Quicquid  tentahat  Diccrc,  Versus  crat  :^ 

Wherein,  if  the  curious  relished  the  j)/e^2/  sometimes  rather  than  the 
poetry,  the  capacity  of  the  most,  therein  to  be  accommodated,  must  be  con- 
sidered. But  I  intend  no  further  account  of  this  matter  than  what  is  given 
by  his  worthy  son,  (reprinting  at  Boston  in  the  year  1680,  the  verses  of  his 

•  If  you  need  to  ask  who  he  was,  you  ou!j;lit  not  to  know.        +  Rome,  at  the  first,  was  ruled  by  kings. 

%  In  which,  I  do  not  deny,  tlmt  I  uin  moder.alely  versed.  §  "  He  lisped  in  nmnljers,"'  wheiisoc'er  he  spoke. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND,  3O3 

father  upon  his  famous  deliverances  of  the  English  nation,  printed  at  Lon- 
don, as  long  ago  as  the  year  1626,)  whose  words  are,  "  What  volumes  hath 
he  penned,  for  the  help  of  others,  in  their  several  changes  of  condition! 
How  was  his  heart  full  of  good  matter!  And  his  verses  past,  like  to  the 
handkerchiefs  carried  from  Paul  to  uphold  the  disconsolate,  and  heal  their 
wounded  souls!"  For  indeed  this  is  the  least  thing  that  we  have  to 
relate  of  that  great  saint;  and,  accordingly,  it  is  under  a  more  considerable 
character  that  I  must  now  exhibit  him,  even  as  a  father  to  the  infant 
colonies  of  New-England. 

§  2.  Mr.  John  Wilson,  descending  from  eminent  ancestors,  was  born  at 
Windsor  in  the  wonderful  year  1588,  the  third  son  of  Dr.  William  Wilson 
a  prebend  of  St.  Paul's,  of  Kochester  and  of  Windsor,  and  rector  of  Cliff: 
having  for  his  mother  a  neece  of  Dr.  Edmund  Grindale,  the  most  worthily 
renowned  Arch-Bishop  of  Canterbury.  His  exact  education  under  his 
parents,  which  betimes  tinged  him  with  an  aversation  to  vice,  and,  above 
all,  to  the  very  shadow  of  a  lye^  fitted  him  to  undergo  the  further  educa- 
tion which  he  received  in  Eton  Colledge,  under  Udal  (and  Langley)  whom 
now  we  may  venture,  after  poor  Tom  Tusscr,  to  call,  "the  severest  of  men." 
Here  he  was  most  remarkably  delivered  twice  from  drowning:  but  at  his 
book  he  made  such  proficiency,  that  while  he  was  the  least  hoy  in  the 
school,  he  was  made  a  ^jropo.s^'to?-;  and  when  the  Duke  of  Biron,  embas- 
sador from  the  French  King  Henry  IV.  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  visited  the 
school,  he  made  a  Latin  oration,  for  which  the  Duke  bestowed  three  angels 
upon  him.  After  four  years'  continuance  at  Eton,  he  was  removed  unto 
Cambridge,  between  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  year  of  his  age;  and 
admitted  into  King's  Colledge  in  the  year  1602.  When  he  came  to  stand 
for  a  fellowship  in  that  Colledge,  his  antipath}^  to  some  horrid  wickedness, 
whereto  a  detestable  wretch  that  had  been  acquainted  with  him  would 
have  betrayed  him,  caused  that  malicious  wretch  by  devised  and  accursed 
slanders  to  ruin  so  far  the  reputation  of  this  chast  youth  with  the  other 
fellows,  that  had  not  the  Provost,  who  was  a  serious  and  a  reverend  person, 
interposed  for  him,  he  had  utterly  lost  his  priviledge;  which  now  by  the 
major  vote  he  obtained.  But  this  affliction  put  him  upon  many  thoughts 
and  prayers  before  the  Lord. 

§  3.  He  had  hitherto  been,  according  to  his  good  education,  very  civilly 
and  soberly  disposed:  but  being  by  the  good  hand  of  God  led  unto  the 
ministry  of  such  holy  men  as  Mr.  Bains,  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  Chaderton,  he 
was  by  their  sermons  enlightened,  and  awakened  unto  more  solicitous 
enquiries  after  "the  one  thing  yet  lacking  in  him."  The  serious  disposi- 
tions of  his  mind  were  now  such,  that  besides  his  pursuance  after  the 
works  of  repentance  in  him  self,  he  took  no  little  pains  to  pursue  it  in 
others;  especially  the  malefactors  in  the  prisons,  which  he  visited  with  a 
devout,  sedulous,  and  successful  industry.  Nevertheless,  being  forestalled 
with  prejudices  against  the  Puritans  of  those  times,  as  if  they  had  held  he 


30^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

knew  not  well  wliat  odd  things^  he  declined  their  acquaintance;  although 
liis  good  conversation  had  made  him  to  be  accounted  one  of  them  himself. 
Until  going  to  a  bookseller's  shop,  to  augment  his  well-furnished  library,  he 
lighted  upon  that  famous  book  of  Mr.  Richard  Rogers',  called,  "  The  Seven 
Treatises f^  which  when  he  had  read,  he  so  affected,  not  only  the  matter, 
but  also  the  author  of  the  book,  that  he  took  a  journey  unto  AYethersfield, 
on  purpose  to  hear  a  sermon  from  that  Boanerges.  When  he  had  heard 
tlie  heavenly  passages  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  that  worthy  man,  privately 
as  well  as  publickly,  and  compared  therewithal  the  writings  of  Green- 
ham,  of  Dod,  and  of  Dent,  especially,  "  The  Pathway  to  Ueaven^''  written 
by  the  author  last  mentioned,  he  saw  that  they  who  were  nicknamed 
Puritans,  were  like  to  be  the  desirablest  companions  for  one  that  intended 
liis  own  everlasting  happiness;  and  pursuant  unto  the  advice  which  he 
had  from  Dr.  Ames,  he  associated  himself  with  a  pious  company  in  the 
university ;  who  kept  their  meetings  in  Mr.  Wilson's  chamber,  for  prayer, 
fasting,  holy  conference,  and  the  exercises  of  true  devotion. 

§  4,  But  now  perceiving  many  good  men  to  scruple  many  of  the  rites 
practised  and  imposed  in  the  Church  of  England,  he  furnished  himself 
with  all  the  books  that  he  could  find  written  on  the  case  of  conformity^ 
both  i^ro  and  con^  and  pondered  with  a  most  conscientious  deliberation 
the  arguments  on  both  sides  produced.  He  was  hereby  so  convincjed  of 
the  evil  in  conformity^  that  at  length,  for  his  observable  omission  of  cer- 
tain uninstituted  ceremonies  in  the  worship  of  God,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
then  visiting  the  university,  pronounced  upon  him  the  sentence  of  Quia- 
denum;  that  is,  that  besides  other  mortifications,  he  must  within  fifteen 
days  have  been  expelled,  if  he  continued  in  his  offence.  His  father  being 
hereof  advised,  with  all  paternal  affection,  wrote  unto  him  to  conform; 
and  at  the  same  time  interceded  with  the  Bishop,  that  he  might  have  a 
quarter  of  a  year  allowed  him;  in  which  time,  if  he  could  not  be  reduced, 
he  should  then  leave  his  fellowship  in  the  Colledge.  Hereupon  he  sent  him 
unto  several  Doctors  of  great  fame,  to  get  his  objections  resolved ;  but  when 
much  discourse  and  much  writing  had  passed  between  them,  he  was  rather 
the  more  confirmed  in  his  principles  about  church-reformation.  Wherefore 
his  father,  then  diverting  him  from  the  designs  of  the  ministry^  disposed 
him  to  the  inns  of  court;  where  he  fell  into  acquaintance  with  some  young 
gentlemen,  who  associated  with  him  in  constant  exercises  of  devotion: 
to  which  meetings  the  repeated  sermons  of  Dr.  Gouge  were  a  continual 
entertainment:  and  here  it  was  that  he  came  into  the  advantageous  knowl- 
edge of  the  learned  Scultetus,  chaplain  to  the  Prince  Palatine  of  the  Rhine, 
then  making  some  stay  in  England. 

§  5.  When  he  had  continued  three  years  at  the  inns  of  court,  his  Huher 
discerning  his  disposition  to  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  permitted  his 
proceeding  Master  of  Arts,  in  the  university  of  Cambridge:  but  advised 
him  to  address  another  colledge  than  that  where  he  had  formerly  met  with 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  305 

difficulties.  Dr.  Carey,  wlio  was  then  Vice-cliancellor,  understanding  bis 
former  circumstances,  would  not  admit  him  without  subscription ;  but  he 
refused  to  subscribe.  In  this  distress  he  repaired  unto  his  father,  at  whose 
house  there  happened  then  to  be  present  the  Countess  of  Bedford's  chief 
gentleman,  who  had  business  with  the  Earl  of  Northampton,  the  Chancellor 
of  the  university.  And  this  noble  person,  upon  the  information  which 
that  gentleman  gave  him  of  the  matter,  presently  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Vice-chancellor,  on  the  behalf  of  our  young  Wilson;  whereupon  he 
received  his  degree^  and  continued  a  while  after  this  in  Emanuel-Colledge; 
from  whence  he  made  frequent  and  useful  visits  unto  his  friends  in  the 
counties  adjoining,  and  became  further  fitted  for  his  intended  service.  But 
while  he  was  passing  under  these  changes,  he  took  up  a  resolution  which 
he  thus  expressed  before  the  Lord:  "That  if  the  Lord  would  grant  him  a 
liberty  of  conscience,  with  purity  of  worship,  he  would  be  content,  yea, 
thankful,  though  it  were  at  the  furthermost  end  of  the  world."  A  most 
prophetical  resolution ! 

§  6.  At  length,  preaching  his  first  sermon  at  Newport,  "he  set  his  hand 
unto  that  plough,  from  whence  he  never  afterwards  looked  back:"  not 
very  long  after  which,  his  father  lying  on  his  death-bed,  he  kneeled,  in 
his  turn,  before  him  for  his  blessing,  and  brought  with  him  for  a  share  in 
that  blessing,  the  vertuous  young  gentlewoman,  the  daughter  of  the  Lady 
Mansfield,  (widow  of  Sir  John  Mansfield,  master  of  the  Minories,  and  the 
Queen's  surveyor)  whom  he  designed  afterwards  to  marry:  whereupon 
the  old  gentleman  said,  "Ah,  John,  I  have  taken  much  care  about  thee, 
such  time  as  thou  wast  in  the  university,  because  thou  wouldest  not  con- 
form; I  would  fain  have  brought  thee  to  some  higher  preferment  than 
thou  hast  yet  attained  unto:  I  see  thy  conscience  is  very  scrupulous,  con- 
cerning some  things  that  have  been  observed  and  imposed  in  the  Church: 
nevertheless,  I  have  rejoiced  to  see  the  grace  and  fear  of  God  in  thy  heart: 
and  seeing  thou  hast  kept  a  good  conscience  hitherto,  and  walked  according 
to  thy  light,  so  do  still;  and  go  by  the  rules  of  God's  holy  word:  the 
Lord  bless  thee,  and  her  whom  thou  hast  chosen  to  be  the  companion  of 
thy  life!" — Among  other  places  where  he  now  preached,  Moreclake  was 
one;  where  his  non-conformity  exposed  him  to  the  rage  of  persecution; 
but  by  the  friendship  of  the  Justice — namely.  Sir  William  Bird,  a  kins- 
man of  his  wife — and  by  a  mistake  of  the  informers,  the  rage  of  that 
storm  was  moderated. 

§  7.  After  this  he  lived  as  a  chaplain  successively  in  honourable  and 
religious  families ;  and  at  last  was  invited  unto  the  house  of  the  most  pious 
Lady  Scudamore.  Here  Mr.  Wilson  observing  the  discourse  of  the  gentry 
at  the  table,  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  be  too  disagreeable  unto  the  devout 
frame  to  be  maintained  on  such  a  day,  at  length  he  zealously  stood  up  at 
the  table,  with  words  to  this  purpose:  "I  will  make  bold  to  speak  a  word 
or  two:  this  is  the  Lord's  holy  day,  and  we  have  been  hearing  his  word, 
Vol.  I.— 20 


305  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

and  after  the  word  preached,  every  one  should  think,  and  speak  about 
such  tilings  as  have  been  delivered  in  the  name  of  God,  and  not  lavish 
out  the  time  in  discourses  about  hawks  and  hounds."  Whereupon  a  gentle- 
man then  present  made  this  handsome  and  civil  answer:  "Sir,  we  deserve 
all  of  us  to  be  thus  reproved  by  you;  this  is  indeed  the  Sabbath-day,  and 
we  should  surely  have  better  discourse:  I  hope  it  will  be  a  warning  to 
us."  Notwithstanding  this,  the  next  Lord's  day,  the  gentry  at  the  table 
were  at  their  old  notes;  which  caused  Mr.  Wilson  again  to  tell  them,  "That 
the  hawks  which  they  talked  of,  were  the  birds  that  picked  up  the  seed 
of  the  word,  after  the  sowing  of  it;"  and  prayed  them,  "That  their  talk 
might  be  of  such  things  as  might  sanctifie  the  day,  and  edifie  their  own 
souls;"  which  caused  the  former  gentleman  to  renew  his  former  thankful- 
ness for  the  admonition.  But  Mr,  Leigh,  the  lady's  husband,  was  very 
angry;  whereof  when  the  lady  advised  Mr.  Wilson,  wishing  him  to  say 
something  that  might  satisfie  him,  he  replied,  "Good  madam,  I  know  not 
wherein  I  have  given  any  just  offence;  and  therefore  I  know  of  no  satis- 
faction that  I  owe:  your  ladyship  has  invited  me  to  preach  the  good  word 
of  God  among  you;  and  so  I  have  endeavoured  according  to  my 
ability :  now  such  discourse  as  this,  on  the  Lord's  day,  is  profane  and 
disorderly:  if  your  husband  like  me  not,  I  will  be  gone."  When  the 
lady  informed  her  husband  how  peremptory  Mr.  Wilson  was  in  this 
matter,  he  mended  his  countenance  and  carriage;  and  the  effect  of 
this  reproof  was,  that  unsuitable  discourse,  on  the  Lord's  day,  was  cured 
among  them. 

§  8.  Eemoving  from  this  family,  after  he  had  been  a  while  at  Ilenly, 
he  continued,  for  three  years  together,  preaching  at  four  places  by  turns, 
which  lay  near  one  another,  on  the  edges  of  Suffolk — namely,  Bumsted, 
Stoke,  Clare,  and  Candish.  Here  some  of  Sudbury  happening  to  hear 
him,  they  invited  him  to  succeed  the  eminent  old  Mr.  Jenkins,  with  which 
invitation  he  cheerfully  complied,  and  the  more  cheerfully  because  of  his 
opportunity  to  be  near  old  Mr.  Kichard  Rogers,  from  whom  afterwards, 
when  dying,  he  received  a  blessing  among  his  children ;  yea,  to  encourage 
his  acceptance  of  this  place,  the  very  reader  of  the  parish  did  subscribe, 
with  many  scores  of  others,  their  desires  of  it ;  and  yet  he  accepted  not 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  place,  without  a  solemn  day  of  prayer  with 
fasting,  (wherein  the  neighbouring  ministers  assisted)  at  his  election :  great 
notice  was  now  taken  of  the  success  which  God  gave  unto  his  labours  in 
this  famous  town;  among  other  instances  whereof,  one  was  this:  a  trades- 
man much  given  to  stealing,  as  well  as  other  profane  and  vicious  practices, 
one  day  seeing  people  flock  to  Mr.  Wilson's  lecture,  thought  with  himself, 
"Why  should  I  tarry  at  home  to  work,  when  so  many  go  to  hear  a  ser- 
mon?" Wherefore,  for  the  sake  of  company,  he  went  unto  the  lecture 
too;  but  when  he  came,  he  found  a  sermon,  as  it  were,  particularly  directed 
unto  himself,  on  Eph.  iv.  28:  "Let  him  that  hath  stole,  steal  no  more;" 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  gQf^ 

and  such  was  the  impression  thereof  upon  his  heart,  that  from  this  time 
he  became  a  changed  and  pious  man. 

§  9.  But  if  "they  that  will  live  godlily,  must  suffer  persecution,"  a 
peculiar  share  of  it  must  fall  upon  them  who  are  zealous  and  useful  instru- 
ments to  make  others  live  so.  Mr.  Wilson  had  a  share  of  this  persecution; 
and  one  A — n,  was  a  principal  author  of  it.  This  A — n  had  formerly 
been  an  apprentice  in  London,  where  the  Bishops  detained  him  some  years, 
under  an  hard  imprisonment,  because  he  refused  the  oath  ex  officio,  which 
was  pressed  upon  him,  to  tell  "Whether  he  had  never  heard  his  master 
pray  against  the  Bishop?" 

The  charity  of  well-disposed  people  now  supported  him,  till  he  got 
abroad,  recommended  by  his  hard  sufferings,  unto  the  good  affections  of 
the  Puritans,  at  whose  meetings  he  became  so  conversant,  and  thereupon 
such  a  forward  and  zealous  professor,  that  at  length  he  took  upon  him, 
under  the  confidence  of  some  Latinity,  whereof  he  was  owner,  to  be  a  sort 
of  preacher  among  them.  This  man  would  reverence  Mr.  Wilson  as  his 
father,  and  yet  upon  the  provocation  of  seeing  Mr.  Wilson  more  highly 
valued  and  honoured  than  himself,  he  not  only  became  a  conformist  him- 
self, but  also,  as  apostates  use  to  be,  a  malignant  and  violent  persecutor 
of  those  from  whom  he  had  apostatized.  By  his  means  Mr.  Wilson  was 
put  into  trouble  in  the  Bishop's  courts;  from  whence  his  deliverance  was 
at  length  obtained  by  certain  powerful  mediators.  And  once  by  his  tricks, 
the  most  noted  pursivant  of  those  times  was  employed  for  the  seizing  of 
Mr.  Wilson  ;  but  though  he  seized  upon  many  scores  of  the  people  coming 
from  the  lecture,  he  dismissed  the  rest,  because  he  could  not  meet  with 
Mr.  Wilson  himself,  who  by  a  special  providence  went  out  of  his  direct 
way,  to  visit  a  worthy  neighbour,  and  so  escaped  this  mighty  hunter. 

Afterwards  an  eminent  lady,  happening  innocently  to  make  some  com- 
parisons between  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Wilson  and  one  Dr.  B.  of  B.,  the 
angry  Doctor  presently  applied  himself  unto  the  Bishop  of  London,  who 
for  a  while  suspended  him.  And  when  that  storm  was  over,  he,  with  sev- 
eral other  worthy  ministers,  came  to  be  wholly  silenced  in  another,  that 
was  raised  upon  complaints  made  by  one  Mr.  Bird,  unto  the  Bishop  of 
Norwich  against  them.  Concerning  this  ill  Bird,  there  happened  one  pas- 
sage hereupon,  which  had  in  it  something  extraordinary.  Falling  very 
sick,  he  had  the  help  of  a  famous  and  skilful  physician,  one  Dr.  Duke  of 
Colchester;  who  having  left  his  patient,  in  his  opinion,  safely  recovered, 
gave  Mr.  Wilson  a  visit,  with  an  account  of  it.  "Kecovered!"  says  Mr. 
Wilson;  "you  are  mistaken  Mr.  Doctor;  he's  a  dead  man!"  The  Doctor 
answered,  "If  ever  I  recovered  a  sick  man  in  my  life,  that  man  is  recov- 
ered." But  Mr.  Wilson  replied,  "No,  Mr.  Doctor,  he's  a  dead  man;  he 
shall  not  live:  mark  my  words!"  The  doctor  smiled;  but  for  all  that, 
before  they  parted,  the  news  was  brought  them  that  the  man  was  dead 
indeed,  and  "the  Lord  known  by  the  judgment  which  he  executed." — 


308 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEEICANA; 


But  at  last  Mr.  Wilson  obtained  from  the  truly  noble  Earl  of  Warwick, 
to  sign  a  letter,  wliich  the  Earl  bid  himself  to  draw  up,  unto  the  Bi8ho[), 
on  his  behalf;  by  the  operation  of  which  letter,  his  liberty  for  the  exercise 
of  his  ministry  was  again  procured.  This  Bishop  was  the  well-known 
Dr.  Uarsnet,  who  a  little  while  after  this,  travelling  northward,  wpon 
designs  of  mischief  against  the  reforming  pastors  and  Christians  there,  cer- 
tain ministers  of  the  south  set  apart  a  day  for  solemn  fasting  and  prayer, 
to  implore  the  help  of  Heaven  against  those  designs;  and  on  that  very 
day  he  was  taken  with  a  sore  and  an  odd  lit,  which  caused  him  to  stop  at 
a  blind  house  of  entertainment  on  the  road,  where  he  suddenly  died. 

§  10.  At  last,  "being  persecuted  in  one  country,  he  must  flee  into 
another."  The  plantation  of  a  New-English  colony  was  begun;  and  Mr. 
Wilson,  with  some  of  his  neighbours,  embarked  themselves  in  the  fleet, 
which  came  over  thither  in  the  year  1630,  where  he  applied  himself  with 
all  the  vigour  imaginable,  to  encourage  the  poor  people,  under  the  diffi- 
culties of  their  new  plantation.  This  good  people  buried  near  two  hundred 
of  their  number,  within  a  quarter  of  a  year  after  their  first  landing;  which 
caused  Mr.  Wilson  particularly  to  endeavour  their  consolation,  by  preach- 
ing on  Jacob's  not  being  disheartned  by  the  death  of  his  nearest  friends 
in  the  way,  when  God  had  called  him  to  remove.  And  how  remarkably, 
perhaps  I  might  say,  excessively  liberal  he  was,  in  employing  his  estate  for 
the  relief  of  the  needy,  every  such  one  so  beheld  him,  as  to  reckon  him 
"the  father  of  them  all:"  yea,  the  poor  Indians  themselves  also  tasted  of 
his  bounty.  If  it  were  celebrated,  as  the  glory  of  Bellarmine,  that  he  would 
sell  his  goods,  to  convert  them  into  alms  for  the  poor;  yea,  that  Quadam 
die  proprimn  Atramentarium  Argenteolum,  ut  ditaret  Inojjes,  inter  pignora 
ohligavit:*  our  Mr.  Wilson,  though  a  greater  disclaimer  of  merit  than  Bel- 
larmine was,  not  only  in  his  writings,  but  on  his  death-bed  it  self,  yet  came 
not  behind  Bellarmine  for  the  extension  of  his  charity.  To  give  instances 
of  his,  even  over-doing  liberality,  would  be  to  do  it  injuries;  for  indeed 
they  were  innumerable:  he  acted  as  if  the  primitive  agreement  of  having 
"all  things  in  common,"  had  been  of  all  things  the  most  agreeable  unto 
him.  I  shall  sum  up  all,  in  the  lines  of  an  elegant  elegy,  which  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Bache,  an  ingenious  merchant,  made  upon  him,  at  his  death: 


When  Bs  the  poor  want  succour,  where  is  he 

Can  say  nil  can  be  said  eztempore  ? 

Vie  with  the  lightning,  and  melt  down  to  th'  quick 

Their  souls,  and  make  themselves  their  pockets  pick  1 

Where 's  such  a  leader,  thus  has  got  the  sleight 

T'  teach  holy  hands  to  tear,  jlngera  to  fight  7 

Their  arrow  hit?     Bowels  to  bowels  meant  it. 


God,  Christ,  and  saints,  accept,  but  Wilson  sent  it. 

Which  way  so  e'er  the  propositions  move, 

The  ergo  of  his  syllogism's  love. 

So  boimtiful  to  all :  but  if  the  poor 

Was  Christian  too,  all 's  money  went,  and  more, 

His  coat,  rug,  blanket,  gloves;  he  thought  their  due 

Was  all  his  money,  garments,  one  of  two. 


But  he  was  most  set  upon  the  main  business  of  this  new  plantation : 
which  was,  "to  settle  and  enjoy  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  and  worship 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  according  to  his  own  institutions;"  and  accordingly, 

•  On  one  occasion  he  pawned  his  own  silver  inkstand  to  raise  money  for  some  poor  people. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  3Q9 

he,  with  the  governour,  and  others  that  came  with  him  on  the  same  account 
combined  into  a  church-state,  with  all  convenient  expedition. 

§  11.  Mr.  Wilson's  removal  to  New-England  was  rendred  the  more 
difficult,  by  the  indisposition  of  his  dearest  consort  thereunto;  but  he 
hoping,  that  according  to  a  dream  which  he  had  before  his  coming  hither, 
"That  he  saw  here  a  little  temple  rising  out  of  the  ground,  which  hy 
degrees  increased  into  a  very  high  and  large  dimensions, "  the  Lord  had  a 
temple  to  build  in  these  regions ;  resolved  never  to  be  discouraged  from 
his  undertaking.  Wherefore  having  first  sent  over  an  encouraging  account 
of  the  good  order,  both  civil  and  sacred,  which  now  began  to  be  estab- 
lished in  the  plantation,  he  did  himself  return  into  England,  that  he  might 
further  pursue  the  effect  thereof:  and  accordingly  he  made  it  his  business, 
where-ever  he  came,  to  draw  as  many  good  men  as  he  could  into  this 
country  with  him.  His  wife  remained  unperswadable,  till  upon  prayer 
with  fasting  before  the  Almighty  turner  of  hearts^  he  received  an  answer, 
in  her  becoming  willing  to  accompany  him  over  an  ocean  into  a  ivilderness. 
A  very  sorrowful  parting  they  now  had  from  their  old  friends  in  Sudbury, 
but  a  safe  and  quick  passage  over  the  Atlantick ;  and  whereas  the  church 
of  Boston,  observing  that  he  arrived  not  at  the  time  expected,  had  set 
apart  a  day  of  humiliation  on  his  behalf,  his  J03'-ful  arrival  before  the  day 
caused  them  to  turn  it  into  a  day  of  thanksgiving.  But  Mrs.  Wilson  being 
thus  perswaded  over  into  the  difficulties  of  an  American  desart,  I  have 
heard  that  her  kinsman,  old  Mr.  Dod,  for  her  consolation  under  those  dif- 
ficulties, did  send  her  a  present  with  an  advice,  which  he  had  in  it,  some- 
thing of  curiosity.  He  sent  her,  at  the  same  time,  a  brass  counter,  a  silver 
crown,  and  a  gold  jacobus;  all  of  them  severally  wrapped  up;  with  this 
instruction  unto  the  gentleman  who  carried  it:  that  he  should  first  of  all . 
deliver  only  the  counter,  and  if  she  received  it  with  any  shew  of  discontent, 
he  should  then  take  no  further  notice  of  her;  but  if  she  gratefully  resented 
that  small  thing,  for  the  sake  of  the  hand  it  came  from,  he  should  then  go 
on  to  deliver  the  silver,  and  so  the  gold:  but  withal  assure  her,  "That  such 
would  be  the  dispensations  of  God  unto  her,  and  the  other  good  people 
of  New-England:  if  they  would  be  content  and  thankful  with  such  little 
things  as  God  at  first  bestowed  upon  them,  they  should,  in  time  have  silver 
and  gold  enough.  Mrs.  Wilson  accordingly,  by  her  cheerful  entertainment 
of  the  least  remembrance  from  good  old  Mr.  Dod,  gave  the  gentleman 
occasion  to  go  through  with  his  whole  present,  and  the  annexed  advice ; 
which  hath  in  a  good  measure  been  accomplished. 

§  12.  It  was  not  long  before  Mr.  Wilson's  return  to  England  once  more 
was  obliged  by  the  death  of  his  brother,  whose  will,  because  it  bequeathed 
a  legacy  of  a  thousand  pounds  unto  New-England,  gave  satisfaction  unto 
our  Mr.  Wilson,  though  it  was  otherwise  injurious  unto  himself  A 
tedious  and  winter- voyage  he  now  had;  being  twice  forced  into  Ireland, 
where  first  at  Galloway,  then  at  Kingsale,  afterwards  at  Bandon-Bridge, 


3X0  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

he  occasionally,  but  vigorously  and  successfully,  served  the  kingdom  of 
God.  At  last  he  got  safe  among  his  old  friends  at  Sudbury ;  according  to 
the  prediction  which  he  had  let  full  in  his  former  farewel  unto  them:  "It 
may  be  John  Wilson  may  come  and  see  Sudbury  once  again,"  From 
whence,  visiting  Mr.  Nathanael  Rogers  at  Assington,  where  he  arrived 
before  their  morning  prayers;  Mr.  Kogers  asked  him  to  say  something 
upon  the  chapter  that  was  read,  which  happened  then  to  be  the  first  chapter 
in  the  first  book  of  Chronicles;  and  from  a  paragraph  of  meer  proper  names, 
that  seemed  altogether  barren  of  any  edifying  matter,  he  raised  so  many 
fruitful  and  useful  notes,  that  a  pious  person  then  present,  amazed  thereat, 
could  have  no  rest  without  going  over  into  America  after  him.  Having 
dispatched  his  afiairs  in  England,  he  again  embarked  for  New-England,  in 
company  with  four  ministers  and  near  two  hundred  passengers,  whereof 
some  were  persons  of  considerable  quality :  but  they  had  all  been  lost  by 
a  large  leak  sprang  in  the  ship,  if  God  had  not,  on  a  day  of  solemn  fasting 
and  prayer,  kept  on  board  for  that  purpose,  mercifully  discovered  this 
dangerous  leak  unto  them. 

§  13.  That  Phcenix  of  his  age,  Dr.  Ames,  would  say,  "That  if  he  might 
have  his  option  of  the  best  condition  that  he  could  propound  unto  him- 
self on  this  side  heaven,  it  would  be,  that  he  might  be  the  teacher  of  a 
congregational  church,  whereof  Mr.  "Wilson  should  be  the  pastor."  This 
happiness,  this  priviledge,  now  had  Mr.  Cotton  in  the  church  of  Boston. 
But  Satan,  envious  at  the  prosperity  of  that  flourishing  church,  raised  a 
storm  of  Antinomian,  and  Fa.milistical  errors,  which  had  like  to  have 
thrown  all  into  an  irrecoverable  confusion,  if  the  good  God  had  not 
remarkably  blessed  the  endeavours  of  a  Synod;  and  Mr.  Wilson,  for  a 
while,  met  with  hard  measure  for  his  early  opposition  to  those  errors, 
until,  by  the  help  of  that  Synod,  the  storm  was  weathered  out.  At  the 
beginning  of  that  assembly,  after  much  discourse  against  the  unscriptural 
enthiisiasms^  and  revelations,  then  by  some  contended  for,  Mr.  Wilson  pro- 
posed, "You  that  are  against  these  things,  and  that  are  for  the  spirit  and 
the  word  together,  hold  up  your  hands!"  And  the  multitude  of  hands 
then  held  up,  was  a  comfortable  and  encouraging  introduction  unto  the 
other  proceedings.  At  the  conclusion  of  that  assembly,  a  catalogue  of  the 
errors  to  be  condemned  was  produced;  whereof  when  one  asked,  "What 
shall  be  done  with  them?"  the  wonted  zeal  of  Mr.  AVilson  made  this 
blunt  answer,  "Let  them  go  to  the  devil  of  hell,  from  whence  they  came." 

In  the  midst  of  these  temptations  albo,  he  was  by  a  lot  chosen  to  accom- 
pany the  forces,  then  sent  forth  upon  an  expedition  against,  the  Pequod 
Indians;  which  he  did  w^ith  so  much  faith  and  jot/,  that  he  professed  him- 
self "as  fully  satisfied  that  God  would  give  the  English  a  victory  over 
those  enemies,  as  if  he  had  seen  the  victory  already  obtained."  And  the 
whole  country  quickly  shared  with  him  in  the  consolations  of  that  remark- 
able victory. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ^H 

§  14.  In  the  wilderness  he  met  with  his  difficulties;  for  besides  the  loss 
of  houses,  divers  times  by  Jire,  which  yet  he  bore  with  such  a  cheerful  sub- 
mission, that  once  one  that  met  him  on  the  road,  informing  of  him,  "  Sir, 
I  have  sad  news  for  you;  while  you  have  been  abroad,  your  house  is  burnt;" 
his  first  answer  was,  "Blessed  be  God:  he  has  burnt  this  house,  because 
he  intends  to  give  me  a  better."     (Which  accordingly  came  to  pass.) 

He  was  also  put  upon  complying  with  the  inclinations  of  his  eldest  son 
to  travel;  who  accordingly  travelled,  first  into  Holland,  then  into  Italy, 
where  he  proceeded  a  doctor  of  physick^  and  so  returned  into  England, 
excellently  well  adorned  with  all  the  accomplishments  of  a  most  pious 
and  useful  gentleman.  But  this  worthy  person  died  about  the  year  1658. 
And  this  hastned  the  death  of  his  mother,  ere  the  year  came  about ;  which 
more  than  doubled  the  grief  of  his  father.  And  these  afflictions  were  yet 
further  embittered  by  the  death  of  his  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Eogers,  in 
child-bed  with  her  first  child;  at  whose  interment,  though  he  could  not 
but  express  a  deal  of  sorrow,  yet  he  did  it  with  so  much,  patience,  that  "In 
token,"  he  said,  "of  his  grounded  and  joyful  hopes,  to  meet  her  again  in 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  and  of  his  willingness  to  resign  her  into 
the  hands  of  him  who  would  make  all  things  work  together  for  good," 
he  himself  took  the  spade,  and  threw  in  the  first  shovelful  of  earth  upon 
her.  And  not  long  after,  he  buried  three  or  four  of  his  grand  children  b}^ 
another  daughter,  Mrs.  Danforth  (yet  living  with  her  worthy  son-in-law, 
Edward  Brorafield,  Esq.  in  Boston)  whereof  one  lying  by  the  walls,  on  a 
day  of  publick  thanksgiving,  this  holy  man  then  preached  a  most  savoury 
sermon  on  Job  i.  21:  "The  Lord  hath  given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken 
away :  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  The  next  child,  although  so 
weakly  that  all  despaired  of  its  life,  his  prophetical  grand-father  said, 
"Call  him  John;  I  believe  in  God,  he  shall  live,  and  be  a  prophet  top, 
and  do  God  service  in  his  generation!"  which  is,  at  this  day,  fulfilled  in 
Mr.  John  Danforth,  the  present  pastor  to  the  church  of  Dorchester.  En- 
countring  with  such,  and  many  other  exercises,  his  years  rolled  away,  till 
he  had  served  New-England,  three  years  before  Mr.  Cotton's  coming  over, 
twenty  years  with  him ;  ten  years  with  Mr,  Norton,  and  four  years  after  him. 

§  15.  In  his  younger  time,  he  had  been  used  unto  a  more  raetliodical 
way  of  preaching,  and  was  therefore  admired  above  many,  b}'-  no  less 
auditors  than  Dr.  Goodwin,  Mr.  Burroughs,  and  Mr.  Bridge,  when  they 
travelled  from  Cambridge  into  Essex,  on  purpose  to  observe  the  ministers 
in  that  county;  but  after  he  became  d. pastor,  joined  with  such  illuminating 
teachers,  he  gave  himself  a  liberty  to  preach  more  after  the  primitive  man- 
ner; without  any  distinct  |jrqpos2'iwn5,  but  chieflj'  in  exhortations  and  admo- 
nitions, and  good  wholesome  councils,  tending  to  excite  good  motions  in 
the  minds  of  his  hearers;  (but  upon  the  same  texts  that  were  doctrinally 
handled  by  his  colleague  instantly  before:)  and  yet  sometimes  his  pastoral 
discourses  had  such  a  spirit  in  them,  that  Mr.  Shephard  would  say,  "Me- 


212  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIFwISTI    AMERICANA; 

thiijks  I  hear  an  apostle,  when  I  hear  this  man :"  yea,  even  one  of  his 
ex-tempore  sermons  has  been  since  his  death  counted  worthy  to  be  published 
unto  the  world.  The  great  lecture  of  Boston,  being  disappointed  of  him 
that  should  have  preached  it,  Mr.  Wilson  preached  that  lecture  on  a  text 
occurring  in  the  chapter  that  had  been  read  that  morning  in  his  family, 
Jer.  xxix,  8:  "Neither  hearken  to  your  dreams,  which  you  cause  to  be 
dreamed ;"  from  whence  he  gave  a  seasonable  warning  unto  the  people 
against  the  dreams^  wherewith  sundry  sorts  of  opinionists  have  been 
endeavouring  to  seduce  them.  It  was  the  last  Boston  lecture  that  ever  he 
preached,  (November  16,  1665,)  and  one  who  writ  after  him,  in  short  hand, 
about  a  dozen  years  after  published  it.  But  his  last  sermon  he  preached 
at  Eoxbury  lecture,  for  his  most  worthy  son-in-law  Mr.  Danforth;  and 
after  he  had  read  his  text,  which  was  in  the  beginnings  and  conclusions  of 
sundry  of  the  last  psalms,  with  a  seraphical  voice,  he  added,  "  If  I  were 
sure  this  were  the  last  sermon  that  ever  I  should  preach,  and  these  the 
last  words  that  ever  I  should  speak,  yet  I  would  still  say,  Hallelujah^  Hal- 
lelujali!  praise  ye  the  LordF  Thus  he  ended  his  ministry  on  earth,  thus 
he  began  his  possession  of  heaven  with  Hallelujahs. 

§  16.  Indeed,  if  the  picture  of  this  good^  and  therein  great  man,  were  to 
be  exactly  given,  great  zeal,  with  g7-eat  love,  would  be  the  two  principal 
strokes  that,  joined  with  orthodoxy,  should  make  up  his  pourtraiture.  He 
had  the  zeal  of  a  Phineas,  I  had  almost  said  of  a  serapfhim^  in  testifying 
against  every  thing  that  he  thought  offensive  unto  God.  The  opinionists, 
which  attempted  at  any  time  to  debase  the  Scripture,  or  confound  the 
order,  embraced  in  our  churches,  underwent  the  most  pungent  animadver- 
sions of  this  his  devout  zeal;  whence,  when  a  certain  assembly  of  people, 
which  he  approved  not,  had  set  up  in  Boston,  he  charged  all  his  fiiraily 
that  they  should  never  dare  so  much  as  once  to  enter  into  that  assembly ; 
"I  charge  you,"  said  he,  "that  you  do  not  once  go  to  hear  them;  for 
whatsoever  they  may  pretend,  they  will  rob  you  of  ordinances,  rob  you 
of  your  souls,  rob  you  of  your  God."  But  though  he  were  thus  like  John, 
a  Son  of  Thunder  against  seducers,  yet  he  was  like  that  blessed  and  beloved 
apostle  also,  all  made  up  of  love.  He  was  full  of  affection,  and  ready  to 
help  and  relieve  and  comfort  the  distressed;  his  house  was  renowned  for 
hospitality,  and  his  purse  was  continually  emptying  it  self  into  the  hands 
of  the  needy :  from  which  disposition  of  love  in  him,  there  once  happened 
this  passage:  when  he  was  beholding  a  great  muster  of  soldiers,  a  gentle- 
man then  present  said  unto  him,  "Sir,  I'll  tell  you  a  great  thing;  here's  a 
mighty  body  of  people,  and  there  is  not  seven  of  them  all  but  what  loves 
Mr.  Wilson;"  but  that  gracious  man  presently  and  pleasantly  replied,  "Sir, 
rU  tell  you  as  good  a  thing  as  that:  here's  a  mighty  body  of  people,  and 
there  is  not  so  much  as  one  of  them  all  but  Mr.  Wilson  loves  him."  Thus 
he  did,  by  his  own  example,  notably  preach  that  lesson  which  a  gentle- 
man found  in  the  anagram  of  his  name,  Wish  no  one  ill:  and  thus  did  he 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  3I3 

continue,  to  do  every  one  good^  until  his  death  gave  the  same  gentleman 
occasion  thus  to  elegize  upon  him : 

Now  may  celestial  spirits  sing  yet  higher, 
Since  one  niore's  added  to  their  sacrod  quire; 
Wilson  the  holy,  whose  good  name  doth  still, 
In  language  sweet,  bid  us  [Wish  no  ill.] 

§  17.  He  was  one  that,  consulting  not  only  his  own  edification,  but  the 
encouragement  of  the  ministry,  and  of  religion,  with  an  indefatigable  dili- 
gence visited  the  congregations  of  the  neighbouring  towns,  at  their  weekly 
lectures,  until  the  weaknesses  of  old  age  rendered  him  uncapable.  And 
it  was  a  delightful  thing  then  to  see,  upon  every  recurring  opportunity,  a 
large  company  of  Christians,  and  even  magistrates  and  ministers  among 
them,  and  Mr.  Wilson  in  the  head  of  them,  visiting  the  lectures  in  all  the 
vicinage,  with  such  heavenly  discourses  on  the  road,  as  caused  the  hearts 
of  the  disciples  to  hurn  within  them:  and  indeed  it  was  remarked,  that 
though  the  Christians  the7i  spent  less  time  in  the  shop,  or  Jield,  than  they 
do  now,  yet  they  did  in  both  prosper  more.  But  for  Mr.  Wilson,  I  am 
saying,  that  a  lecture  was  a  treasure  unto  him ;  he  prized  it,  he  sought  it, 
until  old  age  at  length  brought  with  it  a  sickness,  which  a  long  while  con- 
fined him.  In  this  illness  he  took  a  solemn  farewel  of  the  ministers,  who 
had  their  weekly  meetings  at  his  hospitable  house,  and  were  now  come 
together  from  all  parts,  at  the  anniversary  election  for  the  government  of 
the  colony.  They  asked  him  to  declare  solemnly  what  he  thought  might 
be  the  sins  which  provoked  the  displeasure  of  God  against  the  country. 
Whereto  his  answer  was,  "I  have  long  feared  several  sins;"  whereof,  one, 
he  said,  was  Corahism;  "That  is,  when  people  rise  up  as  Corah  against 
their  ministers,  as  if  they  took  too  much  upon  them,  when  indeed  they  do 
but  rule  for  Christ,  and  according  to  Christ;  yet  it  is  nothing  for  a  brother 
to  stand  up  and  oppose,  without  Scripture  or  reason,  the  word  of  an  elder, 
saying  [T  am  not  satisfied!]  and  hence,  if  he  do  not  like  the  administration, 
(be  it  baptism  or  the  like,)  he  will  turn  his  back  upon  God  and  his  ordi- 
nances, and  go  away.  And  for  our  neglect  of  baptising  the  children  of 
the  church,  those  that  some  call  grand-children,  I  think  God  is  provoked 
by  it.  Another  sin  (said  he)  I  take  to  be  the  making  light  of,  and  not 
subjecting  to  the  authority  of  Synods,  without  which  the  churches  cannot 
long  subsist." 

§  18.  Afterwards,  having  solemnly  with  prayer,  and  particidarly  and 
very  lyropheticcdly  blessed  his  relations  and  attendants,  he  now  thus  com- 
forted himself,  "  I  shall  ere  long  be  with  my  old  friends,  Dr.  Preston,  Dr. 
Sibs,  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  Gouge,  Dr.  Ames,  Mr.  Cotton,  Mr.  Norton,  my  Inns 
of  Court  friends,  and  my  consort,  children,  grand-children  in  the  kingdom 
of  God."  And  when  some  then  present  magnified  God,  for  making  him 
a  man  of  such  use,  and  lamented  themselves  in  their  own  loss  of  him,  he 


g-j^^  MAnXAl.  lA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

replied,  "Alas,  ahis!  use  no  such  words  concerning  me:  for  I  have  been 
an  unprofitable  servant,  not  worthy  to  be  called  a  servant  of  the  Lord: 
but  I  must  say,  'The  Lord  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner!'  and  I  must  say, 
'Let  thy  tender  mercies  come  unto  me,  O  Lord,  even  thy  salvation  accord- 
ing to  thy  word,' "  The  evening  before  he  died,  his  daughter  asked  him, 
"  Sir,  how  do  you  do?"  He  held  up  his  hand,  and  said,  "  Vanishing  things ! 
vanishing  things!"  but  he  then  made  a  most  affectionate  prayer,  with  and 
for  his  friends;  and  so  quietly /e/^  asleep  on  August  7,  1667,  in  the  seventy- 
}iinth  year  of  his  age.  Thus  expired  that  reverend  old  man:  of  whom, 
when  he  left  England,  an  eminent  personage  said,  "New-England  shall 
flourish,  free  from  all  general  desolations,  as  long  as  that  good  man  liveth  in 
it ! "  which  was  comfortably  accomplished.  lie  was  interred  with  more  than 
ordinary  solemnity;  and  his  neighbour  Mr.  Kichard  Mather  of  Dorchester, 
thereat  lamented  the  publick  loss  in  his  departure,  with  a  sermon  upon  Zech. 
i.  5 :  "  Your  fathers,  where  are  they,  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  for  ever?" 

§  19.  Being  a  mayi  of  prayer^  he  was  very  much  a  man  of  God;  and  a 
certain  prophetical  afflatus,  which  often  directs  the  speeches  of  such  men., 
did  sometimes  remarkably  appear  in  the  speeches  of  this  holy  man.  In- 
stances thereof  have  been  already  given,  A  few  more  shall  now  be  added. 
Beholding  a  young  man  extraordinarily  dutiful,  in  all  possible  ways  of 
being  serviceable,  unto  his  aged  mother,  then  iveak  in  body,  and  poor  in 
estate,  he  declared  unto  some  of' his  family  what  he  had  beheld;  adding 
therewithal,  "I  charge  you  to  take  notice  of  Avhat  I  say;  God  will  cer- 
tainly bless  that  young  man;  John  Hull  (for  that  was  his  name)  shall 
grow  rich,  and  live  to  do  God  good  service  in  his  generation!"  It  came  to 
pass  accordingly  that  this  exemplary  person  became  a  very  rich,  as  well 
as  emphatically  a  good  man,  and  afterwards  died  a  magistrate  of  the  colony. 
When  one  Mr.  Adams,  who  waited  on  him  from  Hartford,  unto  Weathers- 
field,  was  followed  with  the  news  of  his  daughter's  being  fallen  suddenly 
and  doubtfully  sick,  Mr.  Wilson,  looking  up  to  heaven,  began  mightily 
to  wrestle  with  God  for  the  life  of  the  young  woman:  "Lord,"  said  he, 
"  wilt  thou  now  take  away  thy  servant's  child,  when  thou  seest  he  is  attend- 
ing on  thy  poor  unworthy  servant  in  most  Christian  kindness?  Oh!  do  it 
not!"  And  then,  turning  himself  about  unto  Mr.  Adams,  "Brother,"  said 
he,  "I  trust  your  daughter  shall  live;  I  believe  in  God  she  shall  recover 
of  this  sickness!"  And  so  it  marvellously  came  to  pass,  and  she  is  now 
the  fruitful  mother  of  several  desirable  children. 

A  Pequot-Indian,  in  a  canoo,  was  espied  by  the  English,  within  gun- 
shot, carrying  away  an  English  maid,  with  a  design  to  destroy  her  or  abuse 
her.  The  soldiers  fearing  to  kill  the  maid  if  they  shot  at  the  Indian, 
asked  Mr.  Wilson's  counsel,  who  forbad  them  to  fear,  and  assured  them 
"God  will  direct  the  bullet!"  They  shot  accordingly;  and  killed  the 
Indian,  tliough  then  moving  swiftly  upon  the  water,  and  saved  the  maid 
free  from  all  harm  whatever. 


OR,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


815 


Upon  tlie  death  of  the  first  and  only  child  (being  an  infant)  of  his 
daughter  Mrs.  Danforth,  he  made  a  poem,  wherein  there  were  these  lines 
anion o-  the  rest: 


What  if  they  part  with  their  beloved  one, 
Their  first  begotten  and  their  only  son  7 
What's  this  to  that  which  Father  Abram  snffer'd. 
When  his  own  hands  his  only  darling  offer'dV 
In  whom  was  bound  up  all  his  joy  in  this 
Life  present,  and  his  hope  of  future  bliss  ? 
And  what  if  God  their  other  children  call — 


Second,  third,  fourth — suppose  it  should  be  all? 

What's  this  to  holy  Job,  his  trials  sad, 

Who  neither  these  nor  Cother  comforts  had? 

His  life  was  only  given  him  for  a  prey. 

Yet  all  his  troubles  were  to  heaven  the  way ; 

Yea,  to  far  greater  blessings  on  the  earth. 

The  Lord  rewarding  all  his  tears  with  mirth. 


And  behold,  as  if  that  he  had  been  a  Vates,  in  both  senses  of  it,  a  poet 
and  a  prophet^  it  pleased  God  afterwards  to  give  his  daughter  a  second  a 
third.,  and  a  fourth  child,  and  then  to  take  them  all  away  at  once,  even  in 
one  fortnight's  time ;  but  afterwards  happily  to  make  up  the  loss. 

Once  passing  over  the  ferry  unto  a  lecture,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water,  he  took  notice  of  a  young  man  in  the  boat,  that  worded  it  very 
unhandsomely  unto  his  aged  father:  whereat  this  faithful  seer,  being  much 
troubled,  said  unto  him,  "Young  man,  I  advise  you  to  repent  of  your 
undutiful,  rebellious  carriage  towards  your  father;  I  expect  else  to  hear 
that  God  has  cut  you  off  before  a  twelve-month  come  to  an  end!"  And 
before  this  time  expired,  it  came  to  pass  that  this  unhappy  youth,  going  to 
the  southward,  was  there  hacked  in  pieces  by  the  Pequod  Indians. 

A  company  of  people  in  this  country,  were  mighty  hot  upon  a  project 
of  removing  to  Providence,  an  island  in  the  West-Indies;  and  a  venerable 
assembly  of  the  chief  magistrates  and  ministers  in  the  colony  was  addressed 
for  their  council  about  this  undertaking;  which  assembly  laid  before  the 
company  very  weighty  reasons  to  disswade  them  from  it.  A  prime  ring- 
leader in  that  business  was  one  Venner,  a  cooper  of  Salem,  the  mad  blade 
that  afterwards  perished  in  a  nonsensical  uproar  which  he,  with  a  crew  of 
Bedlamites,  possessed  like  himself,  made  in  London.  This  Venner,  with 
some  others,  now  stood  up  and  said,  "That  notwithstanding  what  had  been 
offered,  they  were  clear  in  their  call  to  remove :"  whereupon  Mr.  Wilson 
stood  up,  and  answered,  "Ay,  do  you  come  to  ask  council  in  so  weighty 
a  matter  as  this,  and  to  have  help  from  an  ordinance  of  God  in  it?  and 
are  you  aforehand  resolved  that  you  will  go  on?  Well,  you  may  go,  if 
you  will;  but  you  shall  not  prosper.  What!  do  you  make  a  mock  of 
God's  ordinance?"  And  it  came  to  pass  accordingly;  the  enterprize  was 
not  long  after  dashed  in  pieces;  and  Venner's  precipitating  impulses,  after- 
wards carried  him  to  a  miserable  end. 

A  council  sitting  at  a  town,  where  some  ecclesiastical  differences  called 
for  the  assistances  of  the  neighbours  to  compose  them,  there  was  one  man 
observed  by  Mr.  Wilson,  to  be  extreamly  perverse,  and  most  unreasonably 
troublesome  and  mischievous  to  the  peace  of  the  church  there;  whereupon 
Mr.  Wilson  told  the  council  he  was  confident,  "That  the  jealousy  of  God 
would  set  a  mark  upon  that  man,  and  that  the  ordinary  death  of  men 


31g  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

should  not  bcful  liitn."  It  happened  shortly  after  that  the  man  was  bar- 
barously butchered  by  the  salvages! 

While  ^rr.  Wilson  was  minister  of  Sudbury  in  England,  there  was  a 
noted  person  who  had  been  absent  for  some  while  among  the  Papists. 
This  man  returning  home,  offered  himself  to  the  communion ;  whereat 
Mr.  Wilson,  in  the  open  assembly,  spoke  unto  him  after  this  manner: 
"Brother,  you  here  present  yourself,  as  if  you  would  partake  in  the  Holy 
Supper  of  the  Lord.  You  cannot  be  ignorant  of  what  you  have  done  in 
withdrawing  your  self  from  our  communion,  and  how  you  have  been  much 
conversant  for  a  considerable  while  with  the  Papists,  whose  religion  is 
antichristian.  Therefore,  though  we  cannot  so  absolutely  charge  you,  God 
knows,  who  is  the  searcher  of  all  hearts ;  and  if  you  have  defiled  your  self 
with  their  worship  and  way,  and  not  repented  of  it,  by  offering  to  partake 
at  this  time  in  the  Holy  Supper  with  us,  3'ou  will  eat  and  drink  your  own 
damnation;  but  if  you  are  clear,  and  have  nothing  wherewith  to  charge 
your  self,  you  your  self  know,  upon  this  account  you  may  receive."  The 
man  did  then  partake  at  the  Lord's  table,  professing  his  innocency.  But, 
as  if  the  devil  had  entered  into  Jmn,  he" soon  went  and  hanged  himself. 

In  the  circumstances  of  his  own  children,  he  saw  many  effects  of  an 
extraordinary  fa  ith. 

His  eldest  son,  Edmund,  while  travelling  into  the  countries  which  the 
bloody  Popish  inquisition  has  made  a  clime  too  torrid  for  a  Protestant, 
was  extreamly  exposed :  but  the  prayers  of  the  young  gentleman's  contin- 
ually distressed  father,  for  him,  were  answered  with  signal  preservations. 
When  he  was  under  examination  by  the  inquisitors,  a  friend  of  the  chief 
among  them  suddenly  arrived;  and  the  inquisitor  not  having  seen  this 
friend  for  many  years  before,  was  hereby  so  diverted  and  mollified,  that 
he  carried  the  young  Mr.  Wilson  to  dinner  with  him ;  and,  though  ho  had 
passed  hitherto  unknown  by  his  true  name,  yet  this  inquisitor  could  now 
call  him,  to  his  great  surprize,  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Wilson,  and  report 
unto  him  the  character  of  his  father,  and  his  father'' s  industry  in  serving 
the  hereticks  of  New-England.  But  that  which  I  here  most  of  all  design, 
is  an  account  of  a  thing  yet  more  memorable  and  unaccountable.  For,  at 
another  time,  his  father  dream't  himself  transported  into  Italy,  where  he 
saw  a  beautiful  person  in  the  son's  chamber,  endeavouring  with  a  thousand 
enchantments  to  debauch  him;  whereupon  the  old  gentleman  made,  and 
was  by  his  bed-fellow  overheard  making,  first,  ivaycrs  to  God  full  of  agony, 
and  then  ivarnings  unto  his  tempted  son,  to  beware  of  defiling  himself  with 
the  "daughter  of  a  strange  god."  Now,  some  considerable  while  after 
this,  the  young  gentleman  writes  to  his  father,  that  on  such  a  night  (which 
was  upon  enquiry  found  the  very  same  night)  a  gentlewoman  had  caressed 
him,  thus  and  so,  (just  according  to  the  vision,)  and  that  his  chastity  had 
been  conquered,  if  he  had  not  been  strongly  possessed  with  a  sense  of 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


317 


his  father's ^ra?/er5  over  him,  and  ivarnings  unto  him,  for  his  escape  from 
the  pits,  whereinto  do  fall  the  "abhorred  of  the  Lord." 

His  other  son,  John,  when  a  child,  fell  upon  his  head  from  a  loft  four 
stories  high,  into  the  street;  from  whence  he  was  taken  up  for  dead,  and 
so  battered  and  bruised  and  bloody  with  his  fall,  that  it  struck  horror  into 
the  beholders;  but  Mr.  Wilson  had  a  wonderful  return  of  his  prayers  in 
the  recover}^  of  the  child,  both  unto  life  and  unto  sense;  insomuch,  that  he 
continued  unto  old  age,  a  faithful,  painful,  useful  minister  of  the  gospel; 
and  but  lately  went  from  the  service  of  the  church  in  Medfield,  unto  the 
glory  of  the  church  triumphant. 

After  Mr.  Wilson's  arrival  at  New-England,  his  wife,  who  had  left  off 
bearing  of  children  for  many  years,  brought  him  another  daughter;  which 
lamb  was  indeed  unto  him  as  a  daughter;  and  he  would  present  her  unto 
other  ministers,  for  their  blessing,  with  great  affection,  saying,  "This  is 
my  New-England  token !"  But  this  child  fell  sick  of  a  malignant  fever, 
wherein  she  was  gone  so  far,  that  every  one  despaired  of  her  life  ;  except 
her  father,  who  called  in  several  ministers,  with  other  Christians,  unto  a 
fast  on  that  occasion ;  and  hearing  the  prayers  of  Mr.  Cotton  for  her,  found 
his  heart  so  raised,  that  he  confidently  declared,  "While  I  heard  Mr.  Cot- 
ton at  prayer,  I  was  confident  the  child  should  live!"  And  the  child 
accordingly  c?/cZlive;  yea,  she  is  to  this  day  alive,  a  very  "holy  woman, 
adorned  like  them  of  old  time,  with  a  spirit  of  great  price!" 

The  blessings  pronounced  by  Mr.  Wilson,  upon  many  persons  and  affairs, 
were  observed  so  jyrophetical,  and  especially  his  death-bed  blessings  upon 
his  children  and  grand-children  were  so,  that  the  most  considerable  persons 
in  the  country  thought  it  not  much  to  come  from  far,  and  bring  their  chil- 
dren with  them,  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  patriarchal  benedictions.  For 
which  cause,  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard,  in  an  elegy  upon  him  at  his  death, 
pathetically  thus  expressed  it: 


Whoso  of  Abraham,  Moses,  Samuel,  reads. 
Or  of  Elijah's  or  Elisha's  deeds, 
Would  surely  say,  their  spirit  and  power  was  his. 
And  think  there  were  a  Metempsychosis. 


As  aged  John  th'  apostle  used  to  bless 
The  people,  which  they  judged  their  happiness, 
So  did  we  count  it  worth  our  pilgrimage 
Unto  him  for  his  blessing,  in  his  age. 


These  were  extraordinary  passages;  many  of  them  are  things  which 
ordinary  Christians  may  more  safely  ponder  and  wonder,  than  expect  in  our 
days!  though  sometimes  great  reformers,  and  great  sufferers,  must  be  signal- 
ized with  them,  I  know  very  well  what  Livy  says,  Datur  hcec  Venia 
Antiquitatis,  ut  rtiisceyido  Humana  Divinis,  Primordia  Urbium  Augustiora 
faciat:^'  but  I  have  been  far  from  imposing  the  least  fable  upon  the  world 
in  reporting  such  extraordinary  passages  of  Mr.  Wilson,  or  any  other  great 
confessor,  by  whom  the  beginnings  of  this  country  were  made  illustrious; 
there  are  witnesses  enough  yet  living  of  them. 

*  It  is  the  privilege  of  antiquity  to  throw  an  air  of  grandeur  around  the  origin  of  States,  by  Introducing 
mythic  traditions  about  the  gods  among  the  real  facts  of  history. 


gj^g  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

§  20.  There  is  a  certain  little  sport  of  wit,  in  anagrammatizing  the  names 
of  men ;  which  was  used  as  long  ago  at  least  as  the  days  of  old  Lycophron : 
and  which  sometimes  has  allbrded  reflections  very  monitory,  as  Alstedius 
by  his  just  admirers  changed  into  Sedulitas;^  or  very  characterising,  as 
Renatm  Cartesius,  by  his  disciples  turned  into,  Ta  scis  res  NatnnK;f  or  very 
satyrical,  as  when  Satan  ruleth  me,  was  found  in  the  transposed  name  of  a 
certain  active  persecutor:  and  when,  Lo,  a  damned  crew,  was  found  in  the 
name  of  one  that  made  a  figure  among  the  Popish  plotters  against  the 
nation.  Yea,  'tis  possible  that  they  who  affect  such  grammatical  curiosities, 
will  be  willing  to  plead  a  prescription  of  much  higher  and  elder  antiquity 
for  them ;  even  the  temurah,  or  mutation,  with  which  the  Jews  do  criticise 
upon  the  oracles  of  the  Old  Testament.  "There,"  they  say,  "you'll  find 
the  anagram  of  our  first  father's  name  Haadam,  to  express  Adamah,  the 
name  of  the  earth,  whence  he  had  his  original."  An  anagram  of  a  good 
signification,  they'll  show  you  [Gen.  vi.  8,]  and  of  a  had  one  [Gen.  xxxviii. 
7,]  in  those  glorious  oracles;  and  they  will  endeavour  to  perswade  you, 
that  Maleachi  in  Exodus  is  anagrammatically  expounded  Michael,  in  Daniel. 
But  of  all  the  anagrammatizers  that  have  been  trying  \\\Q\r  fancies,  for  the 
two  thousand  years  which  have  run  out,  since  the  days  of  Lycophron — 
yea,  or  for  the  more  than  five  thousand,  since  the  days  of  our  first  father 
— I  believe  there  never  was  man  that  made  so  many,  or  so  nimbly,  as  our 
Mr.  Wilson;  who,  together  with  his  quick  turns,  upon  the  names  of  his 
friends,  would  ordinarily  fetch,  and  rather  than  lose,  would  even  force 
devout  instructions  out  of  his  anagrams.  As  once,  upon  hearing  my 
father  preach  a  sermon  about  "the  glories  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  Mr. 
Wilson  immediately  gave  him  that  anagram  upon  his  name,  Crescentius 
Matherus,^  anagr.  Snf  Ghristus  Merces  tua:%  so  there  could  scarcely  occur 
the  name  of  any  remarkable  person,  at  least,  on  any  remarkable  occasion 
unto  him,  without  an  anagram  raised  thereupon;  and  he  made  this  p)oet- 
ical  BXidi  peculiar  disposition  of  his  ingenuity  a  subject  whereon  he  grafted 
thoughts  far  more  solid,  and  solemn,  and  useful,  than  the  stock  it  self. 
Wherefore  methoughts,  it  looked  like  a  piece  of  injustice  that  his  own 
funeral  produced  (among  the  many  poems  afterwards  printed)  no  more 
anagrams  upon  his  name,  who  had  so  often  thus  handled  the  names  of 
others;  and  some  thought  the  Muses  looked  very  much  dissatisfied,  when 
they  saw  these  lines  upon  his  hearse: 

JOHN    WILSON. 

Anagr.  —  JOUN     WILSON. 

Oh !  change  it  not :    no  sweeter  name  or  thing, 
Throughout  the  world,  within  our  ears  shall  ring. 

There  was  a  little  more  of  humour  in  the  fancy  of  Mr.  Ward,  the  well- 
known  "simple  cobler  of  Agawam,"  as  that  witty  writer  stiled  himself, 

•  Assiduity.       t  Tliou  dost  understand  tlio  things  of  nnturo.        J  Increase  Mather.       g  Go,  Christ  is  thy  reward. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  3^9 

who,  observing  the  great  hospitality  of  Mr.  Wilson,  in  conjunction  with 
his  meta-grammatising  temper,  said,  "  That  the  anagram  of  John  Wilson 
was,  I  PRAY,  COME  in:  you  are  heartily  welcome." 

To  make  up  this  want,  I  might  conclude  the  life  of  this  good  man  with 
an  anagram  which  he  left  on  and  for  himself: 

Jo  hanne  s    Wil  sonus . 
Anagr.  —  In   una   J e su ,   no s    Salvi. 

VEL 

Nan    in    uno   Jesu    Sal  us? 

An  non  in  Jesu,  Credentum,  figitur,  uno, 
Tola  Salus?     Hie  est,  hie  Sita  Tola  Solus.* 

§  21.  But  it  is  to  the  last  place  in  our  history  of  this  worthy  man,  that 
I  reserve  that  part  of  his  character  which  lay  in  his  disposition  to  allot 
unto  himself  the  last  place  among  all  worthy  men;  for  his  low  opinion  of 
himself,  was  the  top  of  all  his  other  excellencies.  His  humility  not  only 
caused  him  to  prefer  the  meanest  of  his  brethren  above  himself,  but  also 
to  comply  with  the  meanest  opportunities  of  being  serviceable.  He  might 
justly  be  reckoned  the  name's  sake  of  that  John,  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 
who  was  called  not  only  Johannes  Eleemosynarius^\  but  also  Humiiis  Johan- 
nes.^ Hence  'twas,  that  when  his  voice  in  his  age  did  so  fail  him,  that  his 
great  congregation  could  be  no  longer  edified  by  his  publick  labours,  he 
cheerfully  and  painfully  set  himself  to  do  all  the  good  that  he  could  by 
his  private  visits;  and  such  also  as  he  could  not  reach  with  sermons,  he 
often  found  with  verses:  hence 'twas  that  when  that  plea  was  used  with 
the  church  of  Ipswich,  to  resign  Mr.  Norton  unto  the  church  of  Boston, 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Cotton;  because  it  was  said,  "Let  him  that  hath 
two  coats,  give  to  him  that  hath  none:"  and  a  person  of  quality  replied, 
"Boston  hath  one,"  [meaning  Mr.  Wilson:]  this  good  man  answered, 
"Who?  me!  I  am  nothing!"  Yea,  hence  'twas,  that  when  malefactors 
had  been  openly  scourged  upon  the  just  sentence  of  authority,  he  would 
presently  send  for  them  to  his  house,  and  having  first  expressed  his  bounty 
to  them,  he  would  then  bestow  upon  them  such  gracious  admonitions  and 
exhortations,  as  made  them  to  become,  instead  of  desperate,  remarkably 
penitent.  Indeed,  I  know  not  whether  his  humility  might  not  have  some 
excess,  in  some  instances,  charged  upon  it;  at  least  once,  when  he  had  prom- 
ised unto  a  neighbouring  minister  to  preach  a  sermon  for  him,  and  after 
his  promise  came  in  season  to  that  minister,  saying,  "Sir,  I  told  j^ou  that 
I  would  preach  for  you,  but  it  was  rashly  done  of  me ;  I  have  on  my  knees 
begged  the  pardon  of  it  from  the  Lord ;  that  I  should  offer  thus  to  deprive 
his  people  of  your  labours,  which  are  so  much  better  than  any  of  mine 
can  be :  wherefore,  sir,  I  now  come  seasonably  to  tell  you  that  I  shall  fail 
you!"  And  accordingly,  there  was  no  perswading  of  him  to  the  contrary. 

*  John  Wilson.    Anagram  :  "  In  Jesus  alone  are  we  saved ;"  or,  "  Is  there  not  salvation  in  Jesus  alone  ?" 

What  other  name  in  earth  or  heaven  is  known. 

Whereby  we  may  be  saved,  save  Christ's  alone? 

+  John  the  Compassionate.  J  John  the  Humble. 


520 


MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 


But  from  the  like  humility  it  was,  that  a  good  kinsman  of  his,  who 
deserves  to  live  in  the  same  story,  as  he  now  lives  in  the  same  heaven 
with  him — namely,  Mr.  Edward  Hawson,  the  honoured  secretary  of  the 
Massachuset  colony — could  not  by  all  his  entreaties  perswade  him  to  let  his 
picture  be  drawn;  but  still  refusing  it,  he  would  reply,  "What!  such  a 
poor  vile  creature  as  I  ami  shall  my  picture  be  drawn?  I  say,  no;  it 
never  shall!"  And  when  that  gentleman  introduced  the  limner,  with  all 
things  ready,  vehemently  importuning  him  to  gratifie  so  far  the  desires  of 
his  friends,  as  to  sit  a  while,  for  the  taking  of  his  effigies^  no  importunity 
could  ever  obtain  it  from  him.  However,  being  bound  in  justice  to  employ 
my  hand  for  the  memory  of  that  person  by  whose  hand  I  was  myself  bap- 
tised, I  have  made  an  essay  to  draw  his  picture,  by  this  account  of  his 
life;  wherein  if  I  have  missed  of  doing  to  the  life,  it  might  be  made  up 
with  severjil  expressive  passages,  which  I  find  in  elegies  written  and 
printed  upon  his  death :  whereof  there  were  many  composed,  by  those 
whose  opinion  was  well  signified  by  one  of  them: 

Sure  verseless  he  does  mean  to 's  grave  to  go, 
And  well  deserves  that  now  no  verse  can  show. 

But  waving  the  rest,  let  the  following  poem,  never  before  printed,  ofifer 
some  odours  for  the  reader's  further  entertainment: 


SOME  OFFERS  TO  EMBALM  THE  MEMORY  OF  THE  TRULY  REV'D.  AND  RENOWNED  JOHN  WILSON, 

THE    FIRST    PASTOR    OF    BOSTON,  IN    NEW-ENGLAND! 
Interred  (and  a  great  part  of  his  country's  glory  with  him)  August  11, 1667,  aged  79. 


Might  Aaron's  rod  (s\ich  funeral s  mayn't  be  dry) 
But  broach  the  rocic,  'twould  gush  pure  elegy, 
To  round  the  wilderness  with  purling  lays, 
And  toll  the  world  the  great  Saint  Wilson's  praise. 

Here's  one — pearls  are  not  in  great  clusters  found — 

Here's  one,  the  sAiVi  of  tojii'Mcs  and  arts  had  crown'd ; 

Here's  one  (by  frequent  martyrdom  was  try'd) 

That  could  forego  skill,  pelf,  and  life  beside, 

For  Christ:  both  Eiiglands'  darling,  whom  in  swarms 

They  press'd  to  see,  and  hear,  and  felt  his  charms. 

'Tis  one  (when  will  it  rise  to  number  two? — 

The  world  at  once  can  but  one  Ph(jenix  show :) 

For  truth  a  Paul,  Cephas  for  zeal,  for  loce 

A  John,  inspir'd  by  the  cielestial  dove. 

Abram's  true  son  (or  faith  ;  and  in  his  tent 

Angels  oft  had  their  table  and  content. 

So  humble,  that  alike  on  'a  charity. 
Wrought  extract  gent ;  with  extract  rudii 
Pardon  this/n«/£ ;  his  great  excess  lay  there. 
He'd  trade,  for  heaeen,  with  all  he  came  ii  near; 
Ilia  meat,  clothes,  cash,  he'd  still  for  ventures  send 
Consign'd,  per  Brother  Lazarus,  his  friend. 

J\Iitrhly  in  prayer,  his  hands  uplifted  reach'd 

Mercy's  high  throne,  and  thence  strange  bounties  fotch'd 

Once  and  again,  and  oft :  so  felt  by  all. 

Who  weep  bis  death,  as  a  departing  Paul. 

Jill — yea,  baptizM  with  tears,  lo!  children  cume 

(Their  baptism  he  maintuin'd  !)  unto  his  tomb. 

'Twixt  an  apostle  and  eitangelisi. 

Let  stand  his  order  in  the  heavenly  list. 


Had  we  the  costly  alabaster  box, 
What's  left  we'd  spend  on  this  New-English  Knox; 
True  Knox,  fill'd  with  that  great  rrfur!ner\-i  grace, 
In  truWt'*  just  cause  "fearing  no  mortal's  face." 

Christ's  word,  it  was  his  life — Christ's  church,  his  care; 
And  so  great  with  him  his  least  brethren  were, 
Not  heat  nor  cold — not  rain,  or  frost,  or  snow — 
Could  hinder,  but  he'd  to  their  sermons  go; 
Aaron's  bells  chimed  from  fur,  he'd  run,  and  then 
His  ravish 'd  soul  ccho'd  Amen,  Jlmen! 

He  travers'd  oft  the  fierce  Atlantick  sea, 

But,  Patmos  of  confessors,  'twas  for  thee. 

Tliis  voyage  lands  him  on  the  wished  shore. 

From  whence  this  father  will  return  no  more, 

To  sit  the  moderator  of  thy  sages. 

But  tell  his  zeal  for  thee  to  after  ages, 

His  care  to  guide  his  flock  and  feed  his  lambs. 

By  words,  works,  prayers,  psalms,  alms,  and  anagrams : 

Those  anagrams,  in  which  he  made  to  start 

Out  of  meer  nothings,  by  creating  art. 

Whole  words  of  counsel ;  did  to  motes  unfold 

J^ames,  till  they  lessons  gave  richer  than  gold. 

And  every  angle  so  exactly  fay. 

It  should  out-shine  the  brightest  solar  ray. 

Sacred  his  verse,  writ  with  a  cherubs  quill ; 
But  those  wing'd  choristers  of  Zion-hill, 
Pleased  with  the  notes,  call'd  him  a  part  to  bear 
With  t/tem,  where  he  his  anagram  did  hear, 
'>  /  pray  come  in  :  heartily  welcome,  sir  t" 


REV.  JOHN  DAVENPORT. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  321 

EPITAPHIUM. 

Thinking  what  epitaph  I  should  offer  unto  the  grave  of  this  worthy 
man,  I  called  unto  mind  the  fittest  in  the  world,  which  was  directed  for 
him,  immediately  upon  his  death  by  an  honourable  person,  who  still  con- 
tinues the  same  lover,  as  well  as  instance,  of  learning  and  vertue,  that  he 
was  when  he  then  advised  them  to  give  Mr.  Wilson  this 

EPITAPH. 

And  now  abides  faith,  hope,  and  charity, 
But  charity's  the  greatest  of  the  three. 

To  which  this  might  be  added,  from  another  hand: 

Aurea,  qua  {ohstvpeo  referens .')  PrimcBva  Vetustas 
Condidit  Arcano,  Saecula  Apostolica, 
Officiis  Donisque  itidem  Sanctissirnus  Heros, 
WiLSONUS  tacitis  Protulit  ex  Tenehris* 


CHAPTER   17. 

PURITANISMUS  NOV-ANGLICAJlUS;t  THE   LIFE  OF  MR.  JOHN 

DAVENPORT. 

§  1.  A  noted  author  of  more  than  twice  seven  treatises,  and  chaplain 
to  two  successive  Queens  of  England,  was  that  Christopher  Davenport,^. 
whose  assumed  name  was,  Franciscus  h  Saixcta  Glouva.\  And  in  Mr.  Rusk- 
worth's  collection  of  speeches,  made  in  the  celebrated  parliament,  ICMK), 
I  find  Sir  Benjamin  Rudyard  using  these  words:  "Sancta  Clara  Ikath 
published,  that  if  a  Synod  were  held,  Non  intermixtis  PuriUinis — 'se-titing 
Puritans  aside' — our  articles  and  their  religion  would  soon  be  agreed. 
They  have  so  brought  it  to  pass,  that  under  the  name  of  Puritans^  sMl  O'Uor 
religion  is  branded.  Whosoever  squares  his  actions  by  any  ruh^  eiither 
divine  or  humane,  he  is  a  Puritan; — whosoever  would  be  goveiaedi  by 
the  King's  laws,  he  is  a  Paritany  '  Whether  this  account  of  matters 
be  allowed  or  no,  there  was,  though  not  a  brother,  (as  a  certain  wsedden 
historian,  in  his  Athence  Oxonienses,^  has  reported,)  yet  a  kinsman  of  that 
Sancta  Clara,  who  was  among  the  most  eminent  Puritans  of  those  days: 
and  this  was  our  holy  and  famous  Mr.  John  Davenport:  one  of  whom  I 
may,  on  many  accounts,  use  the  eulogy,  with  which  the  learned  still  niiention 
Salmasius,  Vir  nunquam  satis  Laudatus,  7iec  Temere  sine  Laude  nominandus.\\ 

§  2.  Mr.  John  Davenport  was  born  at  Coventry,  in  the  year  1597,  of 

•  The  ancient  apostolic  Age  of  Gold,  [  Our  Wilson,  cast  in  apostolic  mould, 

Obscured  so  sadly  in  the  mists  of  Time,  |  Seems  to  restore  in  all  its  pristine  prime. 

t  New-England  Puiitanism.  %  Francis  of  St.  Clair.  §  Oxford  Athens. 

I  A  man  never  yet  praised  enough,  and  never  to  be  named  without  praise. 

Vol.  I.— 21 


322  MAQNALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

worthy  parents;  a  father  who  was  mayor  of  the  city,  and  a  pious  mother, 
who,  having  lived  just  long  enough  to  devote  him,  as  Hannah  did,  her  Sam- 
uel, unto  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  left  him  under  the  more  immediate 
care  of  Heaven  to  fit  him  for  that  service.  The  grace  of  God  sanctified 
him  with  good  2->rind2jles^  while  he  had  not  yet  seen  two  sevens  of  years 
in  an  evil  ivorld;  and  by  that  age  he  had  also  made  such  attainments  in 
learning,  as  to  be  admitted  into  Brasen-Nose  Colledge,  in  Oxford.  From 
thence,  when  he  was  but  nineteen  years  old,  he  was  called  unto  publick 
and  constant  preaching  in  the  city  of  London,  as  an  assistant  unto  another 
divine;  where  his  notable  accomplishments  for  a  minister,  and  his  cour- 
agious  residence  with,  and  visiting  of  his  flock,  in  a  dreadful  plague-time^ 
caused  much  notice  to  be  quickly  taken  of  him.  Ilis  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  he  took  not,  until,  in  course,  he  was  to  proceed  Batchellor  of 
Divinity:  and  then  with  universal  approbation,  he  received  both  of  these 
laurels  together. 

§  3.  This  pious  man  w\as  both  ak  hard  student  and  a  great  preacher. 
Ilis  custom  was  to  sit  up  very  late  at  his  lucubrations;  whereby,  though 
he  found  no  sensible  damage  himself,  and  never  felt  his  head  ach,  yet  his 
counsel  was,  that  other  students  would  not  follow  his  example.  But  the 
effects  of  his  industry  were  seen  by  all  men,  in  his  approving  himself 
upon  all  occasions,  ate  universal  scholar.  As  for  the  sermons  wherewith 
he  fed  the  church  of  God,  he  lurote  them  for  the  most  part  more  largely 
than  the  most  of  ministers;  and  he  spoke  them  with  a  gravity,  an  energy, 
an  acceptableness,  whereto  few  ministers  ever  have  arrived:  indeed,  his 
greatest  enemies,  when  they  heard  him,  would  acknowledge  him  to  be 
among  "the  best  of  preachers."  The  ablest  men  about  London  were  his 
nearest  friends ;  among  whom  he  held  a  very  particular  correspondence 
with  Dr.  Preston:  he,  when  he  dyed,  left  his  notes  with  Mr.  Davenport, 
by  him  to  be  published;  and  accordingly,  with  Dr.  Sibs,  you'll  find  Mr. 
Davenport  signing  some  of  their  dedications. 

§  4.  About  the  year  1626,  there  were  several  eminent  persons,  among 
whom  were  two  Doctors  of  Divinity,  with  two  other  divines,  and  four 
laivyers,  whereof  one  the  King's  Serjeant  at  law,  and  four  citizens^  whereof 
one  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  engaged  in  a  design  to  procure  a  purchase 
of  impropriations^  and  with  the  profits  thereof  to  maintain  a  constant,  able, 
and  painful  ministry  in  those  parts  of  the  kingdom  where  there  was  most 
want  of  such  a  ministry.  The  divines  concerned  in  this  design,  were  Dr. 
Gouge,  Dr.  Sibs,  Mr.  Offspring,  and  our  Mr.  Davenport;  and  such  an 
incredible  progress  was  made  in  it,  that  it  is  judged  all  the  impropriations 
in  England  would  have  been  honestly  and  easily  recovered  unto  the  imme- 
diate service  of  the  reformed  religion.  But  Bishop  Laud,  looking  with  a 
jealous  eye  on  this  undertaking,  least  it  might  in  time  give  a  secret  growth 
to  non-conformity^  he  obtained  a  bill  to  be  exhibited  in  the  Exchequer 
Chamber,  "by  the  King's  Attorney-General,  against  the  Feoffees  that  had 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  323 

the  management  of  it.     Upon  this  occasion,  I  find  this  great  man  writing 
in  his  great  Bible  the  ensuing  passages: 

"Feb.  11,  1632.  The  business  of  the  feoffees  being  to  be  heard  the  third  time  at  the 
Exchequer,  I  prayed  earnestly  that  God  would  assist  our  counsellors  in  opening  the  case, 
and  be  pleased  to  grant,  that  they  might  get  no  advantage  against  us,  to  punish  us  as  evil 
doers;  promising  to  observe  what  answer  he  gave.  Which  seeing  he  hath  graciously  done, 
and  delivered  me  from  the  thing  I  feared,  I  record  to  these  ends: 

"1.  To  be  more  industrious  in  my  family. 
"  2.  To  check  my  unthankfulness. 
"3.  To  quicken  my  self  to  thankfulness. 

"4.  To  awaken  my  self  to  more  watchfulness  for  the  time  to  come,  in  'remem- 
brance of  his  mercy.' 
"Which  I  beseech  the  Lord  to  grant;  upon  whose  faithfulness  in  his  covenant  I  cast  my 
self,  to  be  made  faithful  in  my  covenant.  John  Davenport." 

The  issue  of  the  business  was  this:  the  court  condemned  their  proceed- 
ings as  dangerous  to  the  church  and  state ;  pronouncing  the  gifts^  feoff- 
ments^ and  contrivances,  made  to  the  uses  aforesaid,  to  be  illegal,  and  so 
dissolved  the  same,  confiscating  their  money  unto  the  King's  use.  Yet 
the  criminal  part  referred  unto,  was  never  prosecuted  in  the  star-chamher ; 
because  the  design  was  generally  approved,  and  multitudes  of  discreet  and 
devout  men  extreamly  resented  the  ruine  of  it. 

§  5.  It  happened  that  soon  after  this,  the  famous  Mr.  John  Cotton  was 
fallen  under  such  a  storm  of  persecution  for  his  non-conformity,  as  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  propose  and  purpose  a  removal  out  of  the  land; 
whereupon  Mr.  Davenport,  with  several  other  great  and  good  men,  consid- 
ering the  eminent  learning,  prudence,  and  holiness  of  that  excellent  per- 
son, could  be  at  no  rest  until  they  had  by  a  solemn  conference  informed 
themselves  of  what  might  move  him  to  such  a  resolution.  The  issue  of 
the  conference  was,  that  instead  of  their  disswading  him  from  exposino- 
himself  to  such  sufferings  as  were  now  before  him,  he  convinced  them  of 
the  truth  in  the  cause  for  which  he  suffered ;  and  they  became  satisfied 
both  of  the  evil  in  sundry  matters  of  worship  and  order  imposed  upon  them 
and  of  the  duty  which  lay  upon  them,  in  their  places  to  endeavour  the 
reformation  of  things  in  the  church,  according  to  the  word  of  God.  Mr. 
Davenport's  inclination  to  non-conformity,  from  this  time,  fell  under  the 
notice  and  anger  of  his  diocesan ;  who  presently  determined  the  marks  of 
his  vengeance  for  him :  of  which  being  seasonably  and  sufficiently  adver- 
tised, he  convened  the  principal  persons  under  his  pastoral  charge  in  Cole- 
man-street,  at  a  general  vestry,  desiring  them  on  this  occasion  to  declare 
what  they  would  advise ;  for  acknowledging  the  right  which  they  had  in 
him  as  their  pastor,  he  would  not  by  any  danger  be  driven  from  any  service 
which  they  should  expect  or  demand  at  his  hands;  but  he  would  imitate 
the  example  of  Luther,  who,  upon  letters  from  the  church  of  Wittenberg, 
from  whence  he  had  withdrawn  for  his  security,  upon  the  direction  of  the 


324 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Duke  of  Saxony,  returned  unto  the  couragious  exercise  of  his  ministry. 
Upon  a  serious  deliberation,  they  discharged  his  conscientious  oUigation, 
by  agreeing  with  him  that  it  would  be  best  for  him  to  resign ;  but  although 
he  now  hoped  for  something  of  a  quiet  life,  his  hope  was  disappointed; 
for  he  was  continually  dogged  by  raging  busie  pursuivants,  from  whom 
he  had  no  safety  but  by  retiring  into  Holland. 

§  6.  Over  to  IJolland  he  went,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1633,  where 
the  messengers  of  the  church,  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Paget,  met  him  in 
his  way  to  Amsterdam,  inviting  him  to  become  the  colleague  of  their  aged 
pastor.  But  Mr.  Davenport  had  not  been  long  there,  before  his  indispo- 
sition to  the  promiscuous  baptising  of  children^  concerning  whom  there 
was  no  charitable  or  tolerable  testimony  of  their  belonging  to  Christian 
parents,  was  by  Mr.  Paget  so  improved  against  him,  as  to  procure  him  the 
displeasure  of  the  Dutch  classes  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  contention  on 
this  occasion  proceeded  so  far,  that  though  the  Dutch  ministers  had  under 
their  hands  declared : — "  We  desire  nothing  more,  than  that  Mr.  Daven- 
port, whose  eminent  learning  and  singular  piety  is  much  approved  and 
commended  of  all  the  English  our  brethren,  may  be  lawfully  promoted 
unto  the  ministry  of  the  English  church:  we  do  also  greatly  approve  of 
his  good  zeal  and  care,  of  his  having  some  precedent  private  examination 
of  the  parents  and  sureties  of  children  to  be  baptised  in  the  Christian 
religion."  Yet  the  matter  could  not  be  accommodated;  Mr.  Davenport 
could  not  be  allowed,  except  he  would  promise  to  baptise  the  children  of 
such  whose  parents  and  sureties  were,  upon  examination,  found  never  so 
much  tinchristianized,  ignorant,  or  scandalous.  He  therefore  desisted  from 
his  publick  ministry  in  Amsterdam  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1635, 
contenting  himself  to  set  up  a  catechetical  exercise  in  the  family,  where  he 
sojourned  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Lord's  days,  an  hour  after  the  publick 
sermons  were  over.  But  some  considerable  number  of  people,  at  length, 
resorting  to  this  exercise,  a  jealousie  was  pretended  by  his  adversary,  that 
the  design  of  it  was  to  promote  such  sects  as,  indeed,  the  chief  design  of  it 
was  to  prevent;  and  upon  this  pretence  he  was  hindered,  even  from  this 
lesser  opportunity  of  doing  service  also.  The  fuller  story  of  these  uncom- 
fortable and  unreasonable  brangles,  the  reader  may  find  in  an  Apologetical 
Discourse  of  Mr.  Davenport's,  published  for  his  own  vindication ;  wherein 
he  docs  with  a  learned  pen  handle  several  points  much  controverted  in 
the  reformed  churches,  and  shew  himself  a  divine  well  studied  in  the  con- 
troversies of  the  present  and  the  former  ages.  But  the  upshot  of  all  was, 
that  he  returned  back  to  London;  where  he  told  his  friends,  "That  he 
thought  God  carried  him  over  into  Holland,  on  purpose  to  bear  witness 
against  that  promiscuous  baptism,  which  at  least  bordered  very  near  upon 
a  })rofanation  of  the  holy  institution." 

§  7.  He  observed,  that  when  a  reformation  of  the  church  has  been  brought 
about  in  any  part  of  the  world,  it  has  rarely  been  afterwards  carried  on 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  325 

any  one  step  further  than  the  first  reformers  did  succeed  in  their  first 
endeavours;  he  observed  that  as  easily  might  the  ark  have  been  removed 
from  the  mountains  of  Ararat,  where  it  first  grounded,  as  a  people  get  any 
ground  in  reformation,  after  and  beyond  the^irs^  remove  of  the  reformers. 
And  this  observation  quickned  him  to  embark  in  a  design  of  reformation, 
wherein  he  might  have  opportunity  to  drive  things  in  the  first  essay,  as 
near  to  the  precept  and  pattern  of  Scripture^  as  they  could  be  driven.  The 
plantation  of  New-England  afforded  him  this  opportunity,  with  the  chief 
undertakers  whereof  he  had  many  consultations,  before  he  had  ever  taken 
up  any  purpose  of  going  himself  into  that  part  of  the  world;  and  he  had, 
indeed,  a  very  great  stroke  in  the  encouraging  and  enlivening  of  that  noble 
undertaking.  He  was  one  of  those  by  whom  the  patent  for  the  Massachu- 
set  colony  was  procured;  and  though  his  name  were  not  among  the  pat- 
entees^ because  he  himself  desired  it  might  be  omitted,  lest  his  enemy,  the 
Bishop  of  London,  then  of  the  King's  privy  council,  should  upon  his 
account  appear  the  more  fiercely  against  it;  yet  his  purse  was  in  it,  his 
time  was  in  it,  and  he  contributed  unto  it  all  manner  of  assistances :  this 
he  did  before  his  going  to  Holland.  And  while  he  was  in  Holland,  he 
received  letters  of  Mr.  Cotton  from  the  country  whereto  he  had  thus  been 
&  father ;  telling  him,  "That  the  order  of  the  churches  and  the  common- 
wealth was  now  so  settled  in  New-England,  by  common  consent,  that  it 
brought  into  his  mind  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwells 
righteousness."  Wherefore,  soon  after  his  return  for  London,  he  shipped 
himself,  with  several  eminent  Christians,  and  their  families,  for  New-Eng- 
land; where,  by  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  them,  they  arrived  in  the 
summer  of  the  year  1637. 

§  8.  Mr.  Cotton  welcomed  Mr.  Davenport,  as  Moses  did  Jethro,  hoping 
that  he  would  be  "as  eyes  unto  them  in  the  wilderness."  For  by  the 
cunning  and  malice  of  Satan,  all  things  in  this  New-English  wilderness 
were  then  surjrrised  into  a  deal  of  confusion,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Anti- 
nomian  opinions  then  spread  abroad ;  but  the  learning  and  wisdom  of  this 
worthy  man  in  the  Synod  then  assembled  at  Cambridge,  did  contribute 
more  than  a  little  to  dispel  the  fascinating  mists  which  had  suddenly  dis- 
ordered all  our  affairs.  Having  done  his  part  in  that  blessed  ivorlc,  (as  we 
have  elsewhere  more  fully  related)  he,  with  his  friends,  who  were  more  fit 
for  Zebulon's  ports  than  for  Issachar's  tents,  chose  to  go  farther  westward ; 
where  they  began  a  plantation  and  a  colony,  since  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  New-Haven;  and  endeavoured,  according  to  his  understanding, 
a  yet  stricter  conformity  to  the  word  of  God,  in  settling  of  all  matters,  both 
civil  and  sacred,  than  he  had  yet  seen  exemplified  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world.  There  the  famous  church  of  New-Haven,  as  well  as  the  other 
neighbouring  towns,  enjoyed  his  ministry,  his  discipline,  his  government, 
and  his  universal  direction  for  many  years  together:  even  till  after  the 
restoration  of  King  Charles  11.  Connecticut  and  New-Haven  were  by  one 


220  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

charter  incorporated.  And  here,  with  what  holiness,  with  what  ivatch/uhiess, 
with  what  uspfulness  he  discharged  his  ministry,  it  is  worthy  of  a  remem- 
brance among  all  that  would  propose  unto  themselves  a  worthy  example. 
Nevertheless,  all  that  I  shall  here  preserve  of  it,  is  this  one  article:  A 
voung  minister  once  receiving  of  wise  and  good  councils  from  this  good 
and  wise  and  great  man,  he  received  this  among  the  rest,  "That  he  should 
be  much  in  ejaculatory prayer ;  for,  indeed,  ejaculatory  prayers,  as  arrows 
in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man,  so  are  they,  happy  is  the  man  that  has  his 
quiver  full  of  them!"  And  it  was  believed,  by  some  curious  observers, 
that  Mr.  Davenport  himself  was  well  used  unto  that  sacred  skill  of  "  walk- 
in"'  with  God,"  and  "having  his  eyes  ever  towards  the  Lord,"  and  "being 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day  long,"  by  the  use  of  ejaculatory  prayers, 
on  the  innumerable  occasions  which  every  turn  of  our  lives  does  bring  for 
those  devotions.  lie  was  not  only  constant  in  more  settled,  whether  social 
or  secret  prayers,  but  also  in  the  midst  of  all  besieging  incumbrances,  tying 
the  wishes  of  his  devout  soul  unto  the  arrows  of  ejaculatory  praTjers,  he 
would  shoot  them  away  unto  the  heavens,  from  whence  he  still  expected  all 
his  help.  With  such  a  glory,  with  such  a  defence,  was  New-Haven  blessed! 
§  9.  But  his  influences  were  not  confiiied  unto  his  own  colony  of  New- 
Ilaven;  they  were  extended  as  far  as  his  general  and  generous  care  of  all 
the  churches  could  carry  him.  And  hence,  I  find  him  in  a  particular  man- 
ner, expressing  his  good  affections  unto  the  Irenio  designs  and  studies, 
which  were  in  those  days  managing  by  some  great  men,  for  the  restoring 
of  communion  among  the  divided  churches  of  the  reformation.  Perhaps 
I  cannot  give  an  exacter  character  of  this  eminent  person's  disposition, 
than  by  my  transcribing  and  my  translating  of  a  few  passages  in  a  letter, 
to  the  famous  Dury,  by  him  composed,  and  by  the  rest  of  the  ministers  in 
his  colony  subscribed : 

'■^Flagrante  Schismatis  Tnccndio,  Ecclesias,  quas  oportebat  Arctissimo  Pads  et 
Unitatis  Vinculo  Colligari,  miseras  in  sectas  Invisa  Deo  Lacerabat  Erinnys;  usque 
adeo  ut  qui  mutuam  coiitra  communes  Hastes  ope.m  conferrcnt,  proh  dolor!  con- 
certationes  Midianiticas  invicem  agunl ;  Sicut  enini  Juvencs,  quos  ad  Dimicandum 
Abnerus  Provocabat,  se  mutuis  Vulneribus  Confecerunt ;  sic,  quorundam  Vilio,qui 
partes  polius  agunt  male  Disputantium,  quam  bene  Evangel izantium,  Jurgia,  Lites, 
Animorum  Divorlia,  Schismata  et  Scandala,  in  EccJesiis  EvangeUcis  Suboriuntur, 
nan  sine  gravi  Infirmorum  OJfendiculo,  nee  sine  summo  bonorum  omnium  McBrore, 
ac  Inimicorum  Evangelicce  Veritatis  Oblectamento.'^ 

"  While  the  fire  of  schism  has  been  raging,  the  hateful  fury  has  miserably  torn  to  pieces 
the  churches  that  should  have  been  held  together  in  the  strictest  bonds  of  love  and  unity; 
insomuch  that  they  who  should  have  united  for  mutual  help  against  the  common  enemy, 
alas,  have  even  fallen  upon  one  another,  as  in  the  day  of  Midian.  As  the  young  men,  upon 
the  provocation  of  Abner,  wounded  one  another  to  death;  thus,  by  the  fault  of  some,  who 
do  the  part  rather  of  bad  uranglers  than  of  good  preachers,  there  do  arise  in  the  reformed 
churches  those  broils,  and  strifes,  and  animosities,  and  schisms,  and  scandals,  which  offend  the 
u-eak  and  afflict  the  good,  and  are  no  little  satisfaction  to  the  enemies  of  gospel-truth.'" 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  327 

"JVwnc  Vero,  Postquam  Gustos  Israelis,  Deus  Pacis,  ded'd  in  Corda  tot  Ecclesi- 
arum  et  Magistratuum,  iit  Vulneribus  istis  Medicinam  faciendam  esse,  Necessarium 
Judicarint,  En!  Bonorum  omnium  Animi,  in  Speni  erecii,  Malorum  istorum  SaU 
nlarem  Clausulam  Expectant,  et  Votis  intimis,  Patrem  Misericordiarum  Vohiscum 
invocant,  ut  Spiritus  sui  Gratia,  Secundum,  Verhuni  Suum,  Consilia  et  actiones 
Scrvorum  Suorum  dirigere,  ad  Sancti  Nominis  Sui  Gloriam  digneturJ''' 

"But  now  that  the  'Keeper  of  Israel,'  the  'God  of  peace,'  hath  put  it  into  the  hearts  of 
many  churches  and  rulers,  to  apprehend  it  necessary  that  a  cure  should  be  sought  for  these 
wounds,  behold!  the  minds  of  all  good  men  do  with  a  raised  hope  expect  an  happy  close  of 
these  mischiefs;  and  with  most  hearty  prayers  do  beseech  the  Father  of  Mercies,  that  ho 
would,  by  the  grace  of  his  Spirit,  according  to  his  word,  please  to  direct  the  counsels  and 
actions  of  his  servants,  for  the  glory  of  his  own  holy  name." 

'■'■  Recte  quidem  fecisti,  Reverende  Prater  Duraee,  quod  nos  eliam  in  eodem  Vohis- 
cum Corpore,  Sub  eodem  Capite  Jesu  Christo,  Constitutos,  ad  Negotium  hoc,  in 
Sanctorum  Communione  Promovendum,  fraterne  invitdsti.''' 

"You  have  done  right  well,  reverend  brother,  in  that  you  have,  after  a  brotherly  manner, 
unto  the  promoting  of  this  affair,  in  the  communion  of  saints  invited  lis,  who  belong  to  the 
same  mystical  body  with  your  selves,  under  one  head,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

'^  Dica  Vero  non  est  Orthodoxis  impingenda,  quasi  Optatissimcc  illi  V dci,  qu<z 
inter  Scissas  Evangelicas  Ecclesias  quceritur,  Offendiculum  posuerint  et  remoram, 
qui,  Necessitate  Postulante,  ea  utuntur  Libertate  Refutandi  Errores,  quam  Pax  non 
debet  impedire :   adcoque  sua  Exemplo  futuram  pacem  prcBmuniunt,  a   Vitiis  in 

Excessu  positis.'^ "  Quippe  quod  sincere  de   Erroribus  Judicare,  et  Errores 

lamen  in  Fratribus  Injirmis  Tolerare,  Utrumque  Judicamus  esse  Apostolicce  Doc- 
trince  Consonum.  Toleratio  Vero  Fratrum  Injirmorum,  non  debet  esse  adsque 
Redargutione,  Sed  tantum  absque  Rejectione." 

"  Nevertheless,  'tis  not  to  be  made  an  article  of  complaint  against  the  orthodox,  as  if  they 
would  hinder  or  delay  the  feace  desired  so  much  among  the  reformed  churches,  because  they 
do,  as  necessity  shall  call  for  it,  use  that  liberty  of  refuting  errors,  which  peace  ought  to  be 
no  bar  unto ;  and  by  their  example,  would  rescue  the  future  peace  from  the  extremes  where- 
with it  would  be  rendred  faulty." "For  we  reckon  that  as  well  io  fudge  what  things  are 

errors,  as  to  hear  with  such  errors  in  weaker  brethren,  are  both  of  them  agreeable  to  what 
we  have  been  taught  by  the  apostles.  The  toleration  of  our  erroneous  brethren  should  not 
be  without  rebuking,  but  it  should  be  without  rejecting  of  those  brethren." 

§  10.  It  is  a  notable  expression,  and  a  wonderful  concession  of  that 
great  Cardinal  Bellermine,  the  last  Goliah  of  the  Komish  Philistines: 
Ecdesia  ex  Intentione  Fideles  tantum  Colh'git,  et  si  nosset  Impios  et  incredulos, 
COS  aut  nunqucun  admitteret,  aut  casiL  Admissos  Excluderet:  "The  church"  (he 
says)  '^intentionally  gathers  only  true  believers,  and  if  she  knew  who  were 
icicked  and  faithless,  either  she  would  not  admit  them  at  all,  or,  if  they  were 
accidentally  admitted,  she  would  exclude  them. "  Our  Davenport,  conceiving 
it  a  shame  that  any  Protestant  should  protest  for  less  church  purity  than 
what  the  confessions  of  a  learned  Papist  allowed,  ere  he  was  aware,  to  be 
contended  for,  did  now  at  New-Haven  make  church  purity  to  be  one  of  his 
greatest  concernments  and  endeavours.  It  was  his  declared  principle,  that  ; 
more  is  required  of  men,  in  order  to  their  being  members  of  an  instituted\ 


328  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

church,  than  that  they  profess  the  Christian  faith,  and  ask  the  visible  seals 
of  the  covenant  in  the  fellowship  of  the  church;  all  which  may  be  done 
by  persons  notoriously  scandalous  in  their  lives,  from  whom  the  command 
is,  "turn  away;"  but  only  such  persons  may  be  received  as  members  of 
a  jiarticidar  church,  who  (according  to  Matt.  xvi.  18,  19,)  make  such  a 
publick  profession  of  their  faith,  as  the  church  may,  in  charitable  discre- 
tion, judge  has  blessedness  annexed  unto  it,  and  such  as  flech  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed.  In  pursuance  of  this  principle,  he  was,  like  his  dear 
friend,  that  great  man.  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  perswaded,  "that  (as  he 
speaks)  there  are  many  rules  in  the  word,  whereby  it  is  meet  for  us  to 
judge  who  are  saints;  by  which  rules  those  who  are  betrusted  to  receive 
men  unto  ordinances  in  churches,  are  to  be  guided,  and  so  to  separate 
between  the  precious  and  the  unclean,  as  the  priests  of  old  were  enabled 
and  commanded  by  ceremonial  differences,  which  God  then  made  to  typifie 
the  like  discrimination  of  persons."  And,  therefore,  making  the  marks  of 
a  repenting  and  a  believing  soul,  given  in  the  word  of  God,  the  rules  of 
his  tryals,  he  used  a  more  than  ordinary  exactness  in  trying  those  that 
were  admitted  unto  the  communion  of  the  church:  indeed,  so  very  thor- 
oughly, and,  I  had  almost  said,  severely  strict,  were  the  terms  of  his  com- 
munion, and  so  much,  I  had  well  nigh  said,  overmuch,  were  the  golden 
snuffers  of  the  sanctuary  employed  by  him  in  his  exercise  of  discipline 
towards  those  that  were  admitted,  that  he  did  all  that  was  possible  to 
render  the  renowned  church  of  New-Haven  like  the  New-Jerusalem ;  and 
yet,  after  all,  the  Lord  gave  him  to  see  that  in  this  world  it  was  impossible 
to  see  a  church  state,  whereinto  there  "enters  nothing  which  defiles."  This 
great  man  hath  himself,  in  one  of  his  own  treatises,  observed  it:  "The 
officers  and  brethren  of  the  church  are  but  men,  who  judge  by  the  outward 
appearance.  Therefore  their  judgment  is  fallible,  and  hath  deceived;  as 
we  see  in  the  judgment  of  the  apostles,  and  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  con- 
cerning Ananias  and  Sapphira ;  and  in  that  of  Philip  and  the  church  in 
Samaria,  concerning  Simon  Magus.  Their  duty  is  to  proceed  as  far  as  men 
may,  by  rule,  with  due  moderation  and  gentleness,  to  try  them  who  offer 
themselves  to  fellowship,  whether  they  be  believers  or  not;  refusing  known 
hypocrites:  though  when  they  have  done  all  they  can,  close  hypocrites 
will  creep  in."  And  now  I  might  entertain  my  reader,  I  hope,  with  a 
profitable,  I  am  sure  with  a  very  prodigious  history:  I  will  on  this  occa- 
sion relate  most  "horrible  things  done  in  the  land;"  which  this  good  man 
saw,  to  confirm  his  own  observation :  but  I  will  take  a  fitter  occasion  for  it. 
§  11.  After  this,  the  remaining  days  of  this  eminent  person  were  worn 
away  under  the  unhappy  temptations  of  a  wilderness.  It  so  happened 
that  the  most  part  of  the  first  church  in  Boston,  the  metropolis  of  the 
colony,  out  of  respect  unto  his  vast  abilities,  had  applied  themselves  unto 
him,  to  succeed  those  famous  lights.  Cotton,  and  Norton,  and  Wilson,  who 
having  from  that  "golden  candlestick"  illuminated  the  whole  country, 
were  now  gone  to  shine  in  an  higher  orb.     His  removal  from  New-Haven 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  329 

was  clogged  with  many  temptatious  difficulties :  (for,  Miraculi  instar,  vitce 
Iter  si  longum,  sine  Offensione  Percurrere :*)  but  he  broke  through  them  all, 
in  expectation  to  do  what  he  judged  would  be  a  more  comprehensive  service 
unto  the  churches  of  New-England,  than  could  have  been  done  by  him 
in  his  now  undistinguished  colony.  On  this  occasion,  if  I  should  mention 
that  lamentable  observation  of  old  Epiphanius,  who  says,  "I  have  known 
some  confessors,  who  delivered  up  their  body  and  their  spirit  for  the  Lord, 
and,  persevering  in  confession  and  charity,  obtained  great  proof  of  the 
sincerity  of  their  faith,  and  excelled  in  piety,  humanity,  and  religion,  and 
were  continual  in  fastings,  and  in  a  word,  flourished  in  vertue:  and  these 
very  men  were  blemished  with  some  vice,  as  either  they  were  prone  to 
reproach  men,  or  would  swear  profanely,  or  were  over  talkative,  or  were 
prone  to  anger,  or  got  gold  and  silver,  or  were  defiled  with  some  such  filth: 
which  nevertheless  detract  not  from  the  just  praises  of  their  vertue." — 
I  must  add  upon  it,  that  Mr.  Davenport  was  a  confessor  flourishing  in 
vertue,  upon  whom  they  that,  upon  the  score  of  his  removal,  were  most 
of  all  dissatisfied  at  him,  would  not  yet  charge  those  unhappy  blemishes: 
and  if  any  good  men,  in  the  sifting  times^  did  count  him  either  too  straight, 
or  too  high,  in  some  of  his  apprehensions;  nevertheless,  these  things  also 
detract  not  from  the  just  praises  of  his  vertue. 

§  12.  So  rich  a  treasure  of  the  best  gifts  as  was  in  our  Davenport,  was 
well  worth  coveting  by  the  considerablest  church  of  the  land.  He  was  a 
most  incomparable  preacher,  and  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  accom- 
plishments ;  a  prince  of  preachers,  and  worthy  to  have  been  a  preacher  to 
princes:  he  had  been  acquainted  with  great  men,  and  great  things,  and 
was  great  himself,  and  had  a  great  fame  abroad  in  the  world ;  yea,  now  he 
was  grown  old,  like  Moses  his  "force  was  not  abated."  And  the  character 
which  I  remember  that  old  pagan  historian,  Diodorus  the  Sicilian,  gave 
of  our  Moses,  every  body  was  ready  to  give  of  our  Davenport,  "He  was  a 
man  of  a  great  soul,  and  very  powerful  in  his  life."  But  his  removal  did 
seem  too  much  to  verifie  an  observation,  by  the  famous  Dr.  Tuckney  thus 
expressed;  "It  is  ill  transplanting  a  tree  that  thrives  in  the  soil;"  for 
accepting  the  call  of  Boston-Church,  in  the  year  1667,  that  church,  and 
the  world,  must  enjoy  him  no  longer  than  till  the  year  1670:  when  on 
March  15,  aged  seventy  two  years,  he  was  by  apoplexy  fetched  away  to  that 
glorious  world,  where  the  spirits  of  Cotton  and  Davenport  are  together  in 
heaven,  as  their  bodies  are  now  in  one  tomb  on  earth. 

§  13.  His  constant  and  various  employments  otherwise,  would  not  permit 
him  to  leave  many  printed  effects  of  his  judicious  industry,  besides  those 
few  already  mentioned:  although  he  were  so  close  and  bent  a  student,  that 
the  rude  Pagans  themselves  took  much  notice  of  it,  and  the  Indian  salv- 
ages in  the  neigbourhood  would  call  him,  "  So  big  study  man."  Only  there 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  faithful  a  savoury  treatise  of  his,  entituled,  "  The 
Sai7its^  Anchor-Hold;^^  in  the  preface  whereof,  a  Duumvii^ate  of  renowned 

•  It  would  be  a  miracle  if  one  should  make  so  long  a  journey  of  life  without  encountering  some  stumbling-stone. 


330  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

men;  to  wit,  Mr.  Hook,  and  Mr.  Caryl,  give  this  attestation:  "As  touching 
the  anther  of  this  Treatise,  in  whose  heart  the  text  was  written  by  the 
finger  of-  G(xl,  before  the  discourse  was  penned  by  liis  own  hand ;  his  piety, 
learning,  gravity,  experience,  judgment,  do  not  more  commend  him  to  all 
that  know  him,  than  this  work  of  his  may  commend  it  self  to  them  that 
read  it."  The  Christian  faith  has  also  been  solidly  and  learnedly  main- 
tained by  him,  in  a  discourse  long  since  published,  for  the  "demonstration, 
of  our  blessed  Jesus,  to  be  the  true  Messias."  Nor  would  I  forget  a  sermon 
of  his  on  2  Sam.  xxiii.  3,  at  the  anniversary  court  of  election  at  Boston, 
1669,  afterwards  published.  Among  the  many  which  he  hath  prefixed 
unto  the  books  of  other  authors,  I  know  not  whether  his  excellent  epistle 
before  Mr.  Scudder's  '^ J)ail/j-ivalk,'^  may  not,  for  the  worth  of  it,  be  i-eck- 
oncd  it  self  a  book,  as  the  book  it  self  was  the  directory  of  his  own  daili/ 
ivalk.  Moreover,  there  is  published  a  treatise  of  his  under  this  title,  "  The 
Power  of  Congregational  CJiurdiesf  in  the  preface  whereof  Mr.  Nathanael 
^rather,  (at  this  time  the  worthy  and  well-known  Pastor  of  such  a  church 
in  the  city  of  London,)  has  these  ver}^  significant  expressions  concerning 
him:  "Certain  it  is,  the  principles  held  forth  in  this  treatise  cost  the  rev- 
erend author  not  only  many  sufferings,  but  also  many,  very  many  sad 
scarchings,  and  much  reading  and  study,  on  set  purpose,  accompanied  with 
manifold  pra3-ers  and  cries  to  the  Father  of  Lights,  for  light  therein.  After 
all  which,  he  was  more  confirmed  in  them,  and  attained  to  such  comfort- 
able clearness  therein,  as  bore  him  up  with  much  inward  peace  and  satis- 
faction, under  all  his  afflictions,  on  the  account  of  his  perswasion  in  these 
points.  And  so  perswaded,  lived,  and  so  died  this  grave  and  serious 
spirited  man."  There  is  likewise  published,  "J.  Discourse  about  Civil 
Government,  in  a  New  Plantation,  ivhose  design  is  Religion  i'''  in  the  title 
page  whereof  the  name  of  Mr.  Cotton  is,  by  a  mistake,  put  for  that  of  Mr. 
Davenport.  And  there  was  lately  transcribed  for  the  press,  from  his 
notes,  a  large  volume  of  accurate  and  elaborate  sermons,  on  the  whole 
book  of  Canticles.  But  the  death  of  the  gentleman  chiefly  concerned  in 
the  intended  impression,  proved  the  death  of  the  impression  it  self. 

§  14.  To  conclude:  there  will  be  but  an  unjust  account  given  of  the 
things  preached  and  written  by  this  reverend  man,  if  we  do  not  mention 
one  singular  favour  of  Heaven  unto  him.  It  is  well  known  that,  in  the 
earliest  of  the  primitive  times,  the  faithful  did,  in  a  literal  sense,  believe 
the  "second  coming"  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  rising  and  reigning 
of  the  saints  with  him,  a  thousand  years  before  the  "rest  of  the  dead  live 
again;"  a  doctrine  which,  however,  some  of  later  years  have  counted  it 
heretical;  yet,  in  the  days  of  Iremcus,  was  questioned  by  none  but  such 
as  were  counted  hereticks.  'Tis  evident,  from  Justin  Martyr,  that  this 
doctrine  of  the  Chiliad  was  in  his  days  embraced  among  all  orthodox  Chris- 
tians; nor  did  this  kingdom  of  our  Lord  begin  to  be  doubted  until  the 
kingdom  of  antichrist  began  to  advance  into  a  considerable  figure;  and 
then  it  fell  chiefly  under  the  reproaches  of  such  men  as  were  fain  to  deny 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  30;^ 

the  divine  authority  of  the  book  of  Eevelation,  and  of  the  second  Epistle 
of  Peter.      He  is  a  stranger  to  antiquity  who  does  not  find  and  own  the 
ancients  generally  of  the  perswasion,  which  is  excellently  summed  up  in 
those  words  of  Lactantius:    Veniet  Surami  et  raaximi  Dei  Filius.      Verum 
ilh,  cum  deleverit  injiistitiavi,  Judiciiimque  maximum  fecent,  ac  Justos,  qui  a 
Principio  fuerunt^  ad  vitam  Restauraverit^  Mille  Annos  inter  Homines  Versa- 
bitur,  eosque  Jiistissimo  Imperio  rcget.^      Nevertheless,  at  last  men  came, 
not  only  to  lay  aside  the  modesty  expressed,  by  one  of  the  first  considerable 
Anti-Millenaries — namely,  Jerom — when  he  said,  Quae,  licet  non  sequamur^ 
tamen  condemnare  non  possumus,  eo  quod  midti  Virorum  Ecclesiasticorum  et 
Ifarti/rum,  ista  dixerint;f  but  also  with  violence  to  persecute  the  miUenary 
truth  as  an  heretical  pravity.     So  the  mystery  of  our  Lord's  "appeaj-ing  in  f 
his  kingdom,"  lay  buried  in  Popish  darkness,  till  the  light  thereof  had  a 
fresh  dawn,  since  the  antichrist  entred  into  the  last  half  time  of  the  period 
allotted  for  him ;  and  now,  within  the  last  few  sevens  of  years,  as  things 
grow  nearer  to  accomplishment,  learned  and  pious  men,  in  great  numbers 
every  where,  come  to  receive,  explain,  and  maintain  the  old  faith  about  it. 
But  here  was  the  special  favour  of  Heaven  to  our  Davenport,  that  so  many 
years  ago,  when  in  both  Englands  the  true  notion  of  the  Chiliad  was 
hardly  apprehended  by  as  many  divines  of  note  as  there  are  mouths  of 
Nilus,  yet  this  worthy  man  clearly  saw  into  it,  and  both  preached  and 
wrote  those  very  things  about  the  future  state,  and  coming  of  the  Lord,  thci 
calling  of  the  Jews,  and  the  first  and  second  resurrection  of  the  dead,  which 
do  now  of  late  years  get  more  ground  against  the  opposition  of  the  other- 1 
vjise  minded,  and  find  a  kinder  entertainment  among  them  that  "search  j 
the  Scriptures:"   and  whereof  he  afterwards,  when  he  was  an  old  man,  \ 
gave  the  world  a  little  taste,  in  a  judicious  preface  before  a  most  learned 
and  nervous  treatise,  composed  by  one  that  was  then  a  young  man,  about  < 
"the  mystery  of  the  salvation  of  Israel."     Even,  then,  so  long  ago  it  was,  { 
that  he  asserted,  "A  personal,  visible,  powerful,  and  glorious  coming  of  ' 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  judgment,  long  before  the  end  of  the  world."  1 
But  thus  we  take  our  leave  of  this  renowned  man,  and  leave  him  rest- ' 
ing  in  hope  to  stand  in  his  lot  at  that  end. 

EPITAPHIUM. 

JOHANNES  DAVENPORTUS: 

In  Portum  Delatus. 
Vitus,  Nov-Angliae,  ac  Ecclesiae  Ornamentum, 

ET 

Mortuus,  Utriusque  Triste  Desiderium.X 

*  The  Son  of  the  Most  High  and  Mighty  shall  come.  And  He,  when  he  shall  have  overcome  injustice,  and 
established  universal  righteousness,  and  shall  have  raised  up  from  the  dead  all  the  saints  who  have  existed  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  shall  dwell  in  person  among  men  for  a  thousand  years,  and  shall  govern  them  with 
most  righteous  sway. 

+  Though  we  may  not  cordially  assent  to  all  these  doctrines,  we  cannot  condemn  them,  for  they  have  been 
affirmed  by  many  of  the  heroes  and  martyrs  of  the  Church. 

X  Epitaph.  —  John  Davknport  :  Safely  in  port.  In  life,  the  ornament  of  New-England  and  the  Church : 
dead,  the  object  of  their  common  regret. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  LIGHT  OF   THE  WESTERN   CHURCHES; 
OR,  THE  LIFE   OF  MR.  THOMAS  HOOKER, 

THE  RENOWNED  PASTOR  OF  HARTFORD  CHURCH,  AND  PILLAR  OF  CONNECTICUT  COLONY, 

IN    NEW-ENGLAND. 

ESSAYED  BY  COTTON  MATHER. 

Quod  si  digna  Tua  minus  est  mea  Pagina  Laude, 
At  voluisse  sat  est.* 

TO  THE   CHURCHES  IN  THE    COLONY   OF  CONNE  CTICUT: 

Although  the  providence  of  Heaven,  whereby  the  bounds  of  people  are  set,  hath  carried 
you  so  far  westward,  that  some  have  pleasantly  said,  "the  last  conflict  with  antichrist  must 
be  in  your  colony;"  yet,  I  believe,  you  do  not  reckon  your  selves  removed  beyond  the  reach 
of  templation  and  corruption.  'Tis  a  great  work  that  you  have  done,  for  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  forming  a  colony  of  evangelical  churches  for  him,  where  Satan  alone  had  reigned 
without  controul  in  all  former  ages ;  but  your  incomparable  Hooker,  who  was  one  of  the 
greatest  in  the  foundation  of  that  work,  was  in  his  day  well  aware  that  Satan  would  make 
all  the  haste  he  could,  unhappily  to  get  all  buried  in  the  degeneracies  of  ignorance,  world- 
liness,  and  profanity.  To  advise  you  of  your  dangers,  and  uphold  the  life  of  religion  among 
you,  I  presume  humbly  to  lay  before  you  the  life  of  that  excellent  man,  who,  for  learning, 
wisdom,  and  religion,  was  a  pattern  well  worthy  of  perpetual  consideration.  Having  served 
my  own  province  with  the  history  of  no  less  than  four  famous  Johns,  all  fetched  from  one 
church,  I  was,  for  certain  special  causes,  unwilling  to  have  it  complained,  as  once  it  was  of 
the  disciples,  "Thomas  was  not  with  them:"  wherefore  I  was  willing  to  make  this  appendix 
unto  that  history,  confessing  that  through  want  of  information  I  have  underdone  in  this, 
more  than  in  any  part  of  the  composure;  yet  so  done,  that  I  hope  the  good  hand  of  the 
Lord,  whom  I  have  designed  therein  to  glorifie,  will  make  what  is  done  to  be  neither  unac- 
ceptable nor  unprofitable  unto  his  people.  Cotton  Mather. 


^wrfrijff  Tuv  'ExxXrjtfiwv  Jtfflryj^iijv.f     The  Life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker. 

§  1.  When  Toxaris  met  with  his  countryman  Anacharsis  in  Athens,  he 
gave  him  this  invitation,  "  Come  along  with  me,  and  I  will  shew  thee  at 
once  all  the  wonders  of  Greece:"  whereupon  he  shewed  him  Solon,  as  the 
person  in  whom  there  centered  all  the  glories  of  that  city  or  country.  I 
shall  now  invite  my  reader  to  behold  at  once  the  "  wonders"  of  New-Eng- 
land, and  it  is  in  one  Thomas  Hooker  that  he  shall  behold  them:  even  in 

•  Worthy  of  Ihoo  my  prniso  miiy  never  be:  f  The  lamp  of  the  Western  Cliurches. 

I  wuQld  it  were !— 1ft  that  Bufflce  for  me. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  333 

that  Hooker,  whom  a  worthy  writer  would  needs  call  "  Saint  Hooker," 
for  the  same  reason^  (he  said)  and  with  the  same  freedom  that  Latimer  would 
speak  of  Saint  Bilney,  in  his  commemorations.  'Tis  that  Hooker,  of  whom 
I  may  venture  to  say,  that  the  famous  Eomanist,  who  wrote  a  book,  De 
Tribu.s  Thomis;  or,  Of  Three  Thomas's — meaning  Thomas  the  Apostle, 
Thomas  Becket,  and  Sir  Thomas  More — did  not  a  thousandth  part  so  well 
sort  his  Thomas's,  as  a  New-Englander  might,  if  he  should  write  a  book, 
De  Duobus  Thomis:  or  Of  Two  Thomas's;  and  with  Thomas  the  Apostle, 
joyn  our  celebrious  Thomas  Hooker :  ray  one  Thomas,  even  our  apostolical 
Hooker,  would  in  just  balances  weigh  down  two  of  Stapelton's  rebellious 
Archbishops  or  bigoted  Lord  Chancellors.  'Tis  he  whom  I  may  call,  as 
Theodoret  called  Iren^us,  "  The  light  of  the  western  churches,"     ,. 

§  2.  This  our  Hooker  was  bojin  at  Marfield,  in  Leicestershire,  aJ)out  the 
year  1586jiof  parents  that  were  neither  unable  nor  unwilling  to  bestow 
upon  him  a  liberal  education ;  whereto  the  early  and  lively  sparkles  of 
wit  observed  in  him  did  very  much  encourage  them.  His  natural  temper 
was  cheerful  and  courteous;  but  it  was  accompanied  with  such  a  sensible 
grandeur  ofmind^  as  caused  his  friends,  without  the  help  of  astrology,  to 
prognosticate  that  he  was  born  to  be  considerable.  The  influence  which 
he  had  upon  the  reformation  of  some  growing  abuses,  when  he  was  one 
of  the  proctors  in  the  university,  was  a  thing  that  more  eminently  signal- 
ized him,  when  his  more  publick  appearance  in  the  world  was  coming  on : 
which  was  attended  with  an  advancement  unto  osfcllowship  in  Emanuel 
Colledge,  in  Cambridge;  the  students  whereof  were  originally  designed 
for  the  study  of  divinity.^ 

§  3.  "\\^ith  what  ability  and  fidelity  he  acquitted  himself  in  his  fellowship, 
it  was  a  thing  sensible  unto  the  whole  university.  And  it  was  while  he 
was  in  this  employment  that  the  more  effectual  grace  of  God  gave  him  the 
experience  of  a  true  regeneration.  It  pleased  the  spirit  of  God  very  pow- 
erfully to  break  into  the  soul  of  this  person  with  such  a  sense  of  his  being 
exposed  unto  the  just  icrath  of  Heaven,  as  filled  him  with  most  unusual 
degrees  of  horror  and  anguish,  which  broke  not  only  his  rest,  but  his 
heart  also,  and  caused  him  to  cry  out,  "  While  I  suffer  thy  terrors,  0  Lord, 
I  am  distracted!"  While  he  long  had  a  soul  harassed  with  such  distresses, 
he  had  a  singular  help  in  the  prudent  and  piteous  carriage  of  Mr.  Ash, 
who  was  the  Sizer  that  then  waited  upon  him;  and  attended  him  with 
such  discreet  and  proper  compassions,  as  made  him  afterwards  to  respect 
him  highly  all  his  days.  He  afterwards  gave  this  account  of  himself, 
"That  in  the  time  of  his  agonies,  he  could  reason  himself  to  the  rule,  and 
conclude  that  there  was  no  way  but  submission  to  God,  and  lying  at  the 
foot  of  his  merc}^  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  waiting  humbly  there,  till  he  should 
please  to  perswade  the  soul  of  his  favour:  nevertheless,  when  he  came  to 
apply  this  rule  unto  himself  in  his  own  condition,  his  reasoning  would  fail 
him,  he  was  able  to  do  nothing."     Having  been  a  considerable  while  thus 


gg^  M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

troubled  witli  such  impressions  for  the  "spirit  of  bondage,"  as  were  to  fit 
him  for  the  great  services  and  enjoyments  wliich  God  intended  him,  at 
length  lie  received  the  "spirit  of  adoption,"  with  well-grounded  perswa- 
sions  of  his  interest  in  the  new  covenant.  It  became  his  manner,  at  his 
lying  down  for  sleep  in  the  evening,  to  single  out  some  certain  j^romise  of 
God,  which  he  would  repeat  and  ponder,  and  keep  his  heart  close  unto  it, 
until  he  found  that  satisfaction  of  soul  wherewith  he  could  say,  "I  will 
lay  me  down  in  peace,  and  sleep;  for  thou,  0  Lord,  makest  me  dwell  in 
assurance."  And  he  would  afterwards  counsel  others  to  take  the  same 
course;  telling  them,  "That  the  promise  was  the  boat  which  was  to  carry 
a  perisJiing  sinner  over  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

§  4.  Mr.  Hooker  being  now  well  got  through  the  storm  of  soul,  which 
had  helped  him  unto  a  most  experimental  acquaintance  with  the  truths  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  way  of  employing  and  applying  those  truths,  he  was 
willing  to  serve  the  Church  of  God  in  the  ministry,  whereto  he  was 
devoted^^^  At  his  first  leaving  of  the  university,  he  sojourned  in  the  house 
of  Mr.  Drake,  a  gentleman  of  great  note,  not  far  from  London;  whose 
worthy  consort  being  visited  with  such  distresses  of  soul  as  Mr.  Hooker 
himself  had  passed  through,  it  proved  an  unspeakable  advantage  unto 
both  of  them  that  he  had  that  opportunity  of  being  serviceable ;  for  indeed 
Tie  now  had  no  superiour^  and  scarce  any  equal,  for  the  skill  of  treating  a 
troubled  soul.  ^  When  he  left  Mr.  Drake's  flimily,  he  did  more  publickly 
and  frequently  preach  about  London;  and  in  a  little  time  he  grew  famous 
for  his  ministerial  abilities,  but  especially  for  his  notable  faculty  at  the 
wise  and  fit  management  of  tvounded  spirits.  However,  he  was  not  ambi- 
tious to  exercise  his  ministry  among  the  great  ones  of  the  world,  from 
whom  the  most  of  preferment  might  be  expected;  but  in  this,  imitating 
the  example  and  character  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  of  whom  'tis  noted  that, 
according  to  the  prophcsie  of  Isaiah,  by  him,  "The  poor  had  the  gospel 
preached  unto  them;"  he  chose  to  be  where  great  numbers  of  the  poor 
might  receive  the  gospel  from  him. 

§  5.  About  this  time  it  was  that  Mr.  Hooker  grew  into  a  most  intimate 
acquaintance  Avith  Mr.  Rogers  of  Dedham;  who  so  highly  valued  him  for 
his  multifarious  abilities,  that  he  used  and  gained  many  endeavours  to  get 
him  settled  at  Colchester;  whereto  Mr.  Hooker  did  very  much  incline, 
because  of  its  being  so  near  to  Dedham,  where  he  might  enjoy  the  labours 
and  lectures  of  Mr.  Rogers,  whom  he  would  sometimes  call,  "The  prince 
of  all  the  preachers  in  England."  But  the  providence  of  God  gave  an 
obstruction  to  that  settlement;  and,  indeed,  it  was  an  observation  which 
Mr.  Hooker  would  sometimes  afterwards  use  unto  his  friends,  "That  the 
providence  of  God  often  diverted  him  from  employment  in  such  places  as 
he  himself  desired,  and  stiH  directed  him  to  such  places  as  he  had  no 
thoughts  of."  Accordingly,  IChelmsford  in  Essex,  a  town  of  great  con- 
course, wanting  one  to  "break  the  bread  of  life"  unto  them,  and  hearing 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  335 

the  fame  of  Mr.  Hooker's  powerful  ministry,  addressed  bim  to  become 
tbeir  lecturej^  and  be^accejited  tbeir  offer  about  tbe  year  162(3^  becoming 
not  only  tbeir  lecturer,  but  also  on  tbe  Lord's  days  an  assistant  unto  one 
Mr.  Mitcbel,  tbe  incumbent  of  tbe  place,  wbo,  tbougb  be  were  a  smaller, 
yeFFeing  a  godly  person,  gladly  encouraged  Mr.  Hooker,  and  lived  witb 
him  in  a  most  comfortable  amity. 

§  6.  Here  bis  lecture  was  exceedingly  frequented,  and  proportionably 
succeeded;  and  tbe  light  of  bis  ministry  shone  through  the  whole  county 
of  Essex.  There  was  a  rare  mixture  of  pleasure  and  profit  in  bis  preach- 
ing; and  bis  hearers  felt  those  penetrating  impressions  of  his  ministry 
upon  their  souls  which  caused  them  to  reverence  bim,  as  "a  teacher  sent 
from  God."  He  had  a  most  excellent  faculty  at  tbe  applications  of  his 
doctrine;  and  be  would  therein  so  touch  tbe  consciences  of  his  auditors, 
that  a  judicious  person  would  say  of  him,  "He  was  the  best  at  an  use  that 
ever  he  heard."  Hereby  there  was  a  great  reformation  wrought,  not  only 
in  tbe  town,  but  in  the  adjacent  country,  from  all  parts  whereof  they  came 
to  "hear  the  wisdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  in  his  gospel,  by  this 
worthy  man  dispensed:  and  some  of  great  quality  among  the  rest,  would 
often  resort  from  far  to  bis  assembly;  particularly  tbe  truly  noble  Earl  of 
Warwick,  whose  countenance  of  good  ministers  procured  more  prayers 
to  God  for  him  than  most  noble-men  in  England. 

When  he  first  set  up  bis  lecture,  there  was  more  profanencss  than  devo- 
tion in  the  town ;  and  the  multitude  of  inns  and  shops  in  tbe  town  pro- 
duced one  particular  disorder,  of  people's  filling  tbe  streets  with  unsuitaJDle 
behaviour,  after  the  publick  services  of  the  Lord's  -day  were  over,  ^ut 
by  the  power  of  his  ministry  in  publick,  and  by  the  prudence  of  his  car- 
riage in  private,  be  quickly  cleared  tbe  streets  of  tbis  disorder,  and  tbe 
Sabbath  came  to  be  very  visibly  sanctified  among  tbe  peoploA 

§  7.  The  joy  of  tbe  people  in  tbis  light  was  "but  for  a  season."  The 
conscientious  non-conformity  of  Mr.  Hooker  to  some  rites  of  the  church 
of  England,  then  vigorously  pressed,  especially  upon  such  able  and  use- 
ful ministers  as  were  most  likely  to  be  laid  aside  by  their  scrupling  of 
those  rites,  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  lay  down  his  ministry  in  Chelms- 
ford, when  he  bad  been  about  four  years  them^mployed  in  it.  Hereupon, 
at  the  request  of  several  eminent  persons,  |^  kept  a  school  in  his  own 
hired  AoHse,  ^having  one  Mr.  John  Eliot  for  bis  usber,  at  little  Baddow, 
not  far  from  Chelmsford;  where  he  managed  his  charge  with  such  discre- 
tion, with  such  authority,  and  such  efficacy,  that,  able  to  do  more  -with  a 
word  or  a  look  than  most  other  men  could  have  done  by  a  severer  disci- 
pline, he  did  very  great  service  to  tbe  church  of  God,  in  the  education  of 
such  as  afterwards  proved  themselves  not  a  little  serviceable.  I  have  in 
my  hands  a  manuscript,  written  by  tbe  hands  of  our  blessed  Eliot, 
wherein  he  gives  a  very  great  account  of  the  little  academy  then  main- 
tained in  tbe  house  of  Mr.  Hooker;  and,  among  other  things,  he  says: 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA;' 

"To  this  place  I  was  called,  through  the  infinite  riches  of  God's  mercy  ia 
Christ  Jesus  to  my  poor  soul :  for  here  the  Lord  said  unto  my  dead  soul, 
live;  and  through  the  grxice  of  Christ,  I  do  live,  and  I  shall  live  for  ever  I 
When  I  came  to  this  blessed  family  I  then  saw,  and  never  before,  the 
power  of  godliness  in  its  lively  vigour  and  efficacy." 

§  8.  While  he  continued  thus  in  the  heart  of  Essex,  and  in  the  hearts 
of.  the  people  there,  he  signalized  his  usefulness  in  many  other  instances. 

The  godly  ministers  round  about  the  country  would  have  recourse 
unto  him,  to  be  directed  and  resolved  in  their  difficult  cases;  and  it  was  by 
his  means  that  those  godly  ministeraheld  their  monthly  meetings,  for  fasting 
and  prayer,  and  profitable  conferences.  yTwas  the  effect  of  his  consultations, 
also,  that  such  godly  ministers  came  to  be  here  and.  there  settled  in  several 
parts  of  the  country;  and  many  others  came  to  be  better  established  in 
some  great  points  of  Christianity,  by  being  in  his  neighbourhood  and 
acquaintance.  He  was  indeed  a  general  blessing  to  the  church  of  God! 
iBut  that  which  hindred  his  taking  his  degree  of  Batchellor  in  Divinity,  must 
also,  it  seems,  hinder  his  being  a  preacher  of  Divinity ;  namely,  his  being 
a  non-conformist  unto  some  things,  whereof  true  divinity  could  not  approved 
And  indeed  that  which  made  the  silencing  of  Mr,  Hooker  more  unac- 
countable, was,  that  no  less  than  seven-and-forty  conformable  ministers  of 
the  neighbouring  towns,  understanding  that  the  Bishop  of  London  pre- 
tended Mr.  Hooker's  ministry  to  be  injurious  or  offensive  to  them,  sub- 
scribed a  petition  to  the  Bishop  for  his  continuance  in  the  ministry  at 
Chelmsford ;  in  which  petition,  though  he  was  of  a  perswasion  so  dilTerent 
from  them,  yet  they  testifie,  in  so  many  words,  "That  they  esteem  and 
know  the  said  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker  to  be  for  doctrine,  orthodox ;  for  life 
and  conversation,  honest;  for  disposition,  peaceable,  and  in  no  wise  turbu- 
lent or  factious."  And  yet  all  would  not  avail:  Bonus  vir  Hookerus, 
sed  ideo  malas,  quia  Puritanus* 

§  9.  The  ground-work  of  his  knowledge  and  study  of  the  arts^vas  in 
the  tables  of  Mr.  Alexander,  Kichardson,  whom  he  closely  followed,  admir- 
ing hiui  for  a  man  of  transcenderrt  ability,  and  a  most  exalted  piety; 
and  would  say  of  him,  "  That  he  was  a  master  of  so  much  understanding, 
that,  like  the  great  army  of  Gideon,  he  was  too  many  to  be  employed  in 
doing  what  was  to  be  done  for  the  church  of  God."  This  most  eminent 
Richardson  leaving  the  university,  lived  a  private  life  in  Essex,  whither 
many  students  in  Cambridge  i?esorted  unto  him,  to  be  illuminated  in  the 
abstruser  parts  of  learning;  and  from  him  it  was  that  the  incomparable 
DoetiDrAnies  imbibed  those  principles,  both  in  ^ohilosophy  and  in  divinity] 
which  alTcrwards  not  only  gave  clearer  methods  "and  measures  to  all  the 
liberal  arts,  but  also  fed  the  whole  church  of  God  with  the  choicest 
marrow.  Nevertheless,  this  excellent  man,  as  he  lived,  so  he  died  in  a 
most  retired  obscurity ;  but  so  far  as  a  metempsychosis  was  attainable,  the 

•  Hooker  is  a  good  man,  but,  in  being  a  Puritan,  is  a  bad  man. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  o^^ 

soul  of  him — I  mean  the  notions,  the  accomplishments,  the  dispositions  of 
that  great  soul — transmigrated  into  our  most  Richardsonian  Hooker. 

§  10,  As  his  person  was  thus  adorned  with  a  well-grounded -learning, 
so  his  preaohJ^  was  notably  set  off  with  a  liveliness  extraordinary :  inso- 
much that  I  cannot  give  a  fuller,  and  yet  hriejer  description  of  him,  than 
that  which  I  find  given  of  Bucholtzer,  that  pattern  of  preachers,  before 
him:  Vivida  in  eo  omnia  fuerunt,  vivida  vox,  vividi  oculi,  vividce  mqnus, 
gestus  omnes  vividi:*  he  ivas  all  that  he  was,  and  he  did  all  that  he  did, 
unto  the  life!  He  not  only  had  that  which  Quintilian  calls,  "A  natural 
moveableness  of  soul,"  whereby  the  distinct  images  of  things  would  come 
so  nimhhj,  and  yet  so  fitly  into  his  mind,  that  he  could  utter  them  with 
fluent  expressions,  as  the  old  orators  would  usually  ascribe  unto  a  special 
assistayice  of  Heaven,  [Deian  tunc  Adfuisse,  veteres  Oratores  aiehant'\\  and 
counted  that  men  did  therein  theios  legein,  or  speak  divinely ;  but  the 
rise  of  this  fluency  in  him,  was  the  divine  relish  which  he  had  of  the  things 
to  be  spoken,  the  sacred  panting  of  his  holy  soul  after  the  glorious  objects 
of  the  invisible  world,  and  the  true  zeal  of  religion  giving  fire  to  his  dis- 
courses. Whence,  though  the  ready  and  noisy  performances  of  many 
preachers,  when  they  are,  as  Plato  speaks,  theatrou  mestoi,  or  full  of 
the  theatre,  acting  to  the  height  in  the  publiek  for  their  applause,  may  be 
ascribed  unto  yery  mechaniccd  p)rincipjles ;  yet  the  vigour  m  the  ministry  of 
our  Hooker,  being  raised  by  a  "coal  from  the  altar"  of  a  most  real  devo- 
tion, touching  his  heart,  it  would  be  a  wrong  unto  the  good  Spirit  of  our 
God,  if  he  should  not  be  acknowledged  the  author  of  it.  That  Spirit 
accordingly  gave  a  wonderful  and  unusual  success  unto  the  ministry 
wherein  he  breathed  so  remarkably.  Of  that  success  there  were  many 
instances ;  but  one  particularly  I  find  mentioned  in  Clark's  examples,  to 
this  purpose:  A  profane  person,  designing  therein  only  an  ungodly  diver- 
sion and  merriment,  said  unto  his  companions,  "  Come,  let  us  go  hear  what 
that  bawling  Hooker  will  say  to  us;"  and  thereupon,  with  an  intention  to 
make  sport,  unto  Chelmsford  lecture  they  came.  The  man  had  not  been 
long  in  the  church,  before  the  quick  and  powerful  word  of  God,  in  the  mouth 
of  his  faithful  Hooker,  pierced  the  soul  of  him ;  he  came  out  with  an 
awakened  and  a  distressed  soul,  and  by  the  further  blessing  of  God  upon 
Mr.  Hooker's  ministry,  he  arrived  unto  a  true  conversion;  for  which  cause 
he  would  not  afterwards  leave  that  blessed  ministry,  but  went  a  thousand 
leagues  to  attend  it  and  enjoy  it.  Another  memorable  thing  of  this  kind 
was  this:  it  was  Mr.  Hooker's  manner  once  a  year  to  visit  his  native 
county;  and  in  one  of  those  visits,  he  had  an  invitation  to  preach  in  the 
great  church  of  Leicester.  One  of  the  chief  burgesses  in  the  town  much 
opposed  his  preaching  there ;  and  when  he  could  not  prevail  to  hinder 

•  In  him  every  thing  was  full  of  life :  there  was  life  in  his  voice,  in  his  eye,  in  his  hand,  in  his  aotioas. 
+  "The  Deity  animated  him,"  the  ancient  orators  were  wont  to  say. 

YoL.  I.— 22 


338 


MAG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


it,  he  set  ccrtaia  fidhrs  at  work  to  disturb  him  in  the  church-porch  or 
church-yard.  But  such  was  the  vivacity  of  Mr.  Hooker,  as  to  proceed  in 
what  he  was  about,  without  either  the  damping  of  his  mind,  or  the  drown- 
inc'  of  his  voice;  whereupon  the  man  himself  went  unto  the  church-door 
to  over-hear  wliat  he  said.  It  pleased  God  so  to  accompany  some  words 
uttered  by  Mr.  Hooker,  as  thereby  to  procure,  first  the  attention  and  then 
the  conviction  of  that  wretched  man;  who  then  came  to  Mr.  Hooker  with 
a  penitent  confession  of  his  wickedness,  and  became  indeed  so  penitent 
a  convert,  as  to  be  at  length  a  sincere  j^'^'ofessor  iind  pr act ii>er  of  the  godliness 
whereof  .he  had  been  a,  persecutor. 

§  11.  The  spiritual  court  sitting  at  Chelmsford,  about  the  year  1630,  had 
not  only'silenced  Mr.  Hooker,  but  also  bound  him  over  in  a  bond  of  fifty 
pound  to  appear  before  the  high  commission^  which  he  could  not  now  attend, 
because  of  an  ague  then  upon  hinir^>One  of  his  hearers — namely,  Mr.  Nash, 
a  very  honest  yeoman,  that  rented  a  great  farm  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
at  Much-Waltham — was  bound  in  that  sum  for  his  appearance;  but  as  Paul 
was  advised  by  his  friends  that  he  would  not  venture  into  the  theatre  at 
Ephesus,  thus  Mr.  Hooker's  friends  advised  him  to  forfeit  his  bonds,  rather 
than  to  throw  him  self  any  further  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.     Where- 
fore, when  the  day  for  his  appearance  came,  his  honest  surety  being  reim- 
bursed by  several  good  people  in  and  near  Chelmsford,  sent  in  the  forfeited 
sum  into  the  court;  and  Mr.  Hooker  having,  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
a  courteous  and  private  recess  provided  for  his  family  at  a  place  called  Old 
Park,  for  which  I  find  the  thanks  of  Dr.  Hill  afterwards  publickly  given 
in  his  dedication  of  Mr.  Fenner's  treatise  about  impenitency^  he  went  over 
to  Holland.     In  his  passage  thither,  he  quickly  had  occasion  to  discover 
himself,  when  they  were  in  eminent  hazard  of  shipwreck  upon  a  shelf  of 
sand,  whereon  they  ran  in  the  night;  but  Mr.  Hooker,  like  Paul,  with  a 
remarkable  confidence,  assured  them  that  they  should  be  preserved ;  and 
they  had  as  remarkable  a  deliverance.    I  have  also  heard  that  when  he  fled 
from  the  pursevants,  to  take  his  passage  for  the  Low-Countries,  at  his  last 
parting  with  some  of  his  friends,  one  of  them  said,  "Sir,  what  if  the  wind 
should  not  be  fair,  when  you  come  to  the  vessel?"     Whereto  he  instantly 
replied,  "Brother,  let  us  leave  that  with  Him  Avho  keeps  the  wind  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand:"  and  it  was  observed  that,  although  the  wind  was  cross 
until  he  came  aboard,  yet  it  immediately  then  came  about  fair  and  fresh, 
and  he  was  no  sooner  under  sail,  but  the  officer  arrived  at  the  sea-side,  hap- 
pily too  late  now  to  come  at  him;  which  minds  me  of  what  befel  Dr.  Good- 
win, not  long  after.     That  great  man  lay  wind-bound  in  hourly  suspicions 
that  the  pursevants  would  stop  his  voyage,  and  seize  his  person  before  the 
wind  would  favour  his  getting  away  for  Holland.     In  this  distress,  humbly 
praying  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  a  more  propitious  wind,  he  yet  said, 
"Lord,  if  thou  hast  at  this  time,  any  poor  servant  of  thine  that  wants  this 
wind  more  than  I  do  another,  I  do  not  ask  for  the  changing  of  it;  I  sub- 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  339 

mit  unto  it."    And  immediately  the  wind  came  about  unto  the  riglit  point, 
and  carried  bim  clear  from  his  pursuers. 

§  12.  Arriving  in  I^lland,  he  was  invited  unto  a  settlement  with  old 
Mr.  Paget;  but  the  old  man  being  secretly  willing  that  Mr.  Hooker  should 
not  accept  of  this  invitation,  he  contrived  many  ways  to  render  him  sus- 
pected unto  the  classis  on  a  suspicion  that  he  fav^oured  the  Brownists;  unto 
whom  he  had,  indeed,  an  extream  aversion.  The  misunderstandings  oper- 
ated so  far  as  to  occasion  Mr.  Hooker's  removal  from  Amsterdam;  not- 
withstanding he  had  so  fully  expressed  himself  when,  in  his  answer  to  one 
of  Mr.  Paget's  questions,  he  declared  in  these  words,  "To  separate  from 
the  fl\ithful  assemblies  and  churches  in  England,  as  no  churches,  is  an  error 
in  judgment,  and  sin  in  practice,  held  and  maintained  by  the  Brownists; 
and  therefore  to  communicate  with  them  in  their  opinion  or  practice  is 
sinful  and  utterly  unlawful ;  and  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  otfence, 
either  by  encouraging  them  in  their  way,  or  by  drawing  others  to  a  further 
approbation  of  that  way  than  is  meet."  Going  from  Amsterdam,  he  went 
unto  Delft;  where  he  was  most  kindly  received  by  Mr.  Forbs,  an  aged  and 
holy  Scotch  minister,  under  whose  ministry  many  English  merchants  were 
then  settled.  The  text  whereon  he  first  preached  at  his  coming  thither, 
was  Phil.  i.  29,  "To  you  it  is  given  not  only  to  believe,  but  also  to  suffer;" 
and  after  that  sermon  Mr.  Forbs  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  enjoy  the 
fellowship  of  Mr.  Ho(>J^ef-^_the  work  of  the  gospel ;  which  he  did  for 
about  the  space  of  two  years;  in  all  which  time  they  lived  so  like  brethren, 
that  an  observer  might  say  of  them,  as  they  said  ef  "^^asil  and  Nazianzen,j 
"They  were  but  one  soul  in  two  bodies;"  and  if  they  had  been  for  any 
little  while  asunder,  they  still  met  with  such  friendly  and  joyful  congratu- 
lations, as  testified  a  most  affectionate  satisfaction  in  each  other's  company. 

§  13.  At  the  end  of  two  years,  he  had  a  call  to  Rottqrdam;  which  he. 
the  more  heartily  and  readily  accepted,  because  it  reriewed  his  acquaint- 
ance with  his  invaluable  Dr.  Ames,  who  had  newly  left  his  place  in  the 
Frisian  University.  With  him  he  spent  the  residue  of  his  time  in  Hol- 
land, and  assisted  him  in  composing  some  of  his  discourses,  which  are, 
^^  His  Fresh  Suit  against  the  Ceremonies -^  for  such  was  the  regard  which 
Dr.  Ames  had  for  him,  that  notwithstanding  his  vast  ability  and  experi- 
ence, yet,  when  it  came  to  the  narrow  of  any  question  about  the  instituted 
worship  of  God,  he  would  still  profess  himself  conquered  by  Mr.  Hooker's 
reason ;  declaring  that,  "  though  he  had  been  acquainted  with  many  scholars 
of  divers  nations,  yet  he  never  met  with  Mr.  Hooker's  equal,  either  for 
preaching  or  for  disputing."  And  such  was  the  regard  which,  on  the  other 
side,  he  had  for  Dr.  Ames,  that  he  would  say,  "If  a  scholar  was  but  well 
studied  in  Dr.  Ames  his  Medidla  Theohgice*  and  Casus  Conscientia'.,\  so  as  to 
understand  them  thoroughly,  they  would  make  him  (supposing  him  versed 
in  the  Scriptures)  a  good  divine,  though  he  had  no  more  books  in  the 

*  Man-ow  of  Theolo^.  +  Cases  of  Conscience. 


g40  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHEISTI    AMERICANA; 

world."  But  having  tarried  in  llolland  long  enough  to  see  the  state  of 
religion  in  the  churclics  there,  he  became  satisfied  that  it  was  neither  eligible 
for  him  to  tarry  in  that  country,  nor  convenient  for  his  friends  to  be  invited 
thither  after  him.  I  have  at  this  tinje  in  my  hands  his  letter  from  Rotter- 
dam to  Mr.  Cotton,  wherein  are  these  words: 

"The  state  of  these  provinces,  to  my  weak  eye,  seems  wonderfully  ticklish  and  miserable. 
For  the  better  part,  heart  religion,  they  content  themselves  with  very  forms,  though  much 
blemished;  but  the  power  of  godliness,  for  ought  I  can  see  or  hear,  they  know  not;  and  if 
it  were  thoroughly  pressed,  I  fear  least  it  will  be  fiercely  opposed.  My  ague  yet  holds  me; 
the  ways  of  God's  providence,  wherein  he  has  walked  towards  me,  in  this  long  time  of  my 
sickness,  and  wherein  I  have  drawn  forth  many  wearyisli  hours,  under  his  Almighty  hand 
(blessed  be  his  name)  together  with  pursuits  and  banislnneiit,  wliich  have  waited  upon  me, 
as  one  wave  follows  another,  have  driven  me  to  an  amazement:  his  paths  being  too  secret 
and  past  finding  out  by  such  an  ignorant,  worthless  worm  as  my  self.  I  have  looked  overmy 
heart,  and  life,  according  to  my  measure;  aimed  and  guessed  as  well  as  I  could:  and  entreated 
his  Majesty  to  make  known  his  niiud,  wherein  I  missed;  and  yet  methinks  I  cannot  spell  out 
readily  the  purpose  of  his  proceedings;  which  I  confess  have  been  wonderful  in  miseries,  and 
more  than  wonderful  in  mercies  to  me  and  mine." 

Wherefore,  about  this  time,  understanding  that  many  of  his  friends  in 
Essex  were  upon  the  luing  for  a  wilderness  in  America,  where  they  hoped 
for  an  opportunit}^  to  enjoy  and  practise  thep?/re  worship  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  churches  gathered  according  to  his  direction,  he  readily  answered 
their  invitation  to  accompany  them  in  this  undertaking.  Dr.  Ames  had 
a  design  to  follow  Mr.  Hooker;  but  he  died  soon  after  Mr.  Hooker's 
removal  from  Rotterdam.  However,  his  widow  and  children  afterwards 
came  to  New-England;  where,  having  her  house  burnt,  and  being  reduced 
unto  much  poverty  and  aflliction,  the  charitable  heart  of  Mr.  Hooker  (and 
others  that  joined  with  him)  upon  advice  thereof,  comfortably  provided 
for  them. 

§  14.  Returning  into  England  in  order  to  a  further  voyage,  he  was 
quickly  scejited  by  the  pursevants,  who  at  length  got  so  flir  up  with  him 
as  to  knock  at  the  door  of  that  very  chamber  where  he  was  now  discours- 
ing with  Mr.  Stone,  who  was  now  become  his  designed  companion  and 
assistant  for  the  New-English  entcrprize.  Mr.  Stone  was  at  that  instant 
smoking  of  tobacco^  for  which  Mr.  Plooker  had  been  reproving  him,  as 
being  then  used  by  few  persons  of  sobriety ;  being  also  of  a  sudden  and 
pleasant  wit,  he  stept  unto  the  door,  with  his  pipe  in  his  mouth,  and  such 
an  air  of  speech  and  look,  as  gave  him  some  credit  with  the  officer.  The 
officer  demanded,  AVhether  Mr.  Hooker  were  not  there?  Mr.  Stone  replied 
with  a  braving  sort  of  confidence,  "  What  Hooker?  Do  you  mean  Hooker 
that  lived  once  at  Chelmsford!"  The  ofiicer  answered,  "Yes,  he!"  Mr. 
Stone  immediately,  with  a  diversion  like  that  which  once  helped  Athana- 
sius,  made  this  true  answer,  "If  it  be  he  you  look  for,  I  saw  him  about 
an  hour  ago,  at  such  an  house  in  the  town;  you  had  best  hasten  thither 
after  him."     The  officer  took  this  for  a  sufficient  account,  and  went  his 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g^]^ 

wa}*;  but  Mr.  Hooker,  upon  this  intimation,  concealed  himself  more  care- 
fully and  securely,  till  he  went  on  board  at  the  Downs,  in  the  year  1633, 
the  ship  which  brought  him,  and  Mr.  Cotton,  and  Mr.  Stone  to  New-Eng- 
land: where  none  but  Mr.  Stone  was  owned  for  a  preacher,  at  their  first 
coming  aboard;  the  other  two  delaying  to  take  their  turns  in  the  publick 
worship  of  the  ship,  till  they  were  got  so  far  into  the  main  ocean,  that 
they  might  with  safety  discover  who  they  were. 

§  15.  Amongst  Mr.  Fanner's  works,  I  find  some  imperfect  and  shattered, 
and  I  believe,  injurious  notes  of  a  farewel  sermon  upon  Jer.  xiv.  9,  "We 
are  called  by  thy  name,  leave  us  not:"  which  farewel  sermon  was  indeed 
Mr.  Hooker's,  at  his  leaving  of  England.  There  are  in  those  fragments 
of  a  sermon,  some  very  pathetical  and  most  prophetical  passages,  where 
some  are  these: 

"It  is  not  gold  and  prosperity  which  makes  God  to  be  our  God;  there  is  more  gold  in  the 
West-Indies  than  there  is  in  all  Christendom  j  but  it  is  God's  ordinances  in  the  vertue  of 
them,  that  show  the  presence  of  God." 

Again,  "Is  not  England  ripe?  Is  she  not  weary  of  God?  Nay,  she  is  fed  fat  for  the 
slaughter." 

Once  more,  "England  hath  seen  her  best  days,  and  now  evil  days  are  befalling  us." 

"And,  thou,  England,  which  hast  been  lifted  up  to  heaven  with  means,  shall  be  abased 
and  brought  down  to  hell;  for  if  the  mighty  works  which  have  been  done  in  thee,  had  been 
done  in  India  or  Turkey,  they  would  have  repented  ere  this," 

These  passages  I  quote,  that  I  may  the  more  effectually  describe  the 
apprehensions  with  which  this  worthy  man  took  his,  fareivel  of  his  native 
country. 

But  there  is  one  strange  passage  in  that  sermon,  that  I  know  not  what 
well  to  thinh  of;  and  yet  it  is  to  be  tliought  of.  I  remember,  'tis  a  passage 
in  the  life  of  the  reverend  old  Blackerby,  who  died  in  the  year  1648, 
"That  he  would  often  say  it  was  very  probable  the  English  nation  would 
be  sorely  punished  by  the  French:  and  that  he  believed  Popery  would 
come  in,  but  it  would  not  last,  nor  could  it  recover  its  former  strength." 
The  notable  fulfilment  which  that  passage  hath  seen,  would  carry  one  to 
consider  the  unaccountable  words  which  our  Hooker  uttered  in  \i\^  farewel 
sermon.  'Tis  very  likely  that  the  scribe  has  all  along  wronged  the  sermon ; 
but  the  words  now  referred  unto,  are  of  this  purport,  "That  it  had  been 
told  him  from  God,  that  God  will  destroy  England,  and  lay  it  waste;  and 
that  the  people  should  be  put  unto  the  sword,  and  the  temples  burnt,  and 
many  houses  laid  in  ashes."  Long  after  this,  when  he  lived  at  Hartford 
in  New-Enofland,  his  friends  that  heard  that  sermon,  having  the  news  of 
the  miseries  upon  England,  b}^  the  civil  wars,  brought  unto  them,  enquired 
of  him,  "Whether  this  were  not  the  time  of  God's  destroying  England, 
whereof  he  had  spoken?"  He  replied,  "No;  this  is  not  the  time;  there 
will  be  a  time  of  respite  after  these  wars,  and  a  time  wherein  God  will  fur- 
ther try  England;  and  England  will  further  sin  against  him,  and  shew  an 


342 


MAGNA  LI  A    CUE  1ST  I    AMERICANA; 


antipathy  against  the  government  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  chureli; 
his  royal  power  in  the  governing  thereof  will  be  denied  and  rejected. 
There  will  therefore  a  time  come,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  {)lead 
his  own  and  his  own  cause,  and  the  cause  of  them  w^ho  have  suffered  for 
their  fidelity  to  her  institutions:  he  will  plead  it  in  a  more  dreadful  way, 
and  break  the  nation  of  England  in  pieces,  like  a  potter's  vessel.  Tlien 
a  man  shall  be  precious  as  the  gold  of  Ophir;  but  a  small  remnant  shall 
be  left:  and  afterward  God  will  raise  up  churches  to  himself,  after  his  own 
heart,  in  his  own  time  and  way."  God  knows  what  there  may  be  in  this 
prediction, 

§  1(3.  ^Ir.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Cotton  were,  for  their  different  genius,  the 
Luther  and  Melandhon  of  New-England;  at  their  arrival  unto  which  coun- 
try, iMr.  Cotton  settled  with  the  church  of  Boston,  but  Mr.  Ilooker  with 
the  church  of  New-Town,  having  Mr.  Stone  for  his  assistant.  .^Inexpres- 
sible now  was  the  joy  of  Mr.  Hooker,  to  find  himself  surrounded  with  \\\s 
friends,  who  were  come  over  the  year  before,  to  prepare  for  his  reception; 
with  open  arms  he  embraced  them,  and  uttered  these  words,  "Now  I  live, 
if  you  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,"  But  such  multitudes  flocked  over  to  New- 
I^ngland  after  them,  that  the  plantation  of  New-Town  became  too  straight 
for  them ;  and  it  was  Mr.  Hooker's  advice  that  they  should  not  incur  the 
danger  of  a  Sitna,  or  an  Esek,  where  they  might  have  a  Eehoboth.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  month  of  June^  1636,  they  removed  an  hundred  miles 
to  the  westward,  with  a  purpose  to  settle  upon  the  delightful  banks,-of — 
Connecticut  Kiver:  and  there  were  about  an  hundred  persons  in  the  first 
company  that  made  this  removal;  who  not  being  able  to  walk  above  ten 
miles  a  day,  took  up  near  a  fortnight  in  the  journey;  having  no  pillows 
to  take  their  nightly  rest  upon,  but  such  as  their  father  Jacob  found  in 
the  way  to  Padan-Aram,  Here  Mr.  Hooker  was  the  chief  instrument  of 
beginning  another  colony,  as  Mr.  Cotton,  whom  he  left  behind  him,  was 
of  preserving  and  perfecting  that  colony  where  he  left  him ;  for,  indeed, 
each  of  them  were  the  oracle  of  their  several  colonies. 

§  17.  Though  Mr.  Hooker  had  thus  removed  from  the  Massachuset-bay, 
yet  he  sometimes  came  down  to  visit  the  churches  in  that  bay :  but  when 
ever  he  came,  he  was  received  with  an  affection  like  that  which  Paul  found 
among  the  Galatians;  yea,  'tis  thought  that  once  there  seemed  some  inti- 
mation from  Heaven,  as  if  the  good  people  had  overdone  in  that  affection: 
for  on  May  26,  1639,  Mr.  Hooker  being  here  to  preach  that  Lord's  day  in 
the  afternoon,  his  great  fame  had  gathered  a  vast  multitude  of  hearers  from 
several  other  congregations,  and,  among  the  rest,  the  governour  himself, 
to  be  made  partaker  of  his  ministry.  But  when  he  came  to  preach,  he 
found  himself  so  unaccountably  at  a  loss,  that  after  some  shattered  and 
broken  attempts  to  proceed,  he  made  a  full  stop;  saying  to  the  assembly, 
"That  every  thing  which  he  would  have  spoken,  was  taken  both  out  of 
his  mouth  and  out  of  his  mind  also;"  wherefore  he  desired  them  to  sin"-  a 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  34.3 

psalm,  wliile  he  withdrew  about  half  an  hour  from  them:  returning  then 
to  the  congregation,  he  preached  a  most  admirable  sermon,  wherein  he 
'^eld  them  for^\^  hours  together  in  an  extraordinary  strain  both  of  per- 
tinency and  vivacity/  \ 

After  sermon,  when'  some  of  his  friends  were  speaking  of  the  Lord's 
thus  withdrawing  his  assistance  from  him,  he  humbly  replied,  "We  daily 
confess  that  we  have  nothing,  and  can  do  nothing,  without  Christ;  and 
what  if  Christ  will  make  this  manifest  in  us,  and  on  us,  before  our  con- 
gregations? What  remains,  but  that  we  be  humbly  contented?  and  what 
manner  of  discouraQ;ement  is  there  in  all  of  this?"  Thus  content  was  he 
to  be  nullified,  that  the  Lord  might  be  magnified! 

§  18.  Mr.  Hooker,  that  had  been  born  to  serve  many,  and  was  of  such 
a  publick  spirit  that  I  find  him  occasionally  celebrated  in  the  life  of  Mr. 
Angier,  lately  published,  for  one  who  would  be  continually  inquisitive 
how  it  fared  with  the  church  of  God,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  on  purpose 
that  he  might  order  his  prayers  and  cares  accordingly:  [which,  by  the 
way,  makes  me  think  on  Mr.  Firmin's  words:  "I  look  on  it  (saith  he)  as 
an  act  of  a  grown  Christian,  whose  interest  in  Christ  is  well  cleared,  and 
his  heart  walking  close  with  God,  to  be  really  taken  up  with  the  publick 
interest  of  Christ."]  He  never  took  his  opportunity  to  serve  himself,  but 
lived  a  sort  of  exile  all  his  daj^s,  except  the  last  fourteen  years  of  his  life, 
among  his  own  spiritual  children  at  Hartford;  however,  here  also  he  was 
an  exile.  Accordingly,  where-ever  he  came,  he  lived  like  a  stranger  in 
the  world!  When  at  the  Land's-end,  he  took  his  last  sight  of  England, 
he  said,  "Farewel,  England!  I  expect  now  no  more  to  see  that  religious 
zeal,  and  power  of  godliness  which  I  have  seen  among  professors  in  that 
land!"  And  he  had  sagacious  and  prophetical  apprehensions  of  the 
declensions  which  would  attend  "reforming  churches,",  when  they  came 
to  enjoy  a  place  of  liberty:  he  said,  "That  adversity  had  slain  its  thou- 
sands, but  prosperity  would  slay  its  ten  thousands!"  He  feared,  "That 
the}'-  who  had  been  lively  Christians  in  the  fire  of  persecution,  would  soon 
become  cold  in  the  midst  of  universal  peace,  except  some  few,  whom  God 
by  sharp  tryals  would  keep  in  a  faithful,  Avatchful,  humble,  and  praying 
frame."  But  under  these  pre-apprehensions,  it  was  his  own  endeavour  to 
beware  of  abating  his  own  first  love!  and  of  so  watchful,  so  prayerful,  so 
fruitful  a  spirit  was  Mr.  Hooker,  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  it  self  did 
seem  to  grant  him  some  singular  afflations.  Ii^ideed,  every  wise  man  is  a 
prophet;  but  one  so  eminently  acquainted  with  Scripture  and  reason,  and 
church-history,  as  our  Hooker,  must  needs  be  a  seer,  from  whom  singular 
prognostications  were  to  be  expected.  ^Accordingly,  there  were  many 
things  prognosticated  by  him,'*wherein  the  future  state  of  New-England, 
particularly  of  Connecticut,  has  been  so  much  concerned,  that  it  is  pity 
they  should  be  forgotten.  But  I  will  in  this  history  record  only  two  of 
his  predictions.     One  was,  "That  God  would  punish  the  wanton  spirit  of 


su 


MAGNA  LI  A    CHRIST  I    AMERICANA; 


the  professors  in  this  country,  with  a  sad  want  of  able  men  in  all  orders." 
Another  was,  "That  in  certain  places  of  great  light  here  sinned  against, 
there  would  break  forth  such  horrible  sins,  as  would  be  the  amazement 
of  the  world. 

§  19.  lie  was  a  man  of  prayer,  which  was  indeed  a  ready  way  to  become 
a  man  of  God.  lie  would  say,  "That^prayer  was  the  principal  part  of  a 
minister's  work;  \twas  by  this,  that  he  was  to  carry  on  the  rest.  Acoord- 
ino-lv,  he  still  devoted  one  day  in  a  month  to  private  j^rayer,  with  fasting, 
before  the  Lord,  besides  the  publick  fasts,  which  often  occurred  unto  him. 
He  would  say,  "That  such  extraordinary  favours,  as  the  life  of  religion, 
and  the  power  of  godliness,  must  be  preserved  by  the  frequent  use  of  such 
extraordinary  means  as  prayer  with  fasting ;  and  that  if  professors  grow 
negligent  of  these  means,  iniquity  will  abound,  and  the  love  of  many  wax 
cold."  Nevertheless,  in  the  duty  of  prayer,  he  affected  strength  rather 
than  length;  and  though  he  had  not  so  much  variety  in  his  publick  pray- 
ing as  in  his  publick  preaching,  yet  he  always  had  a  seasonable  respect 
unto  present  occasions.  And  it  was  observed  that  his  prayer  was  usually 
like  Jacob's  ladder,  wherein  the  nearer  he  came  to  an  end,  the  nearer  he 
drew  towards  heaven ;  and  he  grew  into  such  rapturous  pleadings  with 
God,  and  praisings  of  God,  as  made  some  to  say,  "That  like  the  master 
of  the  feast,  he  reserved  the  best  wine  until  the  last."  Nor  was  the  won- 
derful success  of  his  prayer,  upon  special  concerns,  unobserved  by  the 
whole  colony ;  who  reckoned  him  the  Moses,  which  turned  away  the  wrath 
of  God  from  them,  and  obtained  a  blast  from  heaven  upon  their  Indian 
Amalekites,  by  his  uplifted  hands,  in  those  remarkable  deliverances  which 
they  sometimes  experienced.  It  was  very  particularly  observed,  when 
there  was  a  battel  to  be  fought  between  the  Narraganset  and  the  ]\Ionhe- 
gin  Indians,  in  the  year  16-i3.  The  Narraganset  Indians  had  complotted 
the  mine  of  the  English,  but  the  Monhegin  were  confederate  with  us;  and 
a  war  now  being  between  those  two  nations,  much  notice  was  taken  of 
the  prevailing  importunity,  wherewith  Mr.  Hooker  urged  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  great  promise  unto  the  people  of  God,  "I  will  bless  them 
that  bless  thee,  but  I  will  curse  him  that  curses  thee."  And  the  effect  of 
it  was,  that  the  Narragansets  received  a  wonderful  overthrow  from  the 
Monhegins,  though  the  former  did  three  or  four  to  one  for  number  exceed 
the  latter.  Such  an  Israel  at  prayer  was  our  Hooker!  And  this  praying 
pastor  was  blessed;  as,  indeed,  such  ministers  use  to  be,  with  a  praying 
people:  there  fell  upon  his  pious  people  a  double  portion  of  the  Spirit 
which  they  beheld  in  him, 

§  20.  That  reverend  and  excellent  man,  Mr.  Whitfield,  having  spent 
many  years  in  studying  of  books,  did  at  length  take  two  or  three  years  to 
study  men;  and  in  pursuance  of  this  design,  having  acquainted  himself 
with  the  most  considerable  divines  in  England,  at  last  he  fell  into  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  Hooker;  concerning  whom,  he  afterwards  gave  this 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  345 

testimony:  "That  he  had  not  thought  there  had  been  such  a  man  on 
earth;  a  man  in  whom  there  shone  so  many  excellencies,  as  were  in  this 
incomparable  Hooker f^a  man  in  whom  learning  and  wisdom  were  so 
tempered  with  zeal,  holin'ess,  and  watchfulness."^^ And  the  same  observer 
having  exactly  noted  Mr,  Hooker,  made  this  remark,  and  gave  this  report 
more  particularly  of  him,  "  That  he  had  the  best  command  of  his  own 
spirit  which  he  ever  saw  in  any  man  whatever."  For  though  he  were 
a  man  of  a  cholerick  disposition,  and  had  a  mighty  vigour  and  fervour  of 
spirit,  which  as  occasion  served  was  wondrous  useful  unto  him,  yet  he 
had  ordinarily  as  much  government  of  his  choler  as  a  man  has  of  a  mas- 
tiff dog  in  a  chain;  he  "could  let  out  his  dog,  and  pull  in  his  dog,  as 
he  pleased."  And  another  that  observed  the  heroical  spirit  and  courage 
with  which  this  great  man  fulfilled  his  ministry,  gave  this  account  of  him, 
"  He  was  a  person  who,  while  doing  his  Master's  work,  would  put  a  king 
in  his  pocket." 

Of  this  there  was  an  instance,  when  the  Judges  were  in  their  circuit 
present  at  Chelmsford,  on  a  fast  kept  throughout  the  nation,  Mr.  Hooker 
then,  in  the  presence  of  the  Judges,  and  before  a  vast  congregation, 
declared  freely  the  sins  of  England,  and  the  plagues  that  would  come  for 
such  sins;  and  in  his  prayer  he  besought  the  God  of  heaven  to  set  on  the 
heart  of  the  King  what  his  own  mouth  had'  spoken,  in  the  second  chapter 
of  Malachi,  and  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  verses,  [in  his  prayer  he  so  dis- 
tinctly quoted  it!]  "An  abomination  is  committed,  Jiidah  hath  married 
the  daughter  of  a  strange  God,  the  I^ord  will  cut  off  the  man  that  doeth 
this."  Though  the  Judges  turned  unto  the  place  thus  quoted,  yet  Mr. 
Hooker  came  into  no  trouble ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  kingdom  did. 

§  21.  He  was  indeed  of  a  very  condescending  spirit,  not  only  towards 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  but  also  towards  the  meanest  of  any  Christians 
whatsoever.  He  was  very  willing  to  sacrifice  his  own  apprehensions  into 
the  convincing  reason  of  another  man;  and  very  ready  to  acknowledge 
any  mistake,  or  failing,  in  himself.  ,  I'll  give  ond  example:  there  happened 
a  damage  to  be  done  unto  a  neighbour,  immediately  whereupon,  Mr. 
Hooker  meeting  with  an  unlucky  boy,  that  often  had  his  name  up  for 
the  doing  of  such  mischiefs,  he  fell  to  chiding  of  that  boy  as  the  doer  of 
this.  The  boy  denied  it,  and  Mr.  Hooker  still  went  on  in  an  angry  man- 
ner, charging  of  him;  whereupon  said  the  boy,  "Sir,  I  see  you  are  in  a 
passion,  I'll  say  no  more  to  you:"  and  so  ran  away.  Mr.  Hooker,  upon 
further  enquiry,  not  finding  that  the  boy  could  be  proved  guilt}-,  sent  for 
him;  and  having  first  by  a  calm  question,  given  the  boy  opportunity  to 
renew  his  denial  of  the  fact,  he  said  unto  him:  "Since  I  cannot  prove  the 
contrary,  I  am  bound  to  believe;  and  I  do  believe  what  you  say:"  and 
then  added:  "Indeed,  I  was  in  a  passion  when  I  spake  to  you  before;  it 
was  my  sin,  and  it  is  my  shame,  and  I  am  truly  sorry  for  it:  and  I  hope 
in  God  I  shall  be  more  watchful  hereafter."     So,  giving  the  boy  some 


34(3  M  AG  N  ALIA    C  II 11 1  S  T  I    AMEKICANA; 

good  counsel,  the  poor  lad  went  nway  cxtreamly  affected  with  such  a  car- 
riage in  so  good  a  man;  and  it  proved  an  occasion  of  good  unto  the  soul 
of  the  lad  all  his  days. 

On  this  occasion  it  may  be  added,  that  Mr.  Hooker  did  much  abound  in 
acts  of  charity.     It  was  no  rare  thing  for  him  to  give  sometimes  five  pound, 
sometimes  ten  pound  at  a  time,  towards  tlie  support  of  widows  and  orphanij^ 
especially  those  of  deceased  ministers.        vX 

Thus  also,  when  the  people  at  Southampton,  twenty  leagues  from  Hart- 
ford, wanted  corn,  Mr.  Hooker,  and  some  few  that  joined  with  them,  sent 
them  freely  a  whole  bark's  load  of  corn  of  many  hundred  bushels,  to 
relieve  them.  Thus  he  had  those  that  Chrysostom  calls  SuXXo/fo'fj-ouf  dvavri^- 
f/TouiC,  unanswerahle  sylogisms,  to  demonstrate  Christianity. 

§  22.  He  had  a  singular  ability  at  giving  answers  to  cases  of  conscience-^^ 
whereof  happy  was  the  experience  df  some  thousands:  and  for.  this  work 
he  usually  set  apart  the  second  day  of  the  week;  -wherein  he  admitted  all 
sorts  of  persons,  in  their  discourses  with  him,  "to  reap  the  benefit  of  the 
extraordinary  experience  which  himself  had  found  of  Satan's  devices. 
Once,  particularly,  Mr.  Hooker  was  addressed  by  a  student  in  divinity, 
who  entring  upon  his  ministry,  was,  as  the  most  useful  ministers  at  their 
entrance  thereupon  use  to  be,  horridly  buffeted  with  temptations,  which 
were  become  almost  intolerable:  repairing  to  Mr.  Hooker  in  the  distresses 
and  anguishes  of  his  mind,  and  bemoaning  his  own  overwhelming  fears, 
while  the  lion  was  thus  roaring  at  him,  Mr.  Hooker  answered,  "I  can 
compare  with  any  man  living  for  fears!  My  advice  to  you  is,  that  you 
search  out,  and  analyse  the  humbling  causes  of  them,  and  refer  them  to 
their  proper  places;  then  go  and  pour  them  out  before  the  Lord;  and 
they  shall  prove  more  profitable  to  you  than  any  books  you  can  read." 
But  Mr.  Hooker,  in  his  dealing  with  troubled  consciences,  observed  that 
there  were  a  sort  of  crafty  and  guileful  souls,  which  he  would  find  out 
with  an  admirable  dexterity;  and  of  these  he  would  say,  as  Paul  of  the 
Cretians,  "They  must  be  reproved  sharply,  that  they  may  be  found  in  the 
faith;  sharp  rebukes  make  sound  Christians."  Indeed,  of  some  he  had 
compassion,  making  a  difference;  and  otliers  lie  saved  with  fear,  pulling  them 
out  of  the  fire. 

§  23.  Although  he  had  a  notable  hand  at  the  discussing  and  adjusting 
of  controversal  points,  yet  he  would  hardly  ever  handle  any  polemical 
divinity  in  the  pulpit;  but  the  very  spirit  of  his  ministry  lay  in  the  points 
of  the  most  practical  religion,  and  the  grand  concerns  of  a  sinner's  pre- 
paration for,  implantation  in,  and  salvation  by,  the  glorious  Lord  Jesus 
\  Chri.st.''  And  in  these  discourses  he  would  frequently  intermix  most 
affectionate  warnings  of  the  declensions  which  would  quickly  befal  the 
churches  of  New-England. 

His  advice  to  young  ministers  may  on  this  occasion  be  fitly  mentioned. 
It  was,  that  at  their  entrance  on  their  ministry,  they  would  with  careful 


OE,     THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  347 

study  preach  over  the  whole  hody  of  divinity  methodically,  (even  in  the 
Amesian  method,)  which  would  acquaint  them  with  all  the  more  intelli- 
gible and  agreeable  texts  of  Scripture,  and  prepare  them  for  a  farther 
acquaintance  with  the  more  difficult,  and  furnish  them  with  abilities  to 
preach  on  whole  chapters,  and  all  occasional  subjects,  which  by  the  pro- 
vidence of  God  they  might  be  directed  unto. 

Many  volumes  of  the  sermons  preached  by  him  were  since  printed; 
and  this  account  is  to  be  given  of  them: 

While  he  was  fellow  of  Emanuel-CoUege,  he  entertained!  a  special  incli- 
nation to  those  principles  of  divinity  which  concerned  tfie  application  of 
red£mp)tion;  and  that  which  eminently  fitted  him  for  the  handling  of  those 
principles  was,ythat  he  had  been,  from  his  youth  trained  up  in  the  expe- 
rience of  those  humiliations  a.nd^onsolations^  and  sacred  communions,  which 
belong  to  the  new  creature,  and  he  had  most  critically  compared  his  own 
experience  with  the  accounts  which  the  qiiick  and  poicerful  ivord  of  God 
gives  of  those  glorious  things.  Accordingly,  he  preached  first  more 
briefly  on  these  points,  while  he  was  a  catechist  in  Emanuel-College,  in  a 
more  scholastick  way;  which  was  most  agreeable  to  his  present  station; 
and  the  notes  of  what  he  then  delivered  were  so  esteemed,  that  many 
copies  thereof  were  transcribed  and  preserved.  ^Afterwards  he  preached 
more  largely  on  those  points,  in  a  more  popular  way,  at  Chelmsford,  the 
product  of  which  were  those  books  o^  preparation  for  Christ,  contrition, 
humiliation,  vocation,  union  ivith  Christ,  and  communion,  and  the  rest,  which 
go  under  his  name;  for  many  wrote  after  him  in  short-hand;  and  some 
were  so  bold  as  to  publish  many  of  them  without  his  consent  or  knowl- 
edge; whereby  his  notions  came  to  be  deformedly  misrepresented  in 
multitudes  of  passages;  among  which  I  will  suppose  that  crude  passage 
which  Mr.  Giles  Firmin,  in  his  '■'■Real  Christian,"  so  well  confutes,  "That 
if  the  soul  be  rightly  humbled,  it  is  content  to  bear  the  state  of  damna- 
tion." But  when  he  came  to  New-England,  many  of  his  church,  which 
had  been  his  old  Essex  hearers,  desired  him  once  more  to  go  over  the 
points  of  "erodes  regenerating  ivorks  upon  the  soul  of  his  elect;  until,  at  last, 
their  desires  prevailed  with  him  to  resume  that  pleasant  subject.  The  sub- 
ject hereby  came  to  have  a  third  concoction  in  the  head  and  heart  of  one 
as  able  to  digest  it  as  most  men  living  in  the  world;  and  it  was  his  design 
to  perfect  with  his  own  hand  his  composures  for  the  press,  and  thereby 
vindicate  both  author  and  matter  from  the  wrongs  done  to  both,  by  sur- 
reptitious editions  heretofore.  He  did  not  live  to  finish  what  he  intended; 
yet  a  worthy  minister,  namely,  Mr.  John  Higginson,  one  richly  able  him- 
self to  have  been  an  author  of  a  not  unUke  matter,  transcribed  from  his 
manuscripts  near  two  hundred  of  these  excellent  sermons,  which  were  sent 
over  into  England,  that  they  might  be  published;  but,  by  what  means  I 
know  not,  scarce  half  of  them  have  seen  the  light  unto  this  day.  How- 
ever, 'tis  possible  the  valuableness  of  those  that  are  published,  may  at  some 


348 


MAGNA  LI  A    CHRIST  I    AMERICANA; 


time  or  other  awaken  some  enquiries  after  the  unknown  hands  wherein 
the  rest  are  as  yet  concealed. 

§  24.  But  this  was  not  all  the  service  which  the  pen  of  Mr.  Hooker  did 
for  the  church  of  God  I  It  was  his  opinion  that  there  yfQTQ-^tii-o  great 
reserves  of  enquiry  for  this  age  of  the  world;  the  first,  wherein  the^spiritual 
rule  of  our  Lord's  kingdom  does  consist,  and  after  what  manner  it  is  inter- 
nally revealed,  managed  and  maintained  in  the  souls  of  his  people?  The 
second,  after  what  order  the  government  of  our  Lord's  kingdom  is  to  be 
externally  managed  and  maintained  in  his  churches?  \Accordingly,  hav- 
in*^  done  his  part  for  delivering  the  former  subject  from  pharisaical  for- 
mality, on  the  one  hand,  and  from  familistical  enthusiasm  on  the  other,  he 
was,  by  the  solicitous  importunity  of  his  friends,  prevailed  withal  to  com- 
pose a  treatise  on  the  other  subject  also.  Upon  this  occasion,  he  wrote 
his  excellent  book,  which  is  entituled,  "Jl  Survey  of  Church  Discipline  f' 
•wherein  having,  in  the  name  of  the  other  ministers  in  the  country,"^as  well 
as  his  own,  professed  his  concurrence  with  holy  and  learned  Mr.  Ruther- 
ford, as  to'llie  number  and  nature  of  church-officers;  the  right  of  people 
to  call  their"  own  officers;  the  unfitness  of  scandalous  persons  to  be  mem- 
bers of  a  visible  church ;  the  unwarrantableness  of  separation  from  churches 
for  certain  defective  circumstances;  the  lawfulness,  yea,  needfulness  of  a 
consociation  among  churches ;  and  calling  in  the  help  of  such  consociations, 
upon  emerging  difficulties ;  and  the  power  of  such  consociations  to  proceed 
against  a  particular  church,  pertinaciously  offending  with  a  sentence  of 
non-communion;  he  then  proceeds  to  consider,  a  church  congregational 
cornpleatly  constituted  luith  all  its  officers,  having  fall  j)Oiver  in  its  self  to  exercise 
all  church  discipline,  in  all  the  censures  thereof;  and  the  interest  which  the 
consent  of  the  people  is  to  have  in  the  exercise  of  this  discipline.  "IpThe  first 
fair  and  full  copy  of  this  book  was  drowned  in  its  passage  to  England, 
with  many  serious  and  eminent  Christians,  which  were  then  buried  by 
shipwrack  in  the  ocean:  for  which  cause  there  was  another  copy  sent 
afterwards,  which,  through  the  pre-mature  death  of  the  author,  was  not 
so  perfect  as  the  former;  but  it  was  a  reflection  which  Dr.  Goodwin  made 
upon  it,  "The  destiny  which  hath  attended  this  book,  hath  visited  my 
thoughts  with  an  apprehension  of  something  like  omen  to  the  cause  it  self: 
that  after  the  overwhelming  of  it  with  a  flood  of  obloquies,  and  disadvan- 
tages and  misrepresentations,  and  injurious  oppressions  cast  out  after  it, 
it  might  in  the  time,  which  God  alone  hath  put  in  his  own  power,  be 
again  emergent."  He  adds,  "I  have  looked  for  this;  that  this  truth,  and 
all  that  should  be  said  of  it,  was  ordained  as  Christ,  of  whom  every  truth 
is  a  ray,  to  be  as  a  seed  corn,  which,  unless  it  flill  to  the  ground  and  die, 
and  this  perhaps  together  with  some  of  the  persons  that  profess  it,  it  brings 
yet  forth  much  fruit,"  However,  the  ingenious  Mr.  Stone,  who  was  col- 
league to  Mr.  Hooker,  accompanied  this  book  with  a  little  epigram,  whereof 
these  were  the  concluding  disticks: 


OE,    THE    niSTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  349 

If  any  to  this  platform  can  reply  I  But  better  arguments,  if  none  can  give, 

With  better  reason,  let  this  volume  die;  Then  Thomas  Hooker's  policy  shall  live. 

§  25.  In  liis  administration  of  churcli  discipline  there  were  several 
things  as  iniitable  as  observable.  As  he  was  an  hearty  friend  unto  the 
consociation  of  chwches-^and  hence  all  the  time  that  he  lived,  the  pastors 
of  the  neighbouring  churches  held  their  frequent  meetings  for  mutual 
consultation  in  things  of  common  concernment — so,  in  his  own  particular 
church,  he  was  very  careful  to  have  every  thing  done  with  a  Christian 
moderation  and  unanimity.  Wherefore  he  would  have  nothing  publickly 
propounded  unto  the  brethren  of  the  church,  but  what  had  been  first 
privately  prepared  by  the  elders ;  and  if  he  feared  the  happening  of  any 
debate,  his  way  aforehand  was,  to  visit  some  of  the  more  noted  and  lead- 
ing brethren,  and  having  engaged  them  to  second  what  he  should  move 
unto  the  church,  he  rarely  missed  of  a  full  concurrence :  to  which  purpose 
he  would  say,  "The  elders  must  have  a  church  in  a  church,  if  they  would 
preserve  the  peace  of  the  church:"  and  he  would  say,  "The  debating 
matters  of  difierence,  first  before  the  whole  body  of  the  church,  will  doubt- 
less break  any  church  in  pieces,  and  deliver  it  up  unto  loathsome  con- 
tempt." But  if  an}^  difiicult  or  divided  agitation  was  raised  in  the  church, 
about  any  matter  ofiered,  he  would  ever  put  a  stop  to  that  publick  agita- 
tion, by  delaying  the  vote  until  another  meeting;  before  which  time,  he 
would  ordinarily,  by  private  conferences,  gain  over  such  as  were  unsatisfied. 
As  for  the  admission  of  communicants  unto  the  Lord's  table,  he  kept  the 
examination  of  them  unto  the  elders  of  the  church,  as  properly  belong- 
ing unto  their  iuo7-k  and  charge;  and  with  his  elders  he  would  order  them 
to  make  before  the  whole  church  a  profession  of  a  repenting  faith,  as  they 
were  able  or  willing  to  do  it.  Some,  that  could  unto  edification  do  it,  he 
put  upon  thus  relating  the  manner  of  their  conversion  to  God ;  but  usu- 
ally they  only  answered  unto  certain  probatory  questions  which  were  ten- 
dered them;  and  sljafter  their  names  had  been  for  a  few  weeks  before 
signified  unto  the  congregation,  to  learn  whether  any  objection  or  excep- 
tion could  be  made  against  them,  of  any  thing  scandalous  in  their  conver- 
sations, now  consenting  unto  the  covenant,  they  were  admitted  into  the 
churcli  communioij^  As  for  ecclesiastical  censures,  he  was  very  watch- 
ful to  prevent  all  procedures  unto  them,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  the 
rules  of  our  Lord;  for  which  cause  (except  in  grosser  abominations)  when 
offences  happened,  he  did  his  utmost  that  the  notice  thereof  might  be 
extended  no  further  than  it  was  when  they  first  were  laid  before  him;  and 
having  reconciled  the  offenders  with  sensible  and  convenient  acknowl- 
edgements of  their  miscarriages,  he  would  let  the  notice  thereof  be  con- 
fined unto  such  as  were  aforehand  therewith  acquainted;  and  hence  there 
was  but  one  person  admonished  in,  and  but  one  person  excommunicated 
from,  the  church  of  Hartford,  in  all  the  fourteen  years  that  Mr.  Hooker 
lived  there.     He  was  much  troubled  at  the  too  frequent  censures  in  some 


350 


MAGNALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


other  churclies;  and  lie  would  say,  "Church  censures  are  things  wherewith 
iK'ithcr  we  nor  our  fathers  have  been  acquainted  in  the  practice  of  them; 
and  therefore  the  utmost  circumspection  is  needful,  that  we  do  not  spoil 
the  ordinances  of  God  by  our  management  thereof"     In  this  point  he  was 
like  Beza,  who  defended  the  ordinance  of  excommunication  against  Eras- 
tus;  and  yet  he,  with  his  colleagues,  were  so  cautelous  in  the  use  of  it,  that 
in  eleven  years  there  was  but  one  excommunication  passed  in  all  Geneva. 
§  26.  He  would  say,  "  that  he  should  esteem  it  a  favour  from  God,  if  he 
might  live  no  longer  than  he  should  be  able  to  hold  up  lively  in  the  work 
of  his  place;  and  that  when  the  time  of  his  departure  should  come,  God 
would  sliorten  the  time ;"  and  he  had  his  desire.    Some  of  his  most  observant 
hearers  observed  an  astonishing  sort  of  a  cloud  in  his  congregation,  the 
last  Lord's  day  of  his  publick  ministry,  when  he  also  administred  the 
Lord's  supper  among  them;    and  a  most   unaccountable   heaviness  and 
sleepiness,  even  in  the  most  ivakhful  Christia7is  of  the  place,  not  unlike 
the  drowsiness  of  the  disciples  when  our  Lord  was  going  to  die;  for  which 
one  of  the  elders  publickly  rebuked  them.     When  those  devout  people 
afterwards  perceived  that  this  was  the  last  sermon  and  sacrament  wherein 
they  were  to  have  the  presence  of  the  j^asfor  with  them,  'tis  inexpressible 
how  much  they  bewailed  their  unattentiveness  unto  his  fareivel  dispensa- 
tions; and  some  of  them  could  enjoy  no  peace  in  their  own  souls  until 
they  had  obtained  leave  of  the  elders  to  confess  before  the  whole  congre- 
gation with  many  tears,  that  inadvertency.     But  as  for  Mr.  Hooker  him- 
self, an  epidemical  sickness,  which  had  proved  mortal  to  many,  though  at 
first  small  or  no  danger  appeared  in  it,  arrested  him.     Li  the  time  of  his 
sickness  he  did  not  say  much  to  the  standers-by;  but  being  asked  that  he 
would  utter  his  apprehensions   about  some  important  things,  especially 
about  the  state  of  New-England,  he  answered,  "I  have  not  that  work 
now  to  do;  I  have  already  declared  the  counsel  of  the  Lord:"  and  when 
one  that  stood  weeping  by  the  bed-side  said  unto  him,  "Sir,  3'ou  are  going 
to  receive  the  reward  of  all  your  labours,"  he  replied,  "Brother,  I  am 
going  to  receive  mercy!"     At  last  he  closed  his  own  eyes  with  his  own 
hands,  and  gently  stroaking  his  own  forehead,  with  a  smile  in  his  counte- 
nance, he  gave  a  little  groan,  and  so  expired  his  blessed  soul  into  the 
arms  of  his  fdlorc-servmibi,  the  liohj  augels,  on  July  7,  1647.     In  which 
last  hours,  the  glorious  jieace  of  soul,  which  heliad"  enjoyed  without  any 
interruption    for  near   thirty  years    together,  so  gloriously  accomjianied 
him,  that  a  worthy  spectator,  then  writing  to  ^Mr.  Cotton  a  relation  thereof, 
made  this  reflection,   "Truly,  sir,  the  sight  of  his  death  will  make  me 
have  more  pleasant  thotights  of  death,  than  ever  I  yet  had  in  my  life!" 

§  27.  Tiius  lived  and  thus  died  one  of  the  first  three.  He,  of  whom 
the  great  Mr.  Cotton  gave  this  character,  that  he  did,  Agmen  dacere  et  domi- 
nari  in  Concionihus,  gratia  Spiritus  Sancti  et  virtute  plenis:*  and  that  he 

•  Led  the  Christian  band  and  ruled  in  the  asawmbly,  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  abundance  of  his  virtues. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


851 


was,  Yir  Solertis  et  Acerrimi  judicii ;^  and  at  lengtli  lie  uttered  his  lament- 
ations in  a  funeral  elegy,  whereof  some  lines  were  these : 


'Twas  of  Geneva's  heroes  said  with  wonder, 
(Those  worthies  three)  Farkl  was  wont  to  thunder, 
ViRKT  lilve  rain  on  tender  grass  to  show'r, 
But  Calvin  lively  oracles  to  pour. 


All  these  in  Hooker's  spirit  did  remain, 
A  son  of  Thunder  and  a  show'r  of  rain; 
A  pourer  forth  of  lively  oracles, 
In  saving  soul,  the  sum  of  viiracles. 


This  was  he  of  whom  his  pupil,  Mr.  Ash,  gives  this  testimony:  "For 
his  great  abilities  and  glorious  services,  both  in  this  and  in  the  other  Eng- 
land, he  deserves  a  place  in  the  first  rank  of  them  whose  lives  are  of  late 
recorded."  And  this  was  he  of  whom  his  reverend  contemporary,  Mr. 
Ezekiel  Rogers,  tendered  this  for  an  epitaph ;  in  every  line  whereof  me- 
thinks  the  writer  deserves  a  reward  equal  to  what  Virgil  had,  when  for 
every  line,  referring  to  Marcellus  in  the  end  of  his  sixth  ^Eneid,  he  received 
a  sum  not  much  less  than  eighty  pounds  in  money,  or  as  ample  a  requital 
as  Cardinal  Richlieu  gave  to  a  poet,  when  he  bestowed  upon  him  two  thou- 
sand sequins  for  a  witty  conceit  in  one  verse  of  but  seven  words,  upon 
his  coat  of  arms: 


America,  although  she  do  not  boast 
Of  all  Ihe  g^uld  and  silver  from  that  coast, 
Lent  to  her  sister  Europe's  need  or  i)ride ; 
(For  that  repaid  her,  with  much  gain  beside. 


In  one  rieh  pearl,  which  Heaven  did  thence  afford. 
As  pious  Herbert  gave  his  honest  word ;) 
Yet  thinks,  she  in  the  catalogue  may  come 
With  Europe,  Africk,  Asia,  for  one  tomb. 


But  as  Ambrose  could  say  concerning  Theodosius,  No7i  Totus  recessit; 
reliquit  nobis  Liberos,  in  quibus  eum  debemus  agnoscere,  et  in  quibiis  eum  Cer- 
nimits  et  Tenemus;\  thus  we  have  to  this  day  among  us,  our  dead  Hooker 
yet  living  in  his  worthy  son,  Mr.  Samuel  Hooker,  an  able,  faithful,  useful 
minister,  at  Farmington,  in  the  colony  of  Connecticut. 

EPITAPHIUM. 

THOMAS  HOOKER. 

Heu  !  Fictas;   Heu !  prisca  Fides.X 

Or,  for  a  more  extended  epitaph,  we  may  take  the  abridgement  of  his 
Life,  as  oifered  in  some  lines  of  Mr.  Elijah  Corlet  that  memorable  old 
school-master  in  Cambridge,  from  whose  education  our  colledge  and  coun- 
try has  received  so  many  of  its  ivorthy  men^  that  he  is  himself  worthy  to 
have  his  name  celebrated  in  no  less  a  paragraph  of  our  church  history,  than 
that  wherein  I  may  introduce  him,  endeavouring  to  celebrate  the  name  of 
our  great  Hooker,  unto  this  purpose: 


5i  mea  cum  i-estris  va/uissent  vota,  Nov-Angli, 
Hookerus  Tarda  viserat  Jistra  Oradu, 

Te,  Reverende  Scnei,  Sic  to  dileiimiis  omncs, 
Ipsa  Invisa  forent  at  tibi  Jura  poll. 

Jiforte  Tua  [ufandum  Cogor  Rcnovare  dolorem, 
Quippc  Tua  vidcat  Terra  Nov-Angla  suam. 


Dignns  eras,  Aquilaa  similis,  Renovdsse  Juventam, 

Et  Fato  in  Terris  Condidiore  frui. 
Tu,  Duriuis  Emanuel,  Snror  .^ugustissima.  Mater 

JUi/le  Prophetariim,  Tu  mihi  Testis  eris. 
Tc  Testcm  appello,  quondam  Chelmsfordia  Cielis 

Prozima;   Te  prteco  Sustulit  Me  Tuus, 


•  A  man  of  profound  and  acute  judgment. 

+  He  has  not  altogether  departed:   he  has  left  us  his  children,  in  whom  we  ought  to  recognise  him,  and  in 
whose  persons  we  seem  both  to  see  and  to  possess  him. 

4  "  Alas !  for  piety  and  well-tried  faith 
Departed." 


852 


M  AG  N  ALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA: 


JS"on  tu  hunr  :  Clialcns,  jlrcis  Pkabique  Sacerdos, 

A'un  populo  Sperni  tic  sua  racra  videt. 
yidit  et  ti  Rostrit  Genti  pradicere  vatem 

Bella,  quod  in  Chrintum  Ttta  Rebellis  erat. 
Qurm  Palria  exrjrit,  ferns  Jlnstis  Episcopus;  Hoatis 

}lune  minus,  in  Butnvis,  rexal  amara  Febris. 
J'osI  rnrios  casus,  Quassata  Nov-Anglia,  tandem 

Itnmifrr^  indr  Tilii  Diva  Collimba  i-enit. 
Ille  Tuns  Cu'tus  Ornal,  pascitquc  Fidelos, 

Laudibus  Innumeris  addit  et  ille  Tuis. 


Dulcia  Amicus  erat,  Puslorque  Insiffnis,  rt  .1Hu$ 

Untibus,  F.loquio,  Mvribut,  Ingcnio. 
Proh  Pudor!     Krrptum  te  vivi  vidimus,  et  mm 

F.zccssuro!  Jinimte  Strujeimus  hisidius ! 
Insidias  prccibus,  J.ncrymisque  pcTennibus,  unde 

Semita  ('(tlcstis  sic  tibi  clausa  foret, 
Sed  Frustra  kaic  meditor ! — 
Ltustra  per  HnoKEKi's  tcr  quinque  V'iator  erat ;  jam 

Calestcni  patriam  Possidel  ille  auam. 


If  to  our  prayers  the  boon  we  nak  were  given, 

Our  IIooKKn  bud  nut  passed  so  soon  to  heaven: 

We  luvcd  so  truly,  Ihat  we  fain  would  stay 

His  l)lis;4riil  transit  to  the  re;ilms  of  day. 

The  thduifht  will  riime,  when  o'er  him  thus  we  moan, 

That  in  his  iirave  New-Unpland  finds  her  own. 

Worthy  wi-rt  tlioii  to  stem  the  llight  of  Time, 
And,  like  the  eiii,'le,  to  renew  thy  prime! 
To  spread  afresh  the  triuroiihs  of  thy  worth, 
And  win  a  lottier  destiny  on  earth. 

Emanuel  Collei<e!  who  dost  fitly  shine. 
Mother  of  ihcmsands  of  the  prophet-line; 
And  happy  Chelmsford!  brmifjht  most  near  to  heaven, 
When  Hooker  to,  thy  sacred  courts  was  ijivcn; 
Bear  witness  to  that  excellence,  which  grew 
In  daily  beauty  to  your  raptured  view. 

Vet  did  his  country  spurn  his  hallowed  life; 
His  sacred  office  was  a  theme  of  strife ; 
Nor  did  e'en  Chalcas,  though  a  heathen  soer. 
Find  Truth  inspire  so  little  wholesome  fear 


[Translation  of  the  foregoing,  made  for  this  Edition.] 

As  did  our  Hooker,  who  proclaim'd  that  Gob 
Would  make  rebellious  England  feel  His  rod. 
Episcopacy  drove  him  from  his  home, 
Stricken  in  heart,  in  foreign  climes  to  roam  ; 
Less  kindly  than  the  fever,  which  o'ercame. 
On  Holland's  coast,  his  much-enfeeb'ied  frame. 
And  then,  Nkw-Enoland!  o'er  the  ocean's  breast 
He  came  to  thee — a  dove  of  peace  and  rest. 
To  thine  elect  he  seemed  their  joy  and  crown, 
And  added  honour  to  thy  young  renown: 
A  gentle  friend,  a  pastor  true  and  kind. 
Rich  in  the  gifts  of  heart  and  tongue  and  mind. 

We  saw  thee  ready,  waitinij,  to  depiirt. 
Yet,  save  with  prayers  and  tears  that  wrung  the  heai-t, 
Strove  not  to  stay  from  its  celestial  goal 
Thy  struggling,  thine  emancipated  soul. 

For  seventy-five  long  years  he  lingered  here, 
A  weary  pilgrim  on  this  earthly  sphere: 
Now  to  his  "Father's  mansions"  is  he  come, 
"  The  better  country,"  his  eternal  home. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  353 

SEPIIER  JEREIM;  i- e.  LIBER  DEUM  TIMENTIUM:* 

OR, 

DEAD  ABELS  ¥ET  SPEAKING,  AND  SPOKEN  OF. 

IN    THE    HISTOKY    OF 

MR.   FRANCIS    HIGGINSON,   MR.   JOHN   AVERY,   MR.  JONATHAN   BURR,   MR.   GEORGE   PHILIPS, 

MR.  THOMAS   SHEPARD,   MR.   PETER  PRUDDEN,   AND   SEVERAL   OTHERS  OF  NEW  HAVEN 

COLONY,  MR.  PETER  BULKLY,  MR.  RALPH  PARTRIDGE,  MR.  HENRY  DUNSTER,  MR.  EZE- 

lEL    ROGERS,    MR.   NATHANAEL    ROGERS,    MR.  SAMUEL    NEWMAN,   MR.   SAMUEL 

STONE,  MR.  WILLIAM  THOMPSON,  MR.  JOHN  WARHAM,  MR.  HENRY  FLINT,  MR. 

RICHARD  MATHER,  MR.  ZECHARIAH  SYMMES,  MR.  JOHN  ALLIN,  MR.  CHARLES 

CHAUNCEY,   MR.  JOHN   FISK,  MR.  THOMAS   PARKER,   MR.  JAMES   NOYES, 

MR.  THOMAS  THACHER,  MR.  PETER  HOBART,  MR.  SAMUEL  WHITING, 

MR.  JOHN  SHERMAN,  MR.  THOMAS  GOBBET,  MR.  JOHN  WARD, 

EMINENT  MINISTERS  OF  THE  GOSrEL  IN  THE  CHURCHES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

BY   COTTON   MATHER. 

THE   SECOND  PART. 

Solus  Honor  Merito  qui  datur,  tile  datur.i 

Thus  shine,  ye  glories  of  your  age,  while  we 
Wait  to  fill  up  your  martyrologie. 

Bono  estate  Animo,  {Dilecti  Fratres,)  appropinquat  Tempus  quando  erit  Nominum  aque  ac 
Corporum  Resurrectio.\ — Wilkinson.  Concion.  ad  Academic. 


INTRODUCTION. 

When  the  incomparable  Hevelius  was  preparing  for  the  world  his  new,  and  rare,  and  aiGst 
accurate  "  Selenography"  his  design  was  to  advance  into  the  heavens  the  names  of  the  most 
meritorious  astronomers,  by  naming  from  tliem  the  several  distinguishable  parts  of  the  planet 
which  was  to  be  described  by  him ;  so  that  in  the  tnoon  there  would  now  have  been  seen,  an 
Oceanus  Coperniceus,  an  Oceanus  TycJionicus,  a  Mare  Keplerianum,  a  Lacus  Gallilcci,  a  Palus 
Mccstlmi,  an  Insula  Scheiveriana,  a  Peninsula  Gassendi,  a  Mons  Mersenni,  a  Vallis  BuUialdi, 
a  Sinus  Wendclini,  a  Promontorium  Crugerianum,  a  Desertum  Linnemanni,^  and  other  such 
denominations.  But,  upon  second  tJioughts,  he  saw  that  this  could  not  be  done  without 
envy  and  offence;  for  there  were  certai-ii  places  more  eminent  than  others,  and  he  migjit  hap- 
pen to  assign  them  unto  such  persons  as  were  less  eminent  in  the  opinions  of  mankind  about 
their  merits:  wherefore  he  chose  rather  geographical  denomnations  for  the  Macula:  Lunarcs.W 
which  were  now  to  be  distinguished. 

Reader,  there  is  a  number  of  divines  now  before  us,  demanding  their  places  in  our  Church- 
History;  their  souls  are  in  the  heavens;  their  names  also  should  be  there.  I  was  thinking 
to  have  ranked  them  according  to  their  merits;  I  would  have  assigned  their  places,. according 

*  The  History  of  Men  who  feared  God.  +  Honour  deserved  is  honour  aonferred. 

J  Be  of  good  cheer,  beloved  brethren :  the  time  draws  near  when  your  names,  like  your  bodies,  shall  be  raised 
up  in  glory. 

§  Copernicus  Ocean,  Tycho  Brahe  Ocean,  the  Kepler  Sea,  Lake  Gallileo,  the  Maestlins'  Marslvthe  Scheiver 
l~l;ind»  the  Peninsula  of  Gassendi,  Mount  Mersenni,  the  BuUialdi  Valley,  the  Gulf  of  Wendelinas,  the  Cruger 
Promontory,  the  Linnemann  Desert.  |  Spots  on  the  Moon. 

Vol.  1.— 23 


354  MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  R I  S  T I    AM  EK  I  CAN  A; 

to  their  cminencies  in  the  churdi  of  God.  But  finding  that  this  attempt  would  have  been 
invidious,  I  will  have  them  to  tike  their  places,  as  in  the  history  of  liies  uses  to  be  done, 
sentJiJum  annonnn  emortualim  nerieiit — according  to  the  years  wherein  they  died. 

What  I  write  sliall  be  written  with  all  Christian  veracity  rwA  fidelity.  Heaven  forbid  that  I 
should  iiidubn!  my  pen  in  such  nourishing  flatteries  as  fill  the  lixes  of  the  Lutheran  divines,  in 
the  collections  tiiat  VVittcn  has  made  of  the  '■'■  Memoricc  Theologorum  nostri  saculi  Clarissi- 
morum  renoiata:.'"*  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  in  any  one  instince  deserve  to  be  thought 
a  writer  of  such  le"^ends,  as  they  generally  (and  it  may  be  sometimes  unrighteously)  have 
reproached  the  lives  of  the  ancients,  written  by  Simeon  Metaphrastes:  for  I  will  now  confess 
to  mv  reader  one  thing  that  has  encouraged  me  in  my  endeavour  to  preserve  the  memory 
of  these  worthy  men. 

I  read  hi  Prov.  x.  7,  "The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed;"  or,for  a  blessing:  and  I  know  the 
common  trlosses  upon  it.  But  I  have  met  with  a  note  of  Dr.  Jermyn's  thereupon,  which  I  will 
now  count  as  worthy  to  be  transcribed,  as  I  have  heretofore  counted  it  worthy  to  be  fondered: 

"The  very  remembring  of  them  [saith  he]  shall  bring  a  blessing  to  such  as  do  remember  them.  God  will  bless 
those  that  honour  the  memory  of  his  servants:  and  besides,  the  memory  of  them  will  make  them  imitated,  which 
is  a  blessing  that  will  be  rewarded  with  blessedness." 

I  will  add,  that  examples  do  strangely  charm  us  into  imitation.  When  holiness  is  pressed 
upon  us,  we  are  prone  to  think,  that  it  is  a  d(jctrine  calculated  for  angels  and  spirits,  whose 
du-ellin'^  is  nut  with  jlcsli.  But  when  we  read  the  lives  of  them  that  excelled  in  holiness, 
thouTh  they  were  persons  of  like  passions  with  our  selves,  the  conviction  is  wonderful  and 
powerful.  Reader,  behold  loud  calls  to  holiness  from  those  who  said,  not,  lie  illuc;f  but, 
Venite  huc,l  when  the  calls  were  uttered. 


JANUS   NOV-ANGlICANUS;§THE   LIFE   OF   IR.   FRANCIS 

HI  G GIN  SON. 

Semper  Honor,  NoTncnque  Tuum,  Laudcsqne  Manehunt.^ 

§  1.  Without  recourse  to  any  fabulous,  whether  Egyptian  or  Grecian 
shams  of  antiquiti/,  we  have  other  intimations  enough,  that  our  father  Noah, 
after  a  new  ivorld  began  to  be  peopled  from  him,  did  remove  with  his 
eldest  son  Japhet,  from  his  own,  and  his  old  country  of  Ogyge,  or  Pales- 
tine, into  the  country  which  is  now  called  Italy.  And  it  is  particularly 
remarkable  that  his  great  grandson  Dodanim,  removing  with  a  colony  of 
his  increasing  posterity  into  Epirus,  he  built  a  city,  which,  with  the  whole 
province,  was  called  by  the  name  of  Dodona;  where  he  built  a  temple,  in 
which  the  people  did  assemble  to  worship  God,  and  hear  the  precepts  of 
the  Patriarch  preached  upon.  But  it  was  not  long  before  a  fearful  degen- 
eracy overtaking  the  posterity  of  these  planters,  they  soon  left  and  lost  the 
religion  of  their  progenitors;  and  in  that  very  place  where  Dodanim  had 

•  New  Memoirs  of  the  most  distinguished  Divines  of  our  era.         t  Co  there.  %  Come  hither. 

§  The  Juniis  of  New-England.  \  Immortal  shall  thy  name  and  praises  be. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  355 

his  cliurcli,  there  succeeded  the  Dodoncean  oracles.  Now,  among  the 
memorable  naynes,  which  in  other  monuments  of  antiquity,  besides  those 
of  Tuscany,  exposed  by  Inghiramius,  we  find  put  upon  our  illustrious 
father  Noah  one  is  that  of  Janus,  which  at  first  they  pronounced  Janes, 
from  the  Hebrew  word,  |n,  Jcijin,  for  wine,  which  was  the  true  original  of 
it;  and  so  his  famous  vineyard  was  therein  commemorated.  For  which 
cause  Cato  also  tells  us,  tZanus  primus  invenit  Far  et  Vinunij  et  oh  id  ductus 
fait  Priscus  CEnotrius:^'  and  Antiochus  Syracusanus  mentions  the  CEnotrii, 
which  Noah  carried  with  him.  Of  this  Janus,  the  Thuscians  employed  a 
ship,  as  a  memorial;  they  had  a  ship  on  his  coins,  doubtless  with  an  eye  to 
the  ark  of  Noah ;  but  there  was  also  on  the  reverse,  as  Ovid  relates.  Altera 
Forma  Biceps  ;\  and  this  double  face  was  ascribed  unto  Janus,  because  of 
the  view  which  he  had  of  the  two  worlds,  the  old  and  the  new.  The  cov- 
enant which  God  established  with  Noah,  was  by  after-ages  referred  unto, 
when  they  feigned  Janus  to  be  the  president  of  all  covenant  and  concord; 
and  the  figure  which  Noah  made  among  mankind  was  confessed  by  them, 
when  they  gave  Janus  the  sir-name  of  Pater,  as  being  so  to  all  the  heroes 
who  obtained  a  place  among  the  gods.  Moreover,  the  mythical  writers  tell 
us,  that  in  the  reign  of  this  Janus,  all  the  dwellings  of  men  were  hedged 
in  \s\\}i\  piety  and  sanctity;  in  which  tradition  the  exemplary  righteousness 
of  Noah  seems  to  have  been  celebrated:  and  hence  in  their  old  rituals,  he 
was  called  Cerus,  Manus,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  Sanctus  et  Bonus.'\, 
But  without  pursuing  these  curiosities  any  further,  I  will  now  lay  before 
my  reader  the  story  of  that  worthy  man ;  who,  when  'tis  considered  that 
he  crossed  the  sea  with  a  renowned  colony,  and  that  having  seen  an  old 
tvorld  in  Europe,  where  a  flood  of  iniquity  and  calamity  carried  all  before 
it,  he  also  saw  a  new  world  in  America;  where  he  appears  the  first  in  a 
catalogue  of  heroes,  and  where  he  with  his  people  were  admitted  into  the 
coveyiant  of  God;  whereupon  an  hedge  of  piety  and  sanctity  continued 
about  tliat  people  as  long  as  he  lived;  may  therefore  be  called  the  Noah 
or  Janus  of  New-England.     This  was  Mr.  Francis  Higginson. 

§  2.  If,  in  the  history  of  the  church  for  more  than  four  thousand  years, 
contained  in  the  Scriptures,  there  is  not  recorded  either  the  hirth-day  of  any 
one  saint  whatever,  or  the  birth-day  of  him  that  is  the  Lord  of  all  saints; 
I  hope  it  will  be  accounted  no  defect  in  our  history  of  this  worthy  man,  j 
if  neither  the  day,  nor  the  p>lace  of  his  birth  can  be  recovered.     We  will/ 
therefore  begin  the  history  of  his  life,  where  we  find  that  he  began  to  live. 

Mr.  Francis  Higginson,  after  he  had  been  educated  at  Emanuel  Colledge, 
that  seminary  of  Puritans  in  Cambridge  until  he  was  Master  of  Arts;  and 
after  that  the  true  Emanuel,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  had  by  the  work  of 
regeneration  upon  his  heart,  instructed  him  in  the  better  and  nobler  arts  of 
living  unto  God;  he  was,  by  the  special  providence  of  Heaven,  made  a 

•  Janus  first  invented  flour  and  wine,  and  on  that  account  was  called  Priscus  CEnotrius  (the  ancient  vine-dresser). 
t  Another  figure  with  two  heads.  %  Holy  and  good 


356 


MAGNA  LI  A    CHKISTI    AMERICANA; 


servant  of  our  Emanuel,  in  tlic  ministry  of  the  gospel,  at  one  of  the  five 
parish-churches  in  Leicester.  T-hajuain  scope  of  his  ministry  was  now  to 
hnnnote,  lirst  a  thorough  conversion^  and  then  a  godly  conversation,  among 
'his  people:  and  besides  his  being,  as  the  ^ixxnons  preacher  in  the  ivilderness 
was  a  voice,  and  preaching  lectures  of  Christianity  by  his  whole  Christian 
and  most  courteous  and  obliging  behaviour,  he  had  also  a  most  charming 
voice  which  rendered  him  unto  his  hearers,  in  all  his  exercises,  another 
Ezekiel;  for  "Lo,  he  was  unto  them,  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that 
hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  upon  an  instrument;"  and  from 
all  parts  in  the  neighbourhood  they  flocked  unto  him.  Such  was  the 
divine  presence  with,  and  blessing  on  the  ministry  of  this  good  man,  in 
this  place,  that  the  influence  thereof,  on  the  whole  town,  was  quickly 
become  a  matter  of  observation;  many  were  turned  from  "darkness  to 
light,  and  from  Satan  to  God;"  and  many  wore  "built  up  in  their  most 
holy  fiiith ;"  and  there  was  a  notable  revival  of  religion  among  them.  And 
such  were  his  endeavours  to  conform  unto  the  example  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  our  grand  Exemplar,  in  the  whole  course  of  his  ministry,  that  we 
might  easily  have  written  a  hook  of  those  conformities. 

§  3.  For  some  years  he  continued  in  his  conformity  to  the  rites  then 
required  and  practised  in  the  Church  of  England;  but  upon  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr.  Arthur  Ilildersham  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  he  set  himself 
to  study  the  controversies  about  the  evangelical  church-discipline,  then 
agitated  in  the  church  of  God:  and  then  the  more  he  studied  the  Scripture, 
which  is  the  sole  and  full  rule  of  church-administrations,  the  more  he 
became  dissatisfied  with  the  ceremonies  which  had  crept  into  the  worship 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  without  the  allowance  of  Scripture,  but 
also  without  the  countenance  of  the  earliest  antiquity.  From  this  time  he 
became  a  conscientious  non-conformist ;  and  therefore  he  was  deprived  of 
his  opportunity  to  exercise  his  ministry,  in  his  parish-church:  neverthe- 
less, his  ministry  was  generally  so  desirable  unto  the  people,  that  they 
procured  for  him  the  liberty  to  preach  a  constant  lecture,  on  one  part  of 
the  Lord's  day;  and  on  the  other  part,  as  an  assistant  unto  a  very  aged 
parson  that  wanted  it.  He  was  now  maintained  by  the  voluntary  contri- 
bution of  the  inhabitants;  and  though  the  rest  of  the  ministers  there  con- 
tinued conformists,  yet  they  all  freely  invited  him  unto  the  use  of  their 
pulpits,  as  long  as  they  could  avoid  any  trouble  to  themselves  by  their  so 
doing:  by  which  means  he  preached  successively  in  three  of  the  parish- 
churches,  after  that  he  had  been  by  non-conformity  made  incapable.  He 
preached  also  at  Bclgrave,  a  mile  out  of  the  town;  but,  under  God,  the 
chief  author  of  these  more  easie  circumstances  unto  such  a  non-conformist 
was  the  generous  goodness  and  candour  of  Dr.  Williams,  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  to  whose  dioccss  lioicostcr  belonged.  It  continued  until  the /my 
between  that  Bishop,  and  Laud,  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  set  himself 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  357 

to  extirpate  and  extinguish  all  the  non-conformists,  tliat  were  Williams' 
favourites,  among  whom  one  was  Mr.  Higginson. 

§  4.  The  signal  blessing  of  God,  which  accompanied  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Higginson  in  Leicester,  was  followed  with  two  very  contrary  conse- 
quences. On  the  one  side,  a  great  multitude  of  Christians,  then  called  J 
Puritans,  did  not  only  attend  the  worship  of  God  more  publickly  in  their 
assemblies,  and  more  secretly  in  their  families,  but  also  they  frequently  had 
theiv  private  meetings,  for  prayer  (sometimes  with  fasting)  and  repeating  of 
sermons,  and  maintaining  of  profitable  conferences,  at  all  which  Mr.  Higgin- 
son himself  was  often  present:  and  at  these  times,  if  any  of  their  society 
were  scandalous  in  their  conversation,  they  were  personally  admonished, 
and  means  were  used  with  them  to  bring  them  unto  repentance.  On  the  i 
other  side,  there  was  Vi  profane  ^mrty,  filled  with  wolvish  rage  against  the 
flock  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  especially  against  this  good  man,  who 
was  the  pastor  of  the  flock:  whose  impartial  zeal  in  reproving  the  common 
sins  of  the  time  and  place,  did  more  than  a  little  add  unto  the  exaspera- 
tions of  that  party ;  but  also  divers  of  them  turned  peisecutors  hereupon, 
yet  many  remarkable  providences  laid  a  restraint  upon  them,  and  the  malig- 
nants  were  smitten  with  a  dread  upon  their  minds.  "That  the  judgments 
of  God  would  pursue  those  that  should  go  to  harm  such  a  follower  of  him 
that  is  good." 

§  5.  Even  the  Ejnscojml  party  of  the  English  nation,  among  whose  thirty- 
nine  articles,  one  is,  "That  the  visible  church  is  a  congregation  oi  faithful 
men,  where  the  .jvord  of  Christ  is  duly  preached,  and  the  sacraments  be 
rightly  administered ;"  have  concluded  it,  as  a  godly  discipline  in  the  prim- 
itive church,  "that  notorious  sinners  were  put  to  open  penance."  And  in 
the  rubric  before  the  communion,  have  ordered  ministers  to  advertise  all 
notorious  evil  livers,  and  such  as  have  wronged  their  neighbours  by  word 
or  deed,  or  such  as  have  malice  and  hatred  reigning  between  them,  that 
"they  should  not  presume  to  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  till  they  have  openly 
declared  themselves  to  have  truly  repented."  Under  the  encouragement 
hereof,  Mr.  Higginson,  before  he  became  a  non-conformist,  professed  this 
principle,  "That  ignorant  and  scandalous perso?i5  are  not  to  be  admitted 
unto  the  Lord's  Supper:  and  as  flir  as  he  could,  he  practised  what  he  pro- 
fessed. Wherefore  he  did  catechise  and  examine  persons  about  their  fitness 
for  the  communion;  and  if  any  persons  were  notoriously  scandalous,  he 
not  only  told  them  of  their  sins  in  private,  but  also  in  publick  declared 
that  they  were  not  to  be  admitted  unto  the  Lord's  Supper,  until  the  con- 
gregation had  some  testimonies  of  their  serious  repentance. 

It  was  a  good  courage  of  old  Cyprian,  to  declare:  "If  any  think  to  join 
themselves  unto  the  church,  not  by  their  humiliation  and  satisfaction,  when 
they  have  scandalized  the  brethren,  but  by  their  great  words  and  threats, 
let  them  know,  that  the  church  of  God  will  oppose  them,  and  the  tents  of 
Christ  will  not  be  conquered  by  them."     And  no  less  was  the  good  metal 


358  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTl    AMERICANA; 

in  our  Ilifrginson.  Accordingly,  after  a  sermon  on  those  words  of  onr 
Saviour,  "Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs,"  unto  this  pur]>ose 
applied,  going  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  unto  the  communicants, 
now  come  into  the  chancel,  he  espied  one  that  was  known  unto  them  :rl 
to  be  a  common  drunkard  and  swearer^  and  a  very  vicious  person ;  he  tf)ld 
that  man  before  them  all,  "That  he  was  not  willing  to  give  the  Lord's 
Supper  unto  him,  until  he  had  professed  his  repentance,  unto  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  congregation:"  and  therefore  ho  desired  the  man  to  withdraw. 
The  sinner  withdrew,  but  went  out  full  of  such  passion  and  poison  against 
Mr.  Higginson,  and  horror  in  his  own  conscience,  that  he  fell  sick  upon 
it;  and  while  he  lay  sick  he  was  visited,  as  well  by  good  people  that 
endeavoured  his  conversion,  as  by  bad  people  that  had  been  his  old  com- 
panions, and  now  threatned  what  they  would  do  against  Mr.  Higginson. 
The  wretch  continued  in  an  exorbitant  frame  for  a  few  days,  and  at  last 
roared  out,  "That  he  was  damned,  and  that  he  was  a  dog,  and  that  he 
was  going  to  the  dogs  for  ever."  So  he  cried,  and  so  he  died:  and  this 
was  known  to  all  2>eople. 

§  6.  There  were  many  such  marvellous  judgments  of  God,  which  came 
like  fire  from  heaven,  to  restrain  and  revenge  the  wrongs  which  were 
offered  unto  this  faithful  ivitness  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Particularly, 
there  was  a  pious  gentlewoman,  the  wife  of  a  very  profane  gentleman, 
dwelling  in  another  parish,  who  would  frequently  go  to  attend  upon  Mr. 
Iligginson's  ministry,  both  in  the  publick  and  private  exercises  of  our 
holy  religion ;  whereat  lier  husbtind,  after  many  other  expressions  of  his 
deep  displeasure,  vowed,  that  he  would  be  revenged  on  Higginson;  and 
accordingly  he  resolved  upon  a  journey  to  London,  there  to  exhibit  a  com- 
plaint against  this  good  man,  at  the  High-Commission  Court:  but  when 
he  had  got  all  things  ready  for  his  journey,  just  as  he  was  mounting  his 
horse,  he  was  by  an  immediate  hand  of  Heaven  smitten  with  an  intoler- 
able torment  of  body  and  horror  of  conscience,  and  was  led  into  his  house, 
and  laid  upon  his  bed;  where  within  a  few  hours  death  did  his  office 
upon  him. 

§  7.  And  unto  the  remarkable  appearances  of  Heaven,  on  the  behalf 
of  \\-\\'&  faithful  man^  may  be  enumerated  that  which  befel  a  famous  Doctor 
of  Divinity,  prebend  of  a  cathedral,  and  chaplain  to  his  majesty,  who 
then  lived  in  Leicester:  this  gentleman  preached  but  very  seldom;  and 
when  he  did  at  all,  it  was  after  that  fashion  which  has  been  sometimes 
called  gentleman-preaching;  after  a  flaunting  manner,  and  with  such  a 
vain  ostentation  of  learning,  and  alFectation  of  language,  as  ill  became  the 
oracles  of  God;  the  people  generally  flocking  more  to  the  more  edifying 
ministry  of  Mr.  Higginson,  than  to  these  harangues.  Our  Doctor  so 
cxtreamly  resented  it,  that  both  publickly  and  privately,  on  all  opportu- 
nities, he  expressed  his  indignation  against  Mr.  Higginson,  and  vowed, 
'•  That  he  would  certainly  drive  him  out  of  the  town."     Now,  it  so  fell  out, 


OE,    TEE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  359 

tliat  the  Sheriff  appointed  this  Doctor  to  preach  at  the  General  Assizes 
there,  and  gave  him  a  quarter  of  a  year's  time  to  provide  a  sermon  for 
that  occasion :  but  in  all  this  time  he  could  not  provide  a  sermon  unto  his 
own  satisfaction;  insomuch,  that  a  fortnight  before  the  time  was  expired, 
he  expressed  unto  some  of  his  friends  a  despair  of  being  well  provided ; 
wherefore  his  friends  perswaded  him  to  try ;  telling  him  that  if  it  came  to 
the  worst,  Mr.  Higginson  might  be  procured  to  preach  in  his  room;  he 
was  always  ready.  The  Doctor  was  wonderfully  averse  unto  this  last  pro- 
posal; and  therefore  studied  with  all  his  might,  for  an  agreeable  sermon; 
but  he  had  such  a  blast  from  Heaven  upon  his  poor  studies,  that  the  very 
night  before  the  Assizes  began,  he  sent  his  wife  to  the  devout  Lady  Cave, 
who  prevailed  with  Mr.  Iligginson  to  supply  his  place  the  day  ensuing; 
which  he  did,  with  a  most  suitable,  profitable,  and  acceptable  sermon; 
and  unto  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  auditory.  When  the  Lady  Cave  had 
let  it  be  known  how  this  thing,  which  was  much  wondred  at,  came  about, 
the  common  discourse  of  the  town  upon  it  so  confounded  the  Doctor, 
that  he  left  the  town,  vowing,  "That  he  would  never  come  into  it  again." 
Thus  Mr.  Higginson  was  left  in  the  town !  but,  I  pray,  ivho  was  driven  out? 
§  8.  We  lately  styled  Mr.  Higginson  a  faithful  man ;  and  innumerable ' 
were  the  instances,  wherein  he  so  approved  himself,  particularly  there 
was  a  time  when  many  courtiers,  lords,  and  gentlemen  coming  in  a  frolick 
to  Leicester,  which  was  counted  a  puritanical  town,  resolved  that  they 
would  put  a  trick  upon  it.  Wherefore,  they  invited  the  Mayor  and  Alder- 
men, whereof  divers  were  esteemed  puritans,  unto  a  collation;  and  over- 
come them  to  drink  a  number  of  heaWis,  with  the  accustomed  ceremonies 
of  drinking  upon  their  knees,  till  they  all  became  shamefully  and  extreamly 
drunh.  This  business  becoming  the  common  discourse  of  the  town,  Mr. 
Higginson,  from  a  text  chosen  to  the  purpose,  in  the  audience  of  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen  themselves,  demonstrated  the  sinfulness  of  health-drinking, 
and  of  drunkenness,  and  the  aggravation  of  that  sinfulness,  when  it  is  found 
in  magistrates,  whose  duty  'tis  to  punish  it  in  other  men :  therewithal  admon- 
ishing them  to  repent  seriously  of  the  scandal  which  they  had  a:iven. 
This  fiithfulness  of  Mr.  Higginson  was  variously  resented;  some  of  the 
people  disliked  it  very  much,  and  some  of  the  Aldermen  were  so  disturbed 
and  enraged  at  it  that  "they  breathed  out  threatnings"  till  they  were  out 
of  breath:  but  the  better  sort  of  people  generally  approved  it,  as  a  conform- 
ity to  that  rule,  "them  that  sin  before  all,  rebuke  before  all,  that  others 
ma}^  fear;"  and  several  of  the  Aldermen  confessed  their  sin  with  a  very 
]  enilent  and  pertinent  ingenuity.  The  issue  was,  that  Mr.  Higginson  was 
brought  into  no  trouble;  and  the  God  of  heaven  so  disposed  the  hearts 
of  the  Ma3^or  and  Aldermen,  that  after  this,  upon  the  death  of  old  Mr. 
Sacheverel,  they  chose  Mr.  Higginson  to  be  their  town-preacher,  unto 
which  place  there  was  annexed  a  large  maintainance,  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  town  treasury.     In  answer  hereunto,  Mr.  Higginson  thanked  them  for 


360 


MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  lil  S  T I    AMERICANA; 


their  good  will;  but  lie  told  them,  that  he  could  not  accept  of  it,  because 
there  were  some  degrees  of  conformity  therein  required  which  he  could 
not  now  comply  withal ;  nevertheless,  there  being  divers  competitors  for 
the  place,  about  whom  the  votes  of  the  Aldermen  were  much  divided,  he 
prevailed  with  them  to  give  their  votes  for  a  learned  and  godly  conform- 
ist one  Mr.  Angel;  who  thereby  came  to  be  settled  in  it.  There  were 
also  made  unto  him  several  offers  of  some  of  the  greatest  and  richest 
livinrfs  in  the  country  thereabouts;  but  the  conscientious  disposition  to 
non-conformity,  now  growing  upon  him,  hindred  his  acceptance  of  them. 

§  9.  While  Mr.  Iligginson  continued  in  Leicester,  he  was  not  only  a 
good  man  full  of  fdi'th,  but  also  a  good  man  full  of  ivorh.  He  preached 
constantly  iu  the  parish  churches;  and  he  was  called,  while  a  conformist, 
frequently  to  preach  visitation  sermons,  assize  sermons,  and  funeral  ser- 
mons: and  as  well  then,  as  afterwards,  he  was  often  engaged  m  fasts,  both 
in  publick  and  private,  both  at  home  and  abroad;  and  many  repaired 
unto  him  with  cases  of  conscience,  and  for  help  about  their  inter iour  state. 
Besides  all  this,  he  was  very  serviceable  to  the  education  of  scholars, 
either  going  to,  or  coming  from  the  university ;  and  such  as  afterwards 
proved  eminently  serviceable  to  the  church  of  God;  whereof  some  were 
Dr.  Seaman,  Dr.  Brian,  Mr.  Eichardson,  and  Mr.  Howe,  all  of  them  Lei- 
cestershire men,  who  would  often  say  how  much  they  owed  unto  Mr. 
nigginson.  And  he  was  very  useful  in  forwarding  and  promoting  of 
contributions  for  the  relief  of  the  Protestant-exiles,  which  came  over  from 
the  ruined  Bohemia  and  the  distressed  Palatinate  in  those  times;  and  many 
other  pious  designs.  But  when  (as  he  that  writes  the  life  of  holy  Mr. 
Bains  expresses  it)  "the  hour  and  power  of  darkness  was  come  from 
Lambeth,"  or  when  the  Bishop  of  London  prevailed,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln  retired,  the  blades  of  the  Laudian  faction  about  Leicester  appeared, 
informed  and  articled  against  Mr.  Higginson,  so  that  he  lived  in  continual 
expectation  to  be  dragged  away  by  the  pursevants,  unto  the  High  Com- 
mission Court,  where  a  sentence  of  loerpetual  imprisonment  was  the  best 
thing  that  could  be  looked  for. 

§  10.  Now,  behold  the  interposing  and  seasonable  providence  of  Heaven ! 
A  considerable  number  of  Avealthy  and  worthy  merchants,  obtaining  a 
cliarter  from  King  Charles  I.  whereby  they  were  incorporated  by  tlie  name 
of,  "The  Governonr  and  Company  of  the  Massachuset-Bay  in  New-Eng- 
land;" and  intending  to  send  over  ships  with  passengers  for  the  beginning 
of  a  plantation  there,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1629;  and  resolviiig  to 
send  none  upon  their  account,  but  godly  and  honest  men,  professing  that 
religion  which  they  declared  was  the  end  of  this  plantation;  these  were 
informed  of  the  circumstances  whereto  Mr.  Higginson  was  now  reduced; 
and  accordingly  they  dispatched  a  couple  of  messengers  unto  him,  to  invite 
him  unto  a  voyage  into  New-England,  with  kind  promises  to  support  him 
iu  the  voyage.     These  two  messengers  were  ingenious  men ;  and  under- 


OR,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  og^ 

standing  tliat  pursevants  were  expected  every  hour  to  fetch  Mr.  Higgin- 
son  up  to  London,  they  designed  for  a  while  to  act  the  parts  of  pursevants: 
coming  therefore  to  his  door,  they  knocked  roundly  and  loudly,  like  fel- 
lows equipped  with  some  authority;  and  said,  "Where  is  Mr.  Higginson? 
we  must  speak  with  Mr.  Higginson !"  insomuch  that  his  affrighted  wife  ran 
up  to  him,  telling  him  that  the  pursevants  were  come,  and  praying  him 
to  step  aside  out  of  their  way;  but  Mr.  Higginson  said,  "No,  I  will  go 
down  and  speak  with  them;  and  the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done!"  When 
the  messengers  were  come  into  the  hall,  they  held  out  their  papers  unto 
him,  and  with  a  certain  roughness  and  boldness  of  address  told  him,  "Sir, 
we  come  from  London,  and  our  business  is  to  fetch  you  up  to  London, 
as  you  may  see  by  these  papers!"  which  they  then  put  into  his  hands; 
whereat  the  people  in  the  room  were  confirmed  in  their  opinion  that  these 
blades  were  pursevants;  and  Mrs.  Higginson  her  self  said,  "I  thought  so:" 
and  fell  a  weeping.  But  when  Mr.  Higginson  had  lookt  upon  the  papers, 
he  soon  perceived  that  they  were  letters  from  the  governour  and  company 
inviting  him  to  New-England ;  with  a  copy  of  the  charter,  and  proposi- 
tions for  managing  their  design  of  establishing  and  propagating  reformed 
Christianity  \n  the  new  plantation:  whereupon  he  bad  them  icelcome!  and 
there  ensued  a  pleasant  conversation  betwixt  him  and  his  now  undisguised 
friends.  In  answer  to  this  invitation,  Mr.  Higginson  having  first  consulted 
Heaven  with  humble  and  fervent  supplications,  for  the  divine  direction 
about  so  great  a  turn  of  his  life,  he  advised  then  with  several  ministers, 
especially  with  his  dear  friend  Mr.  Hildersham,  who  told  him,  "  That  were 
he  himself  a  younger  man,  and  under  his  case  and  call,  he  should  think 
he  had  a  plain  invitation  of  Heaven  unto  the  voyage;  and  so  he  came 
unto  a  resolution  to  comply  therewithal. 

§  11.  When  Mr.  Higginson's  resolution  came  to  be  known,  it  made  so 
much  noise  among  the  Puritans,  that  many  of  them  receiving  satisfaction 
unto  the  man}'-  enquiries  which  they  made  on  this  occasion,  resolved  that 
they  would  accompany  him.  And  now  it  was  not  long  before  his  fareivel 
sermon  was  to  be  preached !  before  he  knew  any  thing  about  an  offer  of  a 
voyage  to  New-England.  In  his  meditations  about  the  state  of  England, 
he  had  strange  and  strong  apprehensions  that  God  would  shortly  punish 
England  with  the  calamities  of  a  war,  and  he  therefore  composed  a  ser- 
mon upon  those  words  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  xxi.  20,  21,  "When  you  see 
Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies,  then  flee  to  the  mountains."  Now, 
after  he  was  determined  for  New-England,  he  did,  in  a  vast  assembly, 
preach  this  for  his  farewel  sermon;  and  therein  having  mentioned  unto 
them  what  he  took  to  be  the  provoking  sins  of  England  in  general,  and 
of  Leicester  in  particular,  he  plainly  told  them,  that  he  was  perswaded, 
God  would  chastise  England  with  a  war,  in  the  sufferings  whereof  Leices- 
ter would  have  a  more  than  ordinary  share.  How  this  p-ediction  was 
afterwards   accomplished,  is  known  to  mankind;    and  it  was   especially 


3(52  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

known  to  Leicester,  which  being  strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned,  and 
having  the  wealtli  of  all  the  country  about  brought  into  it,  was  besieged, 
and  at  length  carried  by  storm;  and  the  town  was  horribly  plundered, 
and  eleven  hundred  people  were  slain  in  the  streets. 

But  Mr.  Iligo-inson  having  ended  his  prophetical  sermon,  he  gave  thanks 
to  the  magistrates  and  the  other  Christians  of  the  place,  for  all  the  liberty, 
countenance,  and  encouragement  which  they  had  given  unto  his  ministr}': 
and  he  told  them  of  his  intended  removal  to  New-England,  the  principal 
end  of  which  plantation,  he  then  declared,  was  the  propagation  of  religion; 
and  of  the  hopes  which  he  had,  that  New-England  might  be  designed  by 
Heaven  as  a  refuge  and  shelter  for  the  non-conformists  against  the  storms 
that  were  coming  upon  the  nation,  and  a  region  where  they  might  prac- 
tise the  church-reformation^  which  they  had  been  bearing  ivitness  unto.  And 
so  he  concluded  with  a  most  affectionate  prayer  for  the  King,  the  church, 
the  state,  and  peculiarly  for  Leicester,  the  seat  of  his  former  labours.  And 
after  this  he  took  his  journey,  with  his  family,  for  London ;  the  streets  as 
he  passed  along  being  filled  with  people  of  all  sorts,  who  bid  him  farewel, 
with  loud  prayers  and  cries  for  his  luelfare. 

§  12.  When  he  came  to  London,  lie  found  three  sJu'ps  ready  to  sail  for 
New-England,  with  two  more,  that  were  in  a  month's  time  to  follow  after 
them:  filled  with  godly  and  honest  passengers,  among  whom  there  were 
two  other  non-conformist  ministers.  They  set  sail  from  the  Isle  of  Wight 
about  the  first  of  May,  1629,  and  when  they  came  to  the  Land's  End,  Mr. 
Higginson,  calling  up  his  children  and  other  passengers  unto  the  stern  of 
the  ship,  to  take  their  last  sight  of  England,  he  said,  "We  will  not  say,  as 
the  separatists  were  wont  to  say  at  their  leaving  of  England,  'Farewel, 
Babylon!'  'farewel,  Rome!'  but  we  will  say,  'farewel,  dear  England!  fare- 
wel, the  Church  of  God  in  England,  and  all  the  Christian  friends  there ! 
We  do  not  go  to  New-England  as  separatists  from  the  Church  of  England; 
though  we  cannot  but  separate  from  the  corruptions  in  it:  but  we  go  to 
practise  the  positive  part  of  church  reformation,  and  propagate  the  gospel 
in  America,'"'  And  so  he  concluded  with  a  fervent  praj'er  for  the  King, 
and  church,  and  state,  in  England ;  and  for  the  presence  and  blessing  of 
God  with  themselves,  in  their  present  undertaking  for  New-England,  At 
length,  by  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  them,  they  arrived,  after  a  com- 
fortable passage,  unto  Salem  harbour  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June  ensuing. 

§  13.  Mr.  Higginson  being  in  this  voyage  associated  with  Mr.  Skelton, 
a  minister  of  the  like  principles  with  himself,  they  were  no  sooner  got  on 
shore,  but  they  likewise  associated  in  pursuing  their  principles  and  inten- 
tions of  religion,  which  were  the  end  of  their  coming  hither.  Accordingly, 
laying  before  the  chief  of  the  people  their  desires,  and  their  designs  of 
settling  a  reformed  congregation  in  the  place,  after  a  frequent  converse  about 
the  methods  of  it,  they  came  unto  a  hearty  concurrence  to  take  a  day  in 
the  following  August  for  it.     In  order  hereunto,  Mr,  Higginson  drew  up 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  353 

a  "confession  of  faith,"  with  a  scriptural  representation  of  the  ''covenant 
of  grace"  applied  unto  their  present  purpose;  whereof  thirty  copies  y^ere 
taken  for  the  thirty  j^^^^om  which  were  to  begin  the  working  of  gathering 
the  church.  The  day  was  kept  as  a  fast;  wherein,  after  the  prayers  and 
sermons  of  the  two  ministers,  these  thirty  persons  did  solemnly  and  sever- 
ally profess  their  consent  unto  the  confession  and  covenant  then  read  unto 
them ;  and  they  proceeded  then  to  chuse  Mr.  Skelton,  Mr.  Higginson  their 
teachers,  and  one  Mr.  Houghton,  for  a  ruling  elder.  And  after  this,  many  " 
others  joined  unto  the  church  thus  gathered;  but  none  were  admitted,  of 
whose  good  conversation  in  Christ  there  was  not  a  satisfactory  testi)nony. 
By  the  same  token,  that  at  this  first  church  gathering,  there  fell  out  a 
remarkable  matter  which  is  now  to  be  related.  At  a  time  when  the  church 
was  to  be  gathered  at  Salem,  there  was  about  thirt}'  miles  to  the  south- 
ward of  that  place  a  plantation  of  rude,  lewd,  mad,  English  people,  who 
did  propose  to  themselves  a  gainful  trade  with  the  Indians,  but  quickly 
came  to  nothing.  A  young  gentleman  belonging  to  that  plantation  being 
at  Salem,  on  the  day  when  the  church  was  gathered,  was  at  what  he  saw 
and  heard  so  deeply  affected,  that  he  stood  vip,  expressing  with  much 
affection  his  desire  to  be  admitted  into  their  number,  which,  when  they 
demurred  about,  he  desired  that  they  would  at  least  admit  him  to  make  his 
profession  before  them.  When  they  allowed  this,  he  expressed  himself 
so  agreeably,  and  with  so  much  ingenuity  and  simplicity,  that  they  were 
extreamly  pleased  with  it;  and  the  ministers  told  him,  that  they  highly 
approved  of  his  profession,  but  inasmuch  as  he  was  a  stranger  to  them,  they 
could  not  receive  him  into  their  communion  until  they  had  a  further 
acc^uaintance  with  his  conversation.  However,  such  was  the  hold  which 
the  grace  of  God  now  took  of  him,  that  he  became  an  eminent  Christian 
and  a  worthy  and  useful  person,  and  not  only  afterwards  joined  unto  the 
church  of  Boston,  but  also  made  a  great  figure  in  the  commonwealth  of 
New-England,  as  the  major-general  of  all  the  forces  in  the  colony ;  it  was 
Major-general  Gibbons. 

§  14.  The  church  of  Salem  now  being  settled,  they  enjoyed  many  smiles 
of  Heaven  upon  them;  and  yet  there  were  many  things  that  lookt  like 
frowns;  for  they  were  exercised  with  many  difficulties,  and  almost  an 
hundred  of  good  people  died  the  first  winter  of  their  being  here;  among 
whom  was  Mr.  Houghton,  an  elder  of  the  church.  Mr.  Higginson  also 
fell  into  an  hectic  fever,  which  much  disabled  him  for  the  work  of  his 
ministry ;  and  the  last  sermon  under  the  incurable  growth  of  this  malady 
upon  him,  was  upon  the  arrival  of  many  gentlemen  and  some  hundreds 
of  passengers  to  New-England,  in  the  beginning  of  the  ensuing  summer. 
He  then  preached  on  those  words  of  our  Saviour,  Matth.  xi.  7,  "What 
went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  to  see?"  From  whence,  he  minded  the 
people  of  the  design  whereupon  this  plantation  was  erected,  namely,  reli- 
gion: and  of  the  streights,  wants,  and  various  trials  which  in  a  wilderness 


3g4  MAGNALIA    CJIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

they  must  look  to  meet  withal;  and  of  the  need  which  there  was  for  them 
to  evidence  the  uprvjlitness  of  their  hearts  in  the  end  of  their  coming  hither. 
After  this,  he  was  confined  unto  his  bed,  and  visited  by  the  chief  persons 
of  the  new-colony,  who  much  bemoaned  their  loss  of  so  useful  a  person, 
but  comforted  him  with  the  consideration  of  his  faithfulness  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  in  his  former  sufferings  and  services,  and  the  honour  which  the 
Lord  had  granted  him,  to  begin  a  work  of  cluircli-refonnation  in  America. 
-  lie  replied,  "I  have  been  but  an  unprofitable  servant;  and  all  my  own 
doings  I  count  but  loss  and  dung:  all  my  desire  is  to  win  Christ,  and  be 
found  in  him,  not  having  my  own  righteousness!"  And  he  several  times 
declared,  "That  though  the  Lord  called  him  away,  he  was  perswaded  God 
Avould  raise  up  others,  to  carry  on  the  work  that  was  begun,  and  that  there 
would  yet  be  many  churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  this  wilderness." 
He  likewise  added,  "  that  though  he  should  leave  his  desolate  wife  and  eight 
children,  whereof  the  eldest  was  but  about  fourteen  years  old,  in  a  low  con- 
dition, yet  he  left  them  with  his  God,  and  he  doubted  not,  but  the  fliithful 
God  would  graciously  provide  for  them."  So,  in  the  midst  of  many  prayers, 
he  fell  asleep;  in  the  month  of  August,  1630,  and  in  the  forty-third  year 
of  his  age,  and  his  funeral  was  attended  with  all  possible  solemnity, 

§  15.  Eeader,  prepare  to  behold  and  admire  and  adore  the  faithfulness 
of  our  God,  in  providing  for  the  children  of  them  that  faithfully  have 
served  Idra.  He  moved  the  hearts  of  many  charitable  Christians,  who  yet 
were  spending  on  the  stocks  which  they  brought  out  of  England  with  them, 
to  provide  as  comfortably  for  the  widow  and  off-spring  of  this  deceased 
minister  as  if  he  had  left  them  some  thousands  of  pounds.  And  his  two 
sons,  who  had  been  brought  up  at  the  grammar-school  in  Leicester,  had 
a  particular  taste  of  this  liberality,  in  the  provision  which  was  thus  made 
for  their  having  such  a  learned  education  as  might  fit  them  for  the  service 
of  the  church  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

One  of  these,  Francis  by  name,  was  for  a  time  a  school-master  at  our 
Cambridge;  but  having  attained  as  much  learning  as  New-England  could 
then  afford,  he  was  desirous  to  visit  some  European  university;  and  being 
recommended  unto  Rotterdam,  some  Dutch  merchants,  out  of  respect  unto 
an  hopeful  scholar  of  New-England,  contributed  fourscore  pounds  in  money 
to  assist  his  juvenile  studies  at  Leyden.  Afterwards  having  visited  some 
other  universities  in  those  parts,  he  returned  into  England;  where  he 
declined  a  settlement  in  some  other,  which  he  thought  more  opinionative, 
and  so  more  contentious  and  undcsireable  places,  to  which  he  was  invited, 
and  settled  at  Kerby-Stevcn  in  Westmoreland,  hoping  to  do  most  good 
among  the  ignorant  people  there.  But  it  pleased  the  God  of  heaven  to 
permit  the  first  out-breaking  of  that  prodigious  and  comprehensive  heresy, 
Quakerism,  in  that  very  place;  and  a  multitude  of  people  being  bewitched 
thereinto,  it  was  a  great  aOliction  unto  this  worthy  man ;  but  it  occasioned 
his  writing  the  first  book  tliat  ever  was  written  against  that  sink  of  bias- 


OK,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  355 

plieniies,  entituled,  "  The  Irreligion  of  Northern  Quakers.''''  This  learned 
person  was  the  author  of  a  Latin  treatise,  De  quinq,  maximis  Luminihus: 
De  Luce  Increata;  De  Luce  areata;  De  Lumine  Natural^  Gratlce  et  Glorktif-^ 
and  having  illuminated  the  house  of  God  in  that  part  of  it  where  our  Lord 
had  set  him  to  shine^  he  went  away  to  the  light  of  glory^  in  the  fifty-fifth 
3'ear  of  his  age. 

The  other,  named  John,  has  been  on  some  laudable  accounts  another 
Origen ;  for  the  father  of  Origen  would  kiss  the  uncovered  breast  of  that 
excellent  youth,  whilst  he  lay  asleep,  as  being  the  temple  where  the  spirit 
of  God  was  resident,  and  as  Origen,  after  the  untimely  death  of  his  father, 
had  his  poor  mother  with  six  other  children  to  look  after;  whereupon  he 
taught  first  a  grammar-school,  and  then  betook  hin:iself  unto  the  study  of 
divinity;  thus  this  other  Higginson,  after  a  pious  childhood,  having  been 
a  school-master  at  Hartford,  and  a  minister  at  Saybrook,  and  afterwards 
at  Guilford,  became  at  length,  in  the  year  1659,  a  pastor,  and  a  rich  and 
long  blessing,  succeeding  his  father  in  his  church  at  Salem.  This  reverend 
person,  has  been  always  valued  for  his  useful  preaching  and  his  holy  liv- 
ing;  and  besides  his  constant  labours  in  the  pulpit,  whereby  his  own  flock 
has  been  edified  the  whole  country  has,  by  the  p7-ess,  enjoyed  some  of  his 
composures,  and  by  his  hand,  the  composures  of  some  others  also,  passing 
the  ^jres.s,  have  been  accompanied.  Having  formerly  born  his  testimony 
to  ^^  The  Cause  of  God,  and  his  People  in  New- England,^''  in  a  sermon  so 
entituled,  which  he  preached  on  the  greatest  anniversary  solemnity  which 
occurred  in  the  land,  namely,  the  anniversary  election;  when  he  thought, 
that  the  advances  of  old  age  upon  him  directed  him  to  live  in  the  hourly 
expectation  of  deatli,  he  published  a  most  savoury  book,  on  "  Our  dying 
Saviour^s  Legacy  of  Peace  to  his  Disciples  in  a  troublesome  world;  with  a  Dis- 
course on  the  Duty  of  Christians,  to  he  Witnesses  unto  Christ;  unto  which  is 
added,  some  Help  to  Self  Examination  J'' 

Nevertheless,  this  true  Simeon  is  yet  "waiting  for  the  consolation  of 
Israel,"  This  good  old  man  is  yet  alive;  (in  the  year  1696)  arrived  unto 
the  eightieth  year  of  his  devout  age,  and  about  the  sixtieth  year  of  his 
publick  work,  and  he  that  "from  a  child  knew  the  holy  Scriptures,"  does, 
at  those  years  wherein  men  use  to  be  twice  children,  continue  preaching 
them  with  such  a  manly,  pertinent,  judicious  vigour,  and  with  so  little 
deca}"  of  his  intellectual  abilities,  as  is  indeed  a  matter  of  just  admiration. 
But  there  was  a  famous  divine  in  Germany,  who  on  his  death  bed,  when 
some  of  his  friends  took  occasion  to  commend  his  past  painful,  faithful, 
and  fruitful  ministry,  cried  out  unto  them  [Auferte  Ignem  adJiuc  enim  puleus 
Jtabeol]  "Oh!  bring  not  the  sparks  of  your  praises  near  me,  as  long  as 
I  have  any  chaff  left  in  me!"  And  T  am  sensible  that  I  shall  receive  the 
like  check  from  this  ray  reverend  father,  if  I  presume  to  do  him  the  justice 
which  a  few  months  hence  will  be  done  him,  in  all  the  churclies ;   nor 

*  The  five  Great  Lights:  Light  Uncreated;  Light  Created;  the  Light  of  Nature,  of  Grace,  and  of  Glory. 


866 


MAGNA  LI  A    CllIilSTI    AMERICANA; 


would  I  deserve  at  liis  hands  the  blow  which  Constantine  gave  to  him, 
who  Impcmtoreni  ausus  est   in  Os  Beatum  dlcereJ^ 

%  16.  At  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Francis  Higginson  was  persecuted  for 
his  non-conformity  in  Leicestershire,  there  was  one  Mr.  Samuel  Skelton, 
■who  underwent  the  hke  persecution  in  Lincohishire;  and  by  means  hereof 
X\\Qy  hecome  fellow-travellers  m  their  voyage  to  New-England,  and /eZ/oiy- 
hbourei-s  in  their  service  here.  All  the  remembrance  that  I  can  recover 
of  this  worthy  man  is,  that  he  survived  his  colleague,  "a  good  and  faithful 
servant  of  our  Lord,  well  doing,"  until  August  2,  163-4,  and  retired  from 
an  evil  world,  then  to  partake  with  him  in  the  "joy  of  their  Lord." 

EPIT  APniUM. 

Jacet  sub  hoc  Tiimulo,  Mortuus, 

FRANCISCUS  HIGGINSONUS: 

Jaceret  et  ipsa  Virtus,  si  mori  posset. 

Abi  Viator, 

Et  sis  hujus  Ordinis  Franciscanus.t 


CHAPTER  ,IL 

THE  DEATH  OF  MR.  JOHN  AVERY. 

The  divine  oracles  have  told  us,  "That  the  judgments  of  God  are  a 
great  deep:"  and  indeed  it  is  in  the  cleep,  that  we  have  seen  some  of  those 
judgments  executed. 

It  has  been  remarked,  that  there  miscarried  but  07ie  vessel  of  all  those 
great  fleets  which  brought  passengers  unto  New-England  upon  the  pious 
and  holy  designs  of  the  first  settlement;  which  vessel  also  was  but  a  phi- 
nace;  nevertheless  richly  laden,  as  having  in  it  Mr.  Avery. 

Mr.  Avery,  a  worthy  minister,  coming  into  New-England,  was  invited 
unto  Marble-head;  but  there  being  no  cliurch  there,  and  i\\Q  fishermen  being 
there  generally  too  remiss  to  form  a  church,  he  went  rather  to  Newberr}', 
intending  there  to  settle. 

Nevertheless,  both  the  magistrates  and  the  ministers  of  the  country, 
urging  the  common  good  that  would  arise  from  his  being  at  Marble-head, 
he  embarked  in  a  pinnace,  with  two  families,  his  own  and  his  cousin  Mr. 
Anthony  Thacher's,  which,  with  some  others  then  aboard,  made  in  all 
twenty-three  souls;  designing  in  a  few  hours  to  have  reached  the  port. 

But  on  August  14,  1635,  in  the  night,  there  came  on  as  mighty  a  storm 
as  perhaps  was  ever  known  in  these  parts  of  the  world;  a  storm  which 

•  Dared  to  cull  him  Dlussed  Emperiir  to  his  face. 

t  K  P I T  A  p  II :  Dead  bcneatli  tliis  tonibsloiif  lies  Francis  IIiooinson  :  and  Virliie,  if  she  could  die,  could  iio 
buried  here  with  him.    Awuy,  truvoUor,  and  henceforth  be  a  Franciscan  of  his  order. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  537 

drove  tlie  vessel  upon  a  rock,  and  so  tore  it,  that  the  poor  people  sat  pres- 
ently up  to  the  middle  in  water,  expecting  every  moment  the  waves  of 
death  to  be  rolling  over  them. 

The  vessel  was  quickly  broken  all  to  pieces,  and  almost  the  whole  com- 
pany drowned,  by  being  successively  washed  off  the  rock;  only  Mr. 
Thacher,  having  been  a  considerable  while  tossed  hither  and  thither  by 
the  violent  seas,-  was  at  last  very  strangely  cast  alive  upon  the  shore; 
where,  much  wounded,  he  found  his  wife  a  sharer  with  him  in  the  like 
deliverance. 

While  these  distressed  servants  of  God  were  hanging  about  the  rock, 
and  Mr.  Thacher  had  Mr.  Avery  by  the  hand,  resolving  to  die  together, 
and  expecting  by  the  stroke  of  the  next  wave  to  die,  Mr.  Avery  lift  up 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  saying,  "We  know  not  what  the  pleasure  of  God  is; 
I  fear  we  have  been  too  unmindful  of  former  deliverances :  Lord,  I  cannot 
challenge  a  promise  of  the  preservation  of  my  life ;  but  thou  hast  promised 
to  deliver  us  from  sin  and  condemnation,  and  to  bring  us  safe  to  heaven, 
through  the  all-sufficient  satisfaction  of  Jesus  Christ;  this  therefore  I  do 
challenge  of  thee."  Which  he  had  no  sooner  spoken,  but  he  was,  by  a 
wave  sweeping  him  off,  immediately  wafted  away  to  heaven  indeed ;  being 
well  furnished  with  those  unperishahle  things:  whereto  refers  the  advice  of 
the  famous  Duke  of  Bavaria,  Hujusmodi  compamndce  sunt  opes,  quce  nohis- 
cum  possunt  simid  evatare  in  Naiifragio.* 

The  next  island  was  therefore  called  Thacher's  Woe,  and  that  rock 
Avery'' s  Fall. 

Who  can,  without  shedding  tears  almost  enough  to  make  a  sensible  addi- 
tion unto  the  lake  Leman,  call  to  mind  the  fate  of  the  incomparable  Hot- 
tinger,  upon  that  lake,  in  the  year  1667?  That  incomparably  learned  and 
godly  man,  being  by  the  States-General  of  the  United  Provinces,  after 
much  importunity,  prevailed  withal  to  come  unto  Leyden,  the  boat  wherein 
he  was,  with  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  a  kinsman,  and  another  per- 
son of  quality,  unhappily  overset,  by  striking  on  an  unseen  rock,  a  little 
way  off  the  shoar.  He,  with  the  two  gentlemen,  got  safe  out  of  the  toater ; 
but  seeing  his  icife  and  three  children  in  extream  danger  of  drowning,  they 
went  into  the  water  again  to  save  them,  and  there  he,  with  one  of  the 
gentlemen,  (and  his  three  children)  were  drowned  themselves.  But  eight 
days  before  this  lamentable  accident,  he  found  this  verse  Avritten  on  the 
Doctor'' s  cJiair  at  his  ascending  it  for  the  publick  exercises;  whereof  the 
writer  could  never  be  found: 

Carinina  jam  Moriens    Canit  Exequialia  Cygnus.f 

Eeader,  from  Hottinger,  now  return  to  Avery.  Compare  the  manner 
of  their  death ;  and  never  forget  the  memorable  swan-song  which  Avery, 

•  We  should  amass  those  treasures  which  will  survive  our  shipwreck, 
+  The  dying  swao  chants  his  own  requiem. 


g^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

not  cujht  days,  but  scarce  eight  seconds  of  a  minute,  before  his  expiration, 
sang  in  the  ears  of  heaven. 

What  was  applied  once  to  Ilottingcr,  shall  now  be  borrowed  for  Avery, 

EPITAPiriUM.  AND   ADD, 

rirl.ln-  ,«.>  non  pc.t  T,  s,rUtur  run.lo,  I         Tulum  tenet  Anchors  portum. 


firluUm  ^uando  gloria  tanta  manet. 


Aunc  hilaris  Venlos  ridct,  Tumidasijue procellas.^' 


\j  XX  iZi)  ii.XJjXii     xxi» 
NATL'S   AD   EXEMPLAR4   THE    LIFE   OF   MR.   JONATHAN   BURR. 

Exemplo  monstrante   Viam.fj 

§  1.  When  the  interests  of  David  were  carried  into  a  ivilderness,  the 
respects  and  regards  by  his  Jonathan  had  thereunto  were  such,  that  he 
at  last  uttered  this  exclamation  thereupon,  "  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonder- 
ful!" The  interests  of  our  Je.siis,  the  true  David,  being  lodged  very  much 
in  an  American  wilderness,  there  was  a  Jonathan,  whose  love  thereunto  was 
indeed  so  wonderful,  that  it  carried  him  thro'  the  many  ivaters  of  the  Atlan- 
tick  ocean,  to  be  serviceable  thereunto;  and  this  was  Mr.  Jonathan  Burr. 

§  2.  lie  was  born  at  Redgrave,  in  Suffolk,  about  the  year  160J:;  de- 
scended of  godly  parents,  who  gratified  the  inclinations  of  this  their  son 
with  a  learned  education.  But  although  literature  did  much  adorn  his 
childhood,  nliijion  did  so  much  more;  for  he  had  "from  a  child  known 
tlie  holy  Scriptures,  which  made  him  wise  unto  salvation."  It  is  noted  that 
the  I'Ofl  of  Aaron  was  made  of  an  almond-tree ;  of  which  'twill  be  no  Pliny- 
ism  to  observe  (though  Pliny  observe  it,)  that  it  flowers  the  first  of  all 
trees,  even  in  January,  in  the  more  southern  countries,  and  bears  in  March ; 
which  has  been  sometimes  employed  as  an  intimation  how  quickly  those 
that  are  designed  for  the  ministry  should  blossom  towards  heaven,  and 
be  young  Jeremiahs,  and  Johns,  and  Timothies.  Thus  did  our  Jonathan. 
Kven  iti  his  very  childhood,  so  studious  he  was,  as  to  leave  hisybo(^  for  his 
book,  but  withal  so  pious,  that  he  could  neither  morning  nor  evening  dare 
to  go  without  prayers  to  God  for  his  blessing.  And  as  it  was  his  endeav- 
our, whilst  a  school-boy,  to  be  every  day  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  so  he  would 
on  the  /^'n/'.v  (/<j// discover  a  singular  measure  of  that /m?-;  not  only  by 
abstaining  from  the  liberties  which  others  of  his  age  then  use  to  take,  to 
])ass  the  time  away,  but  also  by  dcvotinj  the  time  to  the  exercises  of  devotion. 
Ilia  father,  observing  this  disposition  of  the  child,  hoped,  as  well  he  might, 

•  IIP  f.illuwii  virtue  who  Riios  arter  Ihec ;  I  +  His  ship  lies  anchored  in  iho  port  at  liist, 

Thy  Viriii..'.  raiiiv  hi*  certain  (fuido  shall  bo.  |  Smiles  at  the  billow  and  defies  the  blast, 

t  B..rn  I,.  iH-  nn  exarapW.  g  K.xample  .h  ,ws  the  way. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ggO 

that  whatever  was  expended  in  fitting  him  for  service^  would  be  well  repaid 
in  the  service  which  might  be  done  by  him  for  the  church  of  God ;  and 
therefore,  after  due  preparations  for  it,  he  sent  him  unto  the  university. 

§  3.  After  he  had  spent  three  or  four  years  in  academical  studies,  the 
death  of  his  father  fetched  him  sooner  Mian  he  would  have  gone  into  the 
country ;  where,  though  he  kept  a  school,  yet  he  pursued  the  design  of 
accomplishing  himself  with  every  part  of  learning,  that  when  those  of  his 
years  were  to  take  their  degrees  of  Mastership^  he  was  one  of  the  moder- 
ators, which  place  he  discharged  with  great  acceptation.  But  he  after- 
wards would  say,  that  the  awful  and  humbling  providence  of  God,  in  the 
death  of  his  father,  which  hindred  him  from  those  employments  and  pre- 
ferments of  the  university  for  which  he  had  a  particular  fondness,  had  an 
effect  upon  him,  for  which  he  had  reason  to  admire  the  wisdom  of  Heaven ; 
inasmuch  as  it  reduced  him  to  that  modest,  gracious,  careful  frame,  which 
made  him  the  fitter  for  the  work  of  "turning  many  to  righteousness." 

§  4.  Having  for  a  while  attended  that  work  at  Horninger,  near  Bury  in 
Suffolk,  he  afterwards  undertook  the  charge  of  Reckingshal,  in  the  same 
count}^,  wherein  he  did  most  exemplarily  express  the  spirit  of  a  minister 
of  the  Neiv  Testament.  He  would  therein  be  sometimes  ready  to  envy  the 
more  easie  condition  of  the  husbandmen;  but  in  submission  and  obedience 
unto  the  call  of  God,  he  now  set  his  hand  unto  the  plough  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ :  and  therefore  in  the  form  of  a  solemn  covenant,  he  obliged 
himself  unto  the  most  conscientious  discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties; 
in  which  discharge  he  would  always  beg  of  God  that,  whatever  exhortation 
he  gave  unto  others,  might  first  be  shaped  in  his  own  experience:  and  yet 
sometimes  he  would  cofnplain  unto  his  friends:  "Alas!  I  preach  not  what 
I  am,  but  what  I  ought  to  be." 

§  5.  This  gracious  man,  was  indeed  a  very  humble  jnan,  and  his  humility 
carried  him  even  into  a  dejection  of  spirit;  especially  when  by  importuni- 
ties he  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  preach  abroad.  Once  particularly,  there 
was  a  person  of  quality,  for  whose  conversion  many  prayers  had  been  put 
up  to  God,  by  those  who  hoped  that  God  might  have  much  honour  from 
a  man  of  honour  brought  unto  himself  Mr.  Burr,  preaching  at  a  place 
far  from  his  own  congregation,  had  a  most  happy  success  in  the  conversion 
of  this  gentleman,  who  not  only  acknowledged  this  change  with  much 
thankfulness,  both  to  God  and  the  instrument,  but  also  approved  himself 
a  changed  man  in  the  whole  frame  of  his  after-conversation.  And  yet, 
coming  home  from  the  preaching  of  that  sermon,  Mr.  Burr  had  a  particu- 
lar measure  of  his  lowly  and  modest  reflections  thereupon;  adding,  "1 
shall  conclude,  it  is  of  God,  if  any  good  be  done  by  any  thing  preached 
by  such  an  unworthy  instrument." 

§  6.  Hence,  on  the  Lord's  day,  after  he  came  home  from  his  publick 
work,  it  was  his  manner  presently  to  retire,  and  spend  some  time  in  pray- 
ing to  God  for  the  pardon  of  the  sins  which  accompanied  him  in  his  work, 
Vol.  I.— 24 


3^Q  MAGNALIA    CHKISTI    AMERICANA; 

and  in  /)ra.-^|-/.^  of  God  for  enabling  him  to  go,  in  any  measure,  through 
if  Willi  petitions  for  the  good  success  of  his  labours. 

'lie  then  would  come  down  to  his /a»i^7y-?/-or6/»>,  wherem  he  spent  some 
hours  instructing  or  the  family,  and  performing  of  other  duties;  and  when 
his  wife  desired  him  to  abate  of  his  excessive  pains,  his  answer  would  be, 
"Tis  better  to  be  worn  out  with  work,  than  to  be  eaten  out  with  rust." 
It  was  indeed  his  Joy  to  be  spending  his  life  unto  the  uttermost  for  God 
and  for  his  people;  yea,  he  would  say,  though  he  should  have  no  temjjoral 
reicardi.     Aceordiiigly,  when  any  that  had  been  benefited  by  his  ministry 
sent  him   any  tolums  of  their  gratitude,  he  would  (like  Luther)  beg  of 
God  "That  he  might  not  have  his  portion  in  such  things:"  and  he  desired 
of  his  grateful  friends,  "that  if  they  had  gotten  any  good  of  him,  they 
would  give  unto  God  alone  the  glory  of  it."     Moreover,  if  he  had  under- 
stood that  any  had  gained  in  the  concern  of  their  souls  by  his  labours, 
he  would  mention  it,  in  some  of  his  private  devotions,  with  this  expres- 
sion, "Lord,  of  thine  own  have  I  given,  take  then  the  glory  unto  thy  self: 
as  for  me,  let  my  portion  be  in  thy  self,  and  not  in  the  things  of  this 
world."     But  when  he  was  debarred  of  his  liberty  to  preach,  he  was  even 
"like  a  fish  out  of  the  water;"  and  his  very  body  languished  through  a  sym- 
pathy, with  the  resentments  of  his  mind;  saying,  "That  his  preaching  was 
his  life;  and  if  he  were  laid  aside  from  that,  he  should  quickly  be  dead." 
§  7.  It  was  not  on  the  Lord's  day  only,  but  every  day,  that  this  good 
man  was  usually,  "in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day  long."     He  might 
say  with  the  Psalmist,  "  When  I  awake,  I  am  still  with  God :"  for  at  his 
first  awaking,  he  would  bless  God  for  the  mercies  of  the  night,  and  then 
pray,  "that  he  might  so  number  his  days,  as  to  apply  his  heart  to  wi.s- 
dom :"  and  if  he  awaked  in  the  night,  it  would  commonly  be  with  some 
thanksgivings  unto  Ileaven.     llising  in  the  morning,  he  would  repair  to  his 
beloved  study,  where  he  began  the  day  with  secret  prayer  before  the  Lord : 
after  this,  he  would  read  a  chapter  in  the  Old  Testament,  spending  some 
time  in  serious,  and  solemn,  and  heart  searching  meditations  thereupon: 
he  would  then  come  down  into  his  family,  where,  with  his  prayers,  he 
would  then  read  and  expound,  and  appl}'^  the  same  chapter  unto  his  own 
folks,  and  such  of  the  neighbours  as  w'ould  come  in  to  enjoy  his  medita- 
tions at  the  usual  season  of  them.     Retiring  then  to  his  study  again,  he 
would  continue  there,  till  called  unto  his  dinner;  and  if  none  came  to 
speak  with  him  after  dinner,  he  would,  after  some  diversion  for  a  while 
with  his  children,  return  to  his  study,  where  he  would  then  have  a  time 
to  pray  with  his  ui/e;  but  if  at  any  time  he  were  invited  unto  a  dinner 
abroad,  he  would  have  a  time  for  tJiat  service  in  the  forenoon,  before  his 
going  out. 

As  the  evening  drew  on,  after  the  like  manner,  he  would  read  a  chap- 
ter in  the  New  Testament,  making  his /a7?ii7_y  partakers  of  his  reflections, 
with  his  prayer  upon  it.     And  before  his  going  to  bed,  he  usually  walked 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  37I 

up  and  down  the  room,  for  half  an  hour  or  more,  pondering  upon  some- 
thing^ which  his  wife,  desiring  to  know,  "what  it  was?"  he  replied,  "See- 
ing thou  art  so  near  me,  if  it  may  do  thee  good,  I'll  tell  thee:  First,^^  he 
said,  he  called  himself  unto  an  account,  "how  he  had  spent  the  day?" 
and  what  sinful  commissions  or  omissions  he  had  been  overtaken  with ;  for 
which  he  then  begged  pardon  of  God.  /Secondly,  he  reckoned  up  the  par- 
ticular mercies  he  had  received  in  the  day,  rendring  of  praises  to  Heaven 
for  those  mercies.  Lastly,  he  made  his  petitions  to  God,  that  he  might  be 
prepared  for  sudden  death:  unto  which  third  article  in  his  thoughts,  that 
which  gave  more  special  occasion  was  the  sudden  death  of  his  brother, 
an  eminent  and  excellent  Christian,  whom,  he  said,  he  could  never  forget. 

§  8.  When  he  travelled  abroad,  he  thought  long  to  be  at  home  again, 
through  his  dissatisfaction  at  his  not  having  elsewhere  so  convenient  sea- 
sons for  his  communion  with  God.  And  when  he  took  any  journeys 
with  his  friends,  it  was  his  manner  to  enquire,  "What  good  had  been 
done,  or  gained  therein?"  and  "what  good  examples  had  been  seen?" 
and  "what  good  instructions  had  been  heard?"  and  that  there  might  be 
no  loss  of  ti77ie  in  the  journeys,  he  would  be  full  of  profitable  discourse, 
especially  by  way  of  occasioned  reflection  upon  things  that  then  occurred 
unto  observation.  What  he  was  in  a  journey,  the  same  he  was  at  the 
table;  even  like  the  fire,  (what  was  once  writ  of  Athenodorus)  'E^a^Twv 
iravra.  ra  *apaxJifxfva.*  So  that  they  who  would  bear  no  part  in  a  gracious 
communication,  would  be  dumh  where-ever  he  came;  and  some  of  the 
roughest  and  rudest  hearers  would  have  tears  fetched  from  their  eyes  at 
the  soul-melting  expressions  that  passed  from  his  mouth.  Moreover,  at  a 
least  fie  would  eat  more  sparingly  than  at  another  time,  giving  us  his  rea-  (X 
son  for  his  temperance,  the  advice  of  the  wise  man:  "Put  a  knife  to  thy 
throat;"  and  he  would  say,  "Where  there  are  many  varieties,  there  are 
many  temptations." 

§  9.  It  was  his  wont,  before  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  keep  a  day  of  solemn 
fasting  and  prayer  alone,  with  his  wife,  as  well  to  prepare  themselves  for 
that  sacred  ordinance,  as  to  obtain  the  manifold  blessings  of  Heaven  upon 
his  family  and  neighbourhood.  Such  was  his  piety.  And  as  for  his 
charity,  he  seldom  visited  the  poor,  but  with  spirituals  he  communicated 
also  temporals  unto  them:  for  which,  when  some  of  his  friends  intimated 
that  he  might  err,  in  reserving  no  more  for  himself,  he  would  answer,  "I 
often  think  -of  those  words,  he  that  soweth  sparingly,  shall  reap  spar- 
ingly." It  was  also  remarkable  to  see  how  much  his  own  personal  70^5  and 
griefs  were  swallowed  up  in  the  sympathy  which  he  had  with  the  condition 
of  the  Avhole  church  abroad :  when  he  heard  it  was  well  with  the  church, 
he  would  say,  "Blessed  be  God,  that  it  goes  well  with  them,  whatever 
becomes  of  me!"  But  if  ill,  none  of  his  own  private  prosperity  kept  , 
him  from  feeling  it,  as  a  true  member  of  that  mystical  body.     Finally,  all 

•  Which  touches  eveiy  thing  near  it. 


gY2  MAC.  N  ALIA    C'HRISTl    AMERICANA; 

the  graces  which  thus  rcndrcd  him  amiable  to  those  that  were  about  him, 
were  attended  with  such  Mosaic  meekness  as  made  him  yet  further  ami- 
able: he  would  be  zenhus  when  he  saw  dishonour  cast  on  the  name  of 
Go<l,  hut  patient  under  injury  offered  unto  himself.  If  he  were  informed 
that  any  thought  meanly  of  him,  he  would  not  be  moved  at  it,  but  say, 
"I  think  as  meanly  of  my  self,  and  therefore  may  well  be  content  that 
others  tliink  meanly  of  me:"  and  when  evil  hath  been  charged  on  him, 
he  has  replied,  "If  men  see  so  much,  what  does  God  see?"  Disgraceful 
and  unworthy  speeches  bestowed  upon  him,  he  would  call  his  gains;  but 
it  was  his  trouble  to  find  himself  applauded.  His  friends  might  indeed 
have  said  of  him,  as  Luther  of  Mclancthon,  Mihi  plane  videtur  saltern  in 
hoc  errarc^  qucxl  Christum  iptse  fingat  longius  ahesse  a  Corde  suo,  qudm  sit 
re  vera:  certe  nimis  Nullus  in  hoc  est  noster  Jonathan.* 

§  10.  This  bright  star  must  move  westward.  He,  with  many  fellow- 
sufferers  fur  the  "testimony  of  Jesus,"  being  silenced  in  England;  and 
foreseeing  a  dismal  storm  a  coming  upon  the  nation,  till  the  overpassing 
whereof  he  saw  many  p)raip'ng  saints  directed  unto  America  for  chambers 
o/sajity;  and  willing  to  forego  all  worldly  advantages  for  the  enjoyment 
of  gospel  ordinances,  administered  without  the  mixtures  of  humane  inven- 
tions; he  removed  into  New^-England,  having  his  three  children  with  him, 
and  his  wife  big  with  a  fourth,  in  his  remove;  where  arriving,  it  refreshed 
him  not  a  little  to  see  the  escaped  people  of  God,  with  "harps  in  their 
hands,"  there  singing  the  "song  of  Moses."  He  came  into  New-England 
at  a  time  when  there  was  not  so  much  want  of  lights  as  of  golden  candle- 
sticks wherein  to  place  the  lights;  but  he  was  not  long  there  before  he 
was  invited  by  the  church  of  Dorchester  to  be  an  assistant  unto  the  well- 
known  Mr.  Richard  Mather. 

§  11.  The  evil  one,  disturbed  at  the  happiness  of  Dorchester,  very  strongl}^ 
endeavoured  a  misunderstanding  bctw^een  Mr.  Mather  and  Mr.  Burr;  and 
the  misunderstanding  did  proceed  so  far  as  to  produce  a  paroxism. 

It  was  judged  by  some  of  the  brethren  in  the  church  that  Mr.  Burr  had 
expressed  him.self  erroneously  in  certain  points,  then  much  agitated  through- 
out the  country;  and  Mr.  Mather,  upon  their  desire,  examining  the  prop- 
ositions which  this  good  man  had  written,  thought  he  could  not  altogether 
clear  them  from  exceptions.  Hereupon  grew  such  alienations,  that  they 
could  not  be  well  re-united  without  calling  in  the  help  of  neighbouring 
churches  in  a.  council;  which  council  directing  both  Mr.  Mather  and  Mn 
Burr  to  acknowledge  what  misunderstanding^^  were  then  discovered  in  this 
business,  those  two  good  men  set  apart  a  day  for  the  reconciliation:  and 
witli  such  exemplary  expressions  of  humilitg  and  affection  rectified  all  that 
liad  been  out  of  joint,  that  God  was  exceedingly  glorified,  and  the  peace 
of  the  church  cfloctually  restored  and  maintained. 

•  II  i.  ovldrnl  U.  mo  timt  he  ern.  in  pretending  that  Cl.ri.l  is  farll.er  from  his  heart  than  is  really  true.  Surely 
IB  (Ills  my  JoMQlhmi  soeius  to  ilcprecinUi  hliiiself  to  uii  unrcasonaUR-  extent. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  3^3 

§  12.  This  true  Barnabas  was  not  only  to  give  the  churches  of  New- 
England  a  coyisolatory  visit  in  his  passage  unto  glory,  that  he  might  leave 
them  an  example  of  that  love^  patience^  holiness,  and  fruitfulness,  which 
would  make  them  an  happy  people.  Though  he  had  not  persecution  to 
try  him  in  this  wilderness,  yet  he  was  not  without  his  trials ;  for,  as  'tis 
well  observed  in  the  discourse,  De  Duplici  Martyrio,"^  which  goes  under  the 
name  of  Cyprian,  Si  deest  Tyrannus^  si  Tortor^  si  Spoliator;  non  deer  it  can- 
cupiscentia^  Martyrii  Materiam  quotidianam  nobis  exhihens.\  The  next  year 
after  he  came  to  New-England,  he  was  taken  sick  of  the  small-pox ;  out 
of  which  he  nevertheless  recovered,  and  came  forth  as  "gold  that  had  been 
tryed  in  the  fire."  He  then  renewed  and  applied  the  covenant  of  grace^  by 
the  suitable  recognitions  of  the  following  instrument : 

"I,  Jonathan  Burr,  being  brought  in  the  arms  of  Almighty  God  over  the  vast  ocean,  with 
my  ftimily  and  friends,  and  graciously  provided  for  in  a  wilderness;  and  being  sensible  of 
my  own  unprofitableness  and  self-seeking;  yet  of  infinite  mercy,  being  called  unto  the  tre- 
mendous work  0? feeding  souls,  and  being  of  late  with  my  family  delivered  out  of  a  great 
aflliction  of  the  small-pox;  and  having  found  the  fruit  of  that  affliction;  God  tempering, 
ordering,  mitigating  the  evil  thereof,  so  as  I  have  been  graciously  and  speedily  delivered;  I 
do  promise  and  vow  to  Him  that  hath  done  all  things  for  me;  First,  That  I  will  aim  only  at 
h\^  glory,  and  the  good  of  souls,  and  not  my  self  and  vain  glory:  and  that,  Secojidly,  I  will 
walk  humbly,  with  lower  thoughts  of  ray  self,  considering  what  a  poor  creature  I  am:  a  puff 
of  breath,  sustained  only  by  the  power  of  His  grace;  and  therefore,  Thirdly,  I  will  be  more 
watchful  over  my  heart,  to  keep  it  in  a  due  frame  of  holiness  and  obedience,  without  running 
out  so  far  to  the  creature;  for  I  have  seen  that  he  is  mine  only  help  in  time  of  need; 
Fourthly,  that  I  will  put  more  weight  upon  that ^rm  promise,  and  sure  truth,  that  God  is  a 
"God  hearing  prayer;"  Fifthly,  that  I  will  set  up  God,  more  in  my  family,  more  in  my  self, 
wife,  children  and  servants;  conversing  with  them  in  a  more  serious  and  constant  manner; 
for  this  God  aimed  at  in  sending  his  hand  into  my  family  at  this  time. 

"Memento  Mori. J 

"■  In  MeipsQ  Nihil;  in  Christo  Ornne."^ 

Nor  was  his  heavenly  conversation  afterwards  disagreeable  to  these  grate- 
ful resolutions  of  his  devout  soul.  By  the  same  token,  that  the  famous 
Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  being  one  of  his  auditors  when  he  preached  in  a 
great  audience  at  Charlestown,  had  this  expression  about  him:  "Surely, 
this  man  wont  be  long  out  of  heaven,  for  he  preaches  as  if  he  were  there 
already."  And  the  most  experienced  Christians  in  the  country  found  still 
in  his  ministry,  as  well  as  in  his  whole  behaviour,  the  breathing  of  such  a 
sjn'rit  as  was  very  greatly  to  their  satisfaction.  They  could  not  but  call 
him,  as  Dionysius  was  once  called,  Ustsivov  tS?  'oupavS, — the  bird  of  heaven. 
Had  it  not  been  old  Adam's  tvorld,  so  innocent,  so  excellent,  so  heavenly 
a  person,  could  not  have  met  with  such  exercises  as  he  and  others  like  him 
then  sometimes  did,  even  from  their  truest  brethren. 

§  13.  Having  just  been  preaching  about  the  redemption  of  time,  he  fell 

*  Twofold  martyrdom.  [martyrdom. 

+  If  there  be  no  tyrant,  no  torturer,  no  robber,  there  will  still  be  evil  passions,  furnishing  daily  occasions  for 
X  Keep  death  in  mind.  §  In  myself,  1  am  nothing;  in  Christ,  I  am  all  things. 


jj-j  M  AC  N  A  LI  A    CIIKISTI    AMKKICANA; 

into  a  sickness  often  days'  continuance;  during  whicli  lime,  lie  expressed 
:i  wonderful  patience  and  subniispion  ui)on  all  occasions.  His  wife,  per- 
ceiving' his  trillin'/iicss  to  die,  asked  him,  "  whether  he  were  desirous  to  leave 
her  and  his  children?"  Whereto  his  answer  was,  "Do  not  mistake  ine: 
1  am  not  desirous  of  that;  but  I  bless  God  that  now  my  will  is  the  Lord's 
will:  if  he  will  have  me  to  live  yet  with  my  dear  wife  and  children,  I  am 
willin<».  I  will  say  to  you,  my  dear  wife  and  children,  as  the  apostle  says, 
'It  is  better  for  you,  that  I  abide  with  you;  but  it  is  better  for  me  to  be 
dissolved  and  to  be  with  Christ.'  "  And  perceiving  his  wife's  di.sconsola- 
tion,  he  asked  her,  "if  she  could  not  be  willing  to  part  with  him;"  where- 
upon, when  she  intimated  how  hard  it  was,  he  exhorted  her  to  acquiesce 
in  that  God  who  would  be  hdter  than  ten  husbands:  adding,  "Our  parting 
is  but  for  a  time;  I  am  sure  we  shall  one  day  meet  again."  Being  dis- 
couraged by  finding  himself  unable  to  put  on  his  clothes,  one  of  his  friends 
told  him  "his  work  was  now  to  lie  still:"  at  whicli  he  complained,  "I  lie 
slugging  a  bed,  when  others  are  at  work!"  But  being  minded  of  God's 
%1'ill  that  it  should  be  so,  that  quieted  him.  Observing  how  diligently  his 
wife  tended  him,  he  said  unto  her,  "Don't  spend  so  much  time  with  me, 
but  g(i  thy  way  and  s{)end  some  time  in  prayer:  thou  knowest  not  what 
thou  mayst  obtain  from  God;  I  fear  lest  thou  look  too  mucb  upon  this 
afTliction."  A  day  or  two  before  his  death,  he  blessed  his  children;  and 
the  night  before  he  died,  he  was  overheard  sometimes  to  say,  "I  will  wait 
until  my  change  come;"  and  "Why  art  thou  so  loath  to  die?"  A  feu- 
hours  before  his  death,  it  was  observed  that  he  had  a  sore  conflict  with 
the  "angel  of  death,"  who  was  now  shooting  his  last  arrows  at  him;  and 
when  one  of  the  standers-by  said,  "The  sting  of  death  is  taken  away;  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  overcome  death  for  you;  this  is  one  of  Satan's  last 
a-ssaults;  his  work  is  now  almost  at  an  end;  though  he  be  a  subtil  eucmv, 
and  would,  if  it  were  possible,  deceive  the  very  elect;"  he  presently  laid 
hold  on  that  last  expression  "if  it  were  possible!"  said  he,  "Blessed  be 
God  there  is  no  possibility !"  After  this,  he  requested  the  company  might 
withdraw,  that  so  he  might  have  an  opportunity  to  pray  for  a  while  by 
himself;  but  seeing  the  com])any  loth  to  leave  the  room,  he  prayed  in 
Latin  as  long  as  he  had  strength  to  do  it.  When  he  was  to  appearance 
just  expiring,  he  called  for  his  wife;  and  stedfastly  fixing  his  eyes  upon 
her,  he  sai.l,  "Cast  thy  care  upon  God,  for  he  careth  for  thee."  About 
half  an  hour  after  this,  when  death  had  been  for  some  while  drawing  the 
curtains  about  him,  his  last  words  were  those  unto  his  wife,  "Hold^last, 
Ijold  fastl'J     So  he  finished  his  pilgrimage,  on  August  9,  1641, 

§  U.  Unto  that  vertuous  gentlewoman  his  wife,  he  expressed  himself 
with  great  confidence,  "That  God  would  certainly  provide  well  for  her;" 
and  that  gentlew<nnan,  shortly  after  being  honourably  and  comfortablV 
married  unto  another  gentleman  of  good  estate,  namelv,  Richard  Dummer, 
Ls.i.,  once  a  magistrate  of  the  colony,  lived  with  him  near  forty  years- 


OE,    THE    IIISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


375 


amJ  was  more  than  forty  years  after  alive  to  testify  her  experience  of  the 
accomplishment  which  God  had  given  unto  that  faith  of  her  dying  hus- 
band :  who  at  his  death  commended  his  family  to  God,  in  strains  not  unlike 
those  of  the  dying  Widerus: 


Christe,  tihi  soli  mea  pignora  Viva  relinquo, 

Quorum  post  Mortem  Tu  Pater  esto  meam. 
Qui  cunctis  Vita  miser um  me  jugiter  Annis 


Pavisti,  Largam  dans  Mihi  semper  opem; 
Tu  quoque  Pasce  meos  defende,  tuere,  docequt 
Et  tandem  ad  Cail  gaudia  transfer.    Amen.* 


EPITAPHIUM. 

Mortuus  hie  Jacet,  qui  in  Omnium  Cordilus  Vivit. 
Omnes  Virtutes,  quce  Vivunt  post  Funera, 
In  Unius  Burri  Funere  invenerunt  Sepulckrum.i 

To  make  up  his  epitaph,  I  will  borrow  a  line  or  two  from  the  tomb-stone 
of  Volkmarus: 

Hie  Jacet  Exutis  nimium  cito  Burriijs  Annis,    I        Ac  Scriptis  Animum  notificare  Lihris, 

Adjuga  Suggestus,  Magne  Mathere,  Tui.       \    Tot  Verbis  non  essct  opus  hoc  Sculpere  Saxum; 
Si  magis  Annosam  licuisset  condere  Vitam,  Sufficerent  Quatuor,  Burrius  hie  situs  estA 


CHAPTER  I?. 

THE    LIFE    OF   MR.   G  1!  0  R  li  E    PUlllPS. 

Vita  Ministri  est  Censura  et  Cynosura.^  , 

§  1.  Not  only  the  common  sign-posts  of  every  town,  but  also  some 
famous  orders  of  knighthood  in  the  most  famous  nations  of  Europe,  have 
entertained  us  with  traditions  of  a  certain  champion,  by  the  name  of  St. 
George  dignified  and  distinguished.  Now,  whilst  many  do,  with  Calvin, 
reckon  this  notable  St.  George,  with  his  brother  St.  Kit,  among  the  lai-voi, 
s.\id  fables  of  the  romantic  monks;  others,  from  the  honourable  mention  of 
him  in  so  many  liturgies,  do  think  there  might  be  such  a  man ;  but  then 
he  must  be  no  other,  neither  better  nor  worse,  in  the  most  probable  opin- 
ion of  Rainolds,  than  George  the  Arrian  bishop  of  Alexandria,  the  antag- 
onist and  adversary  of  Athanasius;  of  this  memorable  trooper,  the  Arrians 
feigned  miracles,  and  with  certain  disguises  imposed  the  fame  of  him  upon 
the  orthodox.    But  the  churches  of  New-England  being  wholly  unconcerned 


To  thee,  O  Chri.st,  this  tender  flock  I  leave ; 
Be  Thou  their  father  when  I  am  no  more, 
Thou  from  the  morn  of  life  until  its  eve 


Hast  fed  me  with  the  riches  of  Thy  store: 
These  little  ones  so  ft-ed,  protect,  and  love, 
And  then  translate  them  to  Thy  rest  above. 

+  Epitaph:    Here  he  lies  dead,  but  he  lives  in  the  hearts  of  all. 
All  those  great  virtues,  which  the  tomb  defy,    (    Now  sleep  within  it,  where  our  Burr  doth  lie. 


X  Here  lieth  Burr,  whose  span  too  soon  was  sped: 
Birr,  whom  in  life  our  own  great  Mather  led. 
Alas !  had  he  but  reached  a  riper  age. 


And  stamped  his  genius  on  some  deathless  paije, 

No  sculpture  need  upon  this  stone  appear. 

Save  one  brief,  meaning  sentence :  "Burr  l:is  hkre." 


§  The  life  of  the  minister  is  a  reproach  to  some — a  guiding-star  to  others. 


37^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

with  any  such  a  St.  George,  and  wishing  that  they  had  been  less  concerned 
with  many  Quakers,  whose  chief  apostles  have  been  so  many  of  them  called 
Gfvnjf.^,  but  in  elVect  so  many  drwjons^  there  was  one  George  who  was 
indeed  among  tiie  lirst  saints  of  New-England!  and  that  excellent  man  of 
our  land  was  Mr.  George  Philips. 

§  2.  lie  was  born  at  Kaymund,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk;  descended 
of  honest  parents,  who  were  encouraged  by  his  great  proficiency  at  the 
grammar-school  to  send  him  unto  the  university;  where  his  good  invention, 
strong  lucmory,  and  solid  judgment,  with  the  blessing  of  God  upon  all, 
attained  a  degree  of  learning  that  may  be  called  eminent.  The  diligent 
reading  of  theya//<tTS,  while  he  was  yet  himself  among  young  men,  was  one 
of  the  things  that  gave  a  special  ornament  unto  that  skill  in  theology, 
whereto  he  attained;  but  that  which  yet  further  fitted  him  to  become  a 
divine,  was  his  being  "made  partaker  of  the  divine  nature,"  by  the  sancti- 
fication  of  all  his  abilities  for  the  service  of  God,  in  a  true  regeneration. 

§  3.  Devoting  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  his  employment 
befel  him  at  Boxford  in  Essex;  whereof  he  found  much  acceptance  with 
good  men;  as  being  a  man  "mighty  in  the  Scriptures."  But  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  writings  and  persons  of  some  old  non-conformist^i  had  instilled 
into  \\m\  such  principles  about  church-government,  as  were  like  to  make  him 
unacceptable  unto  some  who  then  drove  the  world  before  them.  Some  of 
these  principles  he  had  intimated  in  his  publick  preaching;  w^hereupon 
some  of  his  unsatisfied  hearers  repaired  unto  old  Mr.  Eogers  of  Dedham, 
with  some  intimations  of  their  dissatisfaction.  But  Mr.  Kogers,  although 
he  had  not  much  studied  the  controversy,  yet  had  so  high  a  respect  for 
Mr.  Philips,  that  he  said,  he  "believed  Mr.  Philips  would  preach  nothing 
without  some  good  evidence  for  it  from  the  word  of  God,  and  therefore 
they  should  be  willing  to  regard  whatever  Mr.  Philips  might,  from  that 
word,  make  evident  unto  them."  And  as  for  Mr.  Philips,  the  more  he 
was  put  upon  the  study  and  searching  of  the  truth,  in  the  matter  contro- 
verted, the  more  he  was  confirmed  in  his  own  opinion  of  it. 

§  4.  Wiien  the  spirit  of  persecution  did  at  length  with  the  extreamest 
violence,  urge  a  conformity  to  ways  and  ptarts  of  divine  worship,  conscien- 
tiously scrupled  by  such  persons  as  our  Mr.  Philips^  He,  with  many  more 
of  his  neighbours,  entertained  thoughts  of  transporting  themselves  and 
their  families  into  the  desarts  of  America,  to  prosecute  and  propagate  the 
glorious  designs  of  the  gospel,  and  spread  the  light  of  it  in  those  "goings 
down  of  the  sun,"  and  being  resolved  accordingly  to  accompany  the  excel- 
lent Mr.  Winthrop  in  that  undertaking,  he  with  many  other  devout  Chris- 
tians, cmbarqued  for  New-England,  where  they  arrived  in  the  year  1630, 
through  the  goixl  hand  of  God  upon  them.  Here,  quickly  after  his  landing, 
he  lost  the  desire  of  his  eyes,  in  the  death  of  his  desirable  consort,  who, 
though  an  only  child,  had  cheerfully  left  her  parents,  to  serve  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  with  her  husband  in  a  terrible  wilderness.     At  Salem  she 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  377 

died,  entering  into  the  everlasting  peace;  and  was  very  solemnly  interred 
near  the  Eight  Honourable  the  Lady  Arabella,  the  sister  of  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  who  also  took  New-England  in  her  way  to  heaven. 

§  5.  Mr.  Philips,  with  several  gentlemen  and  other  Christians,  having 
chosen  a  place  upon  Charles-River  for  a  town,  which  they  called  Water- 
Town,  they  resolved  that  they  would  combine  into  a  church-fellowskip  there, 
as  their  first  loork ;  and  build  the  liouse  of  God  before  they  could  build 
many  houses  for  themselves;  thus  they  "sought,  first^  the  kingdom  of 
God!"  And,  indeed,  Mr.  Philips  being  better  acquainted  with  the  true 
church-discipline  than  most  of  the  ministers  that  came  with  him  into  the 
country,  their  proceedings  about  the  gathering  and  ordering  of  their 
church,  were  methodical  enough,  though  not  made  in  all  things  a  pattern 
for  all  the  rest.  Upon  a  day  set  apart  for  solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  the 
very  next  month  after  they  came  ashore,  they  entred  into  this  holy  covenant: 

"July  30,  1630. 

"We  whose  names  are  hereto  subscribed,  having  through  God's  mercy  escaped  out  of 
pollutions  of  the  world,  and  been  taken  into  the  society  of  his  people,  with  all  thankfulness 
do  hereby  both  with  heart  and  hand  acknowledge,  that  his  gracious  goodness,  and  fatherly 
care,  towards  us:  and  for  further  and  more  full  declaration  thereof,  to  the  present  and  future 
ages,  have  undertaken  (for  the  promoting  of  his  glory  and  the  church's  good,  and  the  honour 
of  our  blessed  Jesus,  in  our  more  full  and  free  subjecting  of  our  selves  and  ours,  under  his 
gracious  government,  in  the  practice  of,  and  obedience  unto  all  his  holy  ordinances  and 
orders,  which  he  hath  pleased  to  prescribe  and  impose  upon  us)  a  long  and  hazardous  voyage 
from  east  to  west,  from  Old  England  in  Europe,  to  New-England  in  America;  that  we  may 
walk  before  him,  and  'serve  him  without  fear  in  holiness  and  righteousness,  all  the  days  of 
our  lives:'  and  being  safely  arrived  here,  and  thus  far  onwards  peaceably  preserved  by  his 
special  providence,  that  we  may  bring  forth  our  intentions  into  actions,  and  perfect  our  reso- 
lutions, in  the  beginnings  of  some  just  and  meet  executions;  we  have  separated  the  day  above 
written  from  all  other  services,  and  dedicated  it  wholly  to  the  Lord  in  divine  employments, 
for  a  day  of  ajlicting  our  souls  and  humbling  our  selves  before  the  Lord,  to  seek  him,  and 
at  his  hands,  a  way  to  walk  in,  hy  fasting  and  prayer,  that  we  might  know  what  was  good  in 
his  sight :  and  the  Lord  was  intreated  of  us. 

"For  in  the  end  of  that  day,  after  the  finishing  of  our  publick  duties,  we  do  all,  before  we 
depart,  solemnly  and  with  all  our  hearts,  personally,  man  by  man  for  our  selves  and  ours 
(charging  tliem  before  Christ  and  his  elect  angels,  even  them  that  are  not  here  with  us  this 
day,  or  are  yet  unborn,  that  they  keep  the  promise  unblameably  and  feithfully  unto  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord  Jesus)  promise,  and  enter  into  a  sure  covenant  with  the  Lord  our  God,  and 
before  him  with  one  another,  by  oath  and  serious  protestation  made,  to  renounce  all  idolatry 
and  superstition,  will-worship,  all  humane  traditions  and  inventions  whatsoever,  in  the  worship 
of  God;  and  forsaking  all  evil  inays,  do  give  our  selves  wholly  unto  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  do 
him  faithful  service,  observing  and  keeping  all  his  statutes,  commands,  and  ordinances,  in 
all  matters  concerning  our  reformation;  his  worship,  administrations,  ministry,  and  govern- 
ment; and  in  the  carriage  of  our  selves  among  our  selves,  and  one  towards  another,  as  he 
hatli  prescribed  in  his  holy  word.  Further  swearing  to  cleave  unto  that  alone,  and  the  true 
sense  and  meaning  thereof  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  as  unto  the  most  clear  light  and 
infallible  rule,  and  all-sufficient  canon,  in  all  things  that  concern  us  in  this  our  way.  In  wit- 
ness of  all,  we  do  exanimo,  and  in  the  presence  of  God,  hereto  set  our  names  or  marks,  in 
the  day  and  year  above  written." 


oyg  MAI.  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Alwut  forty  men,  whereof  the  first  was  that  excellent  Knight  Sir  Rich- 
nnl  SalU)n.stal,  then  snbscribed  this  instrument,  in  order  unto  their  coales- 
c«Micc  into  a  church-estate;  wliicli  I  have  the  more  particularly  recited, 
because  it  was  one  of  the  first  ecclesiastical  transactions  of  this  nature 
luanaired  in  the  colony.  But  in  after  time,  they  that  joined  unto  the 
chnrrli  subscribed  a  form  of  the  covenant,  somewhat  altered,  with  a 
"confession  of  faith"  annexed  unto  it. 

§  6.  A  church  of  believers  being  thus  gathered  at  Watcrtown,  this  rev- 
erenil  man  continued  for  divers  years  among  them,  faithfully  discharging 
the  duties  of  his  ministry  to  the  "flock,  whereof  he  was  made  the  over- 
seer;" and  as  a  "faithful  steward  giving  to  every  one  their  meat  in  due 
season."  Herein  he  demonstrated  himself  to  be  a  real  divine;  but  not  in 
anv  thing  more,  than  in  his  most  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  divine 
oracles  of  the  Scripture:  being  fully  of  Jerom's  perswasion,  Ama  Scieidiam 
Si:ripturarum^  et  Vitia  Carnis  non  amabis*  He  had  so  thoroughly  j^eruscd 
and  pondered  them,  that  he  was  able  on  the  sudden  to  turn  unto  any  text, 
witiiout  the  help  of  Concordances;  and  they  were  so  much  his  deli'jJU,  that 
as  it  has  been  by  some  of  his  family  affirmed,  "  he  read  over  the  whole 
Bible  six  times  every  year:"  nevertheless  he  did  use  to  say,  "That  every 
time  he  read  the  Bible,  he  observed  or  collected  something,  which  he  never 
did  before."  There  was  a  famous  prince  of  Transylvania,  who  found  the 
time  to  read  over  the  Bible  no  less  than  twenty-seven  times.  There  was 
a  famous  King  of  Arragon,  who  read  over  the  Bible  foar'u.n>n  times,  with 
Lyra's  Commentaries.  A  religious  person,  who  was  a  close  prisoner  in  a 
dark  dungeon,  having  a  candle  brought  him,  for  the  few  minutes  in  the 
day  when  his  poor  meals  were  to  be  eaten,  chose  then  to  read  a  little  of 
liis  Bible,  anil  eat  hfs  necessary  food  when  the  candle  was  gone.  Yea,  the 
Etnperour  Tiicodosius  wrote  out  the  New  Testament  with  his  own  hand; 
and  Bonaventnre  did  as  much  by  the  Old;  and  some  have,  like  Zuinglius 
and  Bcza,  lodged  vast  })aragraj)hs  of  it  in  the  memories.  Among  such 
memorable  students  in  the  Scriptures,  our  Philips  deserves  to  have  some 
remembrance:  who  was  Cully  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  Luther,  "If  the 
letters  of  Princes  are  to  be  read  three  times  over,  surely  then  God's  letters 
(as  Gregory  calls  the  Scriptures)  are  to  be  read  seven  times  thrice,  yea, 
seventy  times  seven,  and,  if  it  could  be,  a  thousand  times  over;"  and  he 
might  say  with  Ridley,  giving  an  account  of  how  much  of  the  Bible  he 
had  learnt  by  heart,  "Though  in  time  a  great  part  of  the  study  departed 
from  me,  yet  the  sweet  smell  thereof,  I  trust,  I  shall  carry  with  me  to 
heaven."  Lidecd,  being  well  skilled  in  the  original  tongues,  he  could  see 
furtiier  into  tlie  Scriptures  than  most  other  men ;  and  thereby  being  "  made 
wise  unto  .salvation,"  he  also  became  "a  man  of  God,  thoroughly  fUrnished 
unt<}  all  good  works.'' 

g  7.  Hence  also  he  became  an  able  disputant;  and  ready  upon  all  occa- 

•  Ix.v..  Iho  81.1,1,  of  th..  ScTipturos,  and  you  will  :.ol  l.n-e  llie  vices  of  the  Ac-sh. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  379 

sions  to  maintain  what  he  delivered  from  the  word  of  God;  for  which 
cause  his  hearers  counted  him,  "the  irrefragable  Doctor;"  though  he  were 
so  humble  and  modesty  as  to  be  ver}'  averse  unto  disputation,  until  driven 
thereto  by  extream  necessity.  One  of  his  hearers,  after  some  conference 
with  him  about  infant-haptism,  and  several  points  of  church-discipline^ 
obtained  a  copy  of  the  arguments  in  writing  for  his  further  satisfaction. 
This  copy  the  man  sends  over  to  England,  which  an  Anabaptist  there 
published  with  a  pretended  confutation;  whereby  the  truth  lost  nothing, 
for  Mr.  Philips  hereupon  published  a  judicious  treatise,  entituled,  "A 
Vindication  of  Infant- Baptism ^^^  whereto  there  is  added  another,  "  Of  the 
Church.''^  This  book  was  honourably  received  and  mentioned,  by  the 
eminent  asscmblj^  of  London  ministers;  and  a  preface  full  of  honour  was 
thereto  prefixed  by  the  famous  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard;  notwithstanding  the 
difference  between  him  and  Mr.  Philips,  upon  one  or  two  points,  where- 
about those  two  learned  neighbours  managed  a  controversy  with  so  much 
reason^  and  yet  candor  and  kindness,  that  if  all  theological  controversies  had 
been  so  handled,  we  need  not  so  much  wish,  Liherari  ah  Implacahilibus 
Theologorum  Odiis.* 

§  8.  About  fourteen  years  continued  he  in  his  ministry  at  Watertown ; 
in  which  time  his  ministry  was  blessed  for  the  conversion  of  many  unto 
God,  and  for  the  edification  and  confirmation  of  many  that  were  converted. 
He  was,  indeed,  "a  good  man,  and  full  of  faith,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:" 
and  for  that  cause  he  was  not  only  in  publick,  but  in  private  also,  very 
full  of  holy  discourse  on  all  occasions;  especially  on  the  Lord's  day  at 
noon,  the  time  intervening  between  the  two  exercises,  he  would  spend  in 
conferring  with  such  of  his  good  people  as  resorted  unto  his  house,  at 
such  a  rate  as  marvellously  ministered  grace  unto  the  hearers ;  not  wanting 
any  time  theUi  as  it  seems,  for  any  further  preparations  than  what  he  had 
still  aforehand  made  for  the  publick  sermons  of  the  afternoon, 

§  9.  He  laboured  under  many  bodily  infirmities:  but  was  especially 
liable  unto  the  cholick;  the  extremity  of  one  fit  whereof,  was  the  wi7id 
which  carried  him  afore  it  into  the  haven  of  eternal  rest,  on  July  1,  in  the 
year  1644,  much  desired  and  lamented  by  his  church  at  Watertown;  who 
testified  their  affection  to  their  deceased  pastor  by  a  special  care  to  pro- 
mote and  perfect  the  education  of  his  eldest  son,  whereof  all  the  country, 
but  especially  the  town  of  Rowl_y,  have  since  reaped  the  benefit. 

E  P I T  A  P  H  I  U  M  . 

Hie  Jacp.t  Georgius  Philippi. 

Vir  Incomparahilis,  nisi  Samuelem  genuisset.f 

•  To  be  delivered  from  the  implacable  contentions  of  theologians. 

+  Epitaph:   Here  lies  George  Philips :  an  incomparable  man,  had  he  not  been  the  father  of  Samuel. 


jjgQ  MAQNALIA    CIIRI8TI    AMERICANA; 


\j  J^  Jji,  X     X    Ju  ill       Y  • 

PASTOR   EVANOELICUS;*   THE   LIFE   OF  MR.   THOMAS  SHEPARD. 


■XfC    Mireris, 


Animtim  tain  Subito  in  Cnelum  avolasse,  nam  vicem 
Alarum  sibi  supplerunt  Freccs  sua  et  suspiriaA 

§  1.  It  was  the  gracious  and  savoury  speech  uttered  by  one  of  the 
greatest  personages  in  England,  and  perhaps  in  all  Europe,  unto  a  grave 
minister:  "I  have  (said  he)  passed  through  many  places  of  honour  and 
trust,  both  in  church  and  state,  more  than  any  of  my  order  in  England, 
for  seventy  years  before.  But  were  I  assured  that  by  my  preaching,  I 
had  converted  but  one  soul  unto  God,  I  should  herein  take  more  comfort, 
than  in  all  the  honours  and  offices  that  have  ever  been  bestowed  upon 
me."  Let  my  reader  now  go  with  me,  and  I  will  show  him  one  of  the 
happiest  men  that  ever  we  saw ;  as  great  a  converter  of  souh  as  has  ordi- 
narily been  known  in  our  days. 

§  2.  Amongst  those  famous,  whereof  there  were  diverse,  ministers  of 
New-England,  which  were  born  in  or  near  the  first  lustre  of  King  James' 
reign,  one  of  the  least  inconsiderable  was  our  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard; 
whose  ftither,  Mr.  William  Shepard,  called  him  Thomas,  because  his  birth 
was  November  5,  Anno  1605,  as  near  as  could  be  guessed,  at  the  very 
hour  when  the  blow  should  have  been  given  in  the  execrable  gun-powder 
treason;  a  villany,  concerning  which  he  said,  "This  child  of  his  would 
hardly  be  able  to  believe  that  ever  such  a  wickedness  could  be  attempted 
by  the  sons  of  men."  His  father  had  six  daughters  and  three  sons,  whereof 
this  Thomas,  born  in  Towcester,  near  Northampton,  was  the  youngest; 
and  as  he  lived  a  prudent,  so  he  died  a  pious  man,  while  his  youngest  son 
was  but  a  ijouth.  Our  Thomas  had  in  his  childhood  laboured  under  the 
discouragements,  first  of  a  bitter  step-mother,  and  then  of  a  cruel  school- 
ma.vter,  till  God  stirred  up  the  heart  of  his  eldest  brother  to  become  a.  father 
unto  hitn,  who,  for  the  use  of  his  portion,  brought  him  up. 

§  3.  Bending  his  mind  now  to  study,  he  became  fit  for  the  university 
at  fifteen  years  of  age;  where  he  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  Mr. 
Cockrel,  a  Northamptonshire  man,  fellow  of  Immanuel  Colledge. 

But  when  he  had  been  upwards  of  two  years  in  that  colledge,  this 
young  man,  who  had  been  heretofore  under  more  ineffectual  operations  of 
the  Divine  Word  upon  him,  was  now  more  effectually  called  unto  a  saving 
acfpiaintance  with  him,  that  is  our  true  Immanuel.  The  ministry  of  Mr. 
Chadert«n  and  Mr.  Dickinson  struck  his  heart  with  powerful  convictions 

•  Kvnnirolicml  Piu.t..r.  i    n„ih  entered  glory :  for  he  sought  the  ekiet 

t  Nay,  wonder  not  tliat  lio,  with  (light  so  keen,  \    Oq  wings  of  prayer  and  penitential  sigh*. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  35]^ 

of  his  miseries  in  his  unregeneracy;  and  while  he  shook  off  those  convic- 
tions^ it  pleased  God  that  a  devout  scholar,  walking  with  him,  fell  into 
discourses  about  the  miseries  of  an  unregenerate  man,  whereby  the  arrows 
of  God  were  struck  deeper  into  him.  At  another  time,  falling  into  a 
pious  company^  where  they  conferred  about  the  loratli  of  Ood,  and  the 
extremity  and  eternity  of  ^t,  this  added  unto  his  awakenings;  and  though 
profane  company  afterwards  caused  him  to  lose  much  of  the  sense  which 
he  had  of  these  things,  yet  when  Dr.  Preston  came  thither,  his  first  ser- 
mon on  that  ["Be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind"]  so  renewed  the 
former  impressions  which  had  been  upon  him,  that  he  soon  approved 
himself  a  person  truly  renewed  in  his  own  spirit,  and  converted  unto  God. 
From  this  time,  which  was  in  the  year  1624,  he  set  himself  especially  on 
the  work  of  daily  meditation,  which  he  attended  every  evening  before 
supper;  meditating  on  "the  evil  of  sin,  the  terror  of  God's  wrath,  the  day 
of  death  and  judgment,  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and  "the 
deceitfulness  of  his  own  heart,"  until  he  found  the  transforming  influence 
of  those  things  upon  his  own  soul;  a  course  which  afterwards  he  would 
mightily  commend  unto  others  that  consulted  him;  and  he  rested  not 
until  coming  to  see  that  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  alone  there  was  laid  up 
the  full  supply  of  all  spiritual  wants,  he  found  the  grace  of  God  enabling 
him  to  accept  of  that  precious  Lord,  and  rejoice  in  that  tvisdom,  and  right- 
eousness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption  which  He  is  made  unto  us: 
whence  afterwards,  drawing  up  a  catalogue  of  the  Divine  favours  unto 
him,  he  had  therein  these  passages  among  the  rest,  which  are  from  thence 
now  transcribed: 

"The  Lord  is  the  God  that  sent,  I  thhik,  the  best  ministers  in  the  world  to  call  me;  Dr. 
Preston  and  Mr.  Goodwin.  The  words  of  the  first,  at  the  first  sermon  he  made,  when  he 
came  into  the  colledge,  as  master  of  it;  and  divers  that  he  preached  at  that  time,  did  open 
my  heart,  and  convince  me  of  my  unbelief,  and  my  total  emptiness  of  all,  and  enmity 
against  all  good.  And  the  Lord  made  me  honour  liim  highly,  and  love  him  dearly,  though 
many  godly  men  spake  against  him.  And  he  is  the  God  that  in  these  ordinances  convinced 
me  of  my  guilt  and  filth  of  sin,  especially  self  seeking,  and  love  of  honour  of  men  in  all  I 
did;  and  humbled  me  under  both,  so  as  to  make  me  set  an  higher  price  upon  Christ  and 
grace,  and  loath  m)'  self  the  more,  and  so  I  was  eased  of  a  world  of  discouragement.  He 
also  showed  me  the  worth  of  Christ,  and  made  my  soul  satisfied  with  him,  and  cleave  to 
him,  because  God  had  made  him  righteousness;  and  hence  also  revealed  his  free  justifica- 
tion, and  gave  me  support  and  rest  upon  and  in  his  promises  made  to  them  that  receive  him 
as  Lord  and  King;  which  I  found  my  heart  long  unwilling  to.  And  this  was  the  ground, 
or  rather  occasion  of  many  horrid  temptations  of  Atheism,  Judaism,  Familism,  Popery,  Des- 
pair, as  having  sinned  the  unpardonable  sin;  yet  the  Lord,  at  last,  made  me  yield  up  my 
self  to  his  condemning  will,  as  good;  which  gave  me  great  peace  and  quietness  of  heart, 
through  the  blood  and  pity  of  Christ.  I  have  met  with  all  kinds  of  temptations,  but  after 
my  conversion.  I  was  never  tempted  to  Arminianism,  my  own  experience  so  sensibly  con- 
futing i\ie  freedom  of  will.'''' 

§  4.  One  Dr.  Wilson,  having  a  purpose,  with  a  most  noble  and  pious 
charity,  to  maintain  a  lecture,  the  ministers   of  Essex,  in  one   of  their 


3^2  MAT.NALIA    CHRISTI     AMERICANA; 

monihlyy;x*/.>-,  propounded' unto  Mr.  Shei^ard,  the  service  of  this  lecture  to 
Ir!  attcndod  in  the  great  town  of  Coggeshal.  But  the  people  of  Earl's 
Coin,  on  that  very  day,  when  the  ministers  were  together  in  Tarling  at 
prayer,  for  the  direction  of  Heaven  in  this  matter,  so  affectionately  addressed 
thcin  for  the  benefit  of  this  lecture,  that  it  was  granted  unto  them,  for  the 
throe  vcars  ensuing.  Mr.  Shcpard,  having  proceeded  Master  of  Arts  at 
Cambridge,  accepted  now  an  invitation  to  Earl's  Coin ;  and  at  the  end  of 
three  years  the  inhabitants  were  so  loath  to  let  him  go,  that  they  gathered 
among  themselves  a  convenient  salary  to  support  him  still  amongst  them : 
ihou-'h  his  lecture  were  gone.  ;  At  Earl's  Coin  then  he  tarried,  and  pre- 
vailed for  the  lecture  to  be  settled  the  next  three  years  in  Towccster,  the 
place  of  his  nativity ;  and  for  Mr.  Stone  to  be  employed  in  the  labour  of 
it;  which  was  to  him  an  extreame  satisfliction. 

§  5.  Although  Mr.  Shepard  were  but  a  young  man,  yet  there  was  that 
majesty  and  energy  in  his  preaching)\and  that  holiness  in  his  life,  which  was 
not  ordinary.  And  God  made  hiin  a  rich  blessing,  not  only  to  Coin,  but 
unto  all  the  towns  round  about;  wherein  there  were  many  converted  unto 
God,  and  sundry  were  so  affected  unto  this  instrument  of  their  conversion, 
that  they  afterwards  went  a  thousand  leagues  to  enjoy  his  ministry.  But 
when  Dr.  Laud  becomes  Bishop  of  London,  Mr.  Shepard  must  no  longer 
be  preacher  at  Coin:  he  was  quickly  silenced,  for  none  but  that  fault, 
which  was  then  known  by  the  name  of  Puritanism:  and  being  silenced, 
he  withdrew  to  the  kind  family  of  the  Harlackinden's,  where,  applying 
himself  more  exactly  to  the  study  of  the  ceremonies  in  the  worship  of  God 
then  imposed,  the  more  he  studied  them,  the  less  he  liked  them.  Among 
other  things  that  signalized  him,  after  his  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Harlack- 
inden,  I  iind  one  memorable  passage  reported  by  Mr.  Woodcock,  witli 
suflicient  evidence,  in  Mr.  Baxter's  book  about,  "the  worlds  of  spirits." 
In  the  chamber  of  a  toumb  house,  where  two  of  Mr.  Harlackinden's  men 
did  use  to  lie,  there  was  always,  at  two  a  clock  in  the  morning,  the  sound 
of  a  great  hell  tolling.  Mr.  Harlackinden  would  once  lie  there,  between  his 
two  servants,  to  satisfie  himself  about  it.  At  the  usual  time  came  the'  usual 
sound,  which  threw  the  gentleman  into  no  little  consternation.  But  Mr. 
Shejiard,  with  some  Christians,  having  spent  a  night  in  praj^er  at  this  place, 
the  noise  never  gave  any  disturbance  after. 

Once  and  again  after  this,  finding  the  resolution  of  the  bishop  to  ruine 
him,  if  he  did  not  leave  the  country,  he  seasonably  received  letters  of  Mr. 
Eiiekiel  Ilogers,  minister  of  llowly,  in  Yorkshire,  encouraging  him  to  visit 
those  parts,  and  accept  employment  in  the  house  of  Sir  Richard  Darly, 
of  Buttercrambe,  in  that  county.  Driven  to  follow  this  counsel,  his  jour- 
ney j>roved  as  troublesome  in  all  the  ivinter-circumstances  of  it,  as  a  travel- 
Kr  could  have  wished  for;  and  after  he  had  swam  for  his  life,  by  missing 
hi.s  way  over  some  overflown  bridges,  he  made  it  late  on  Saturday-nioht 
before  he  cimc  to  York;  but  there  having  refreshed  him  self,  he  Avent  ou 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  333 

to  Buttercrambe  that  night,  which  was  about  seven  miles  further,  where, 
wet,  and  cold,  and  late,  he  that  night  arrived. 

§  6.  It  added  nmto  his  discouragements  when,  on  the  first  night  of  his 
arrival,  he  found  gross  profanities  prevailing  both  in  the  family  and  in  the 
neighbourhood;  but  God  quickly  made  him  instrumental  to  a  blessed 
change  in  both.  The  profariest  persons  thereabouts  were  soon  touched  with 
tlie  efficacy  of  his  ministry  and  his  conference;  and  prayer  with  fasting,  as 
well  as  other  exercises  of  devotion,  succeeded  in  the  room  of  their  former 
loudnesses. J  Both  Sir  Eichard  and  all  his  sons,  as  well  as  many  others 
there,  had  fcause  to  bless  God  that  ever  they  saw  the  face  of  that  holy 
man :  and  as  a  testimony  of  their  affection  for  him,  they  encouraged  his 
marriage  with  the  hnigMs  near  kinswoman,  who  upon  this  account  also 
enlarged  her  portion,  about  the  year  1632.  But  Bishop  Neal  here  would 
not  allow  him  any  liberty  for  his  ministry,  without  a  subscription,  which 
his  better  informed  conscience  could  not  make;  and  this  occasioned  his 
removal  upon  a  call  unto  a  town  of  Northumberland,  called  Ileddon; 
where  his  labours  were  prospered  unto  the  souls  of  many  people.  One 
of  the  houses  which  he  then  hired  was  haunted  with  a  devil,  as  was  com- 
monly conceived  upon  the  departure  of  a  noted  witch,  who  had  been  the 
former  inhabitant;  and  the  house  was  troubled  with  strange  noises,  till 
the  earnest  prayers  of  this  man  of  God  procured  a  deliverance  from  so 
extream  a  trouble.  But  thither  also  the  zeal  of  the  bishop  reached  him, 
and  forbad  his  preaching  there  any  more;  no,  nor  durst  the  more  ingenu- 
ous Dr.  Morton,  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  afford  him  any  countenance  or 
connivance,  inasmuch  as  the  primate  of  England  had  looked  with  so  hard 
an  eye  upon  him. 

§  7.  While  he  was  thus  denyed  the  liberty  of  preaching  the  truths  of 
the  gospel,  as  much  as  in  the  remotest  corners  of  the  land,  the^4£mo-ral 
of  MivJQotton,  Mr.  Hooker,  Mr.  Stone,  and  Mr.  Weld  into  New-England, 
had  awakened  many  pious  people,  all  England  over,  to  think  of  the  like 
removal;  and  several  of  his  friends  already  gat  into  New-England,  as 
well  as  others  that  were  now  going  thither,  invited  him  to  accompany 
them  in  the  condition  of  that  plantation.  Wherefore  he  considered  with 
himself  that  he  could  not  propose  to  himself  the  peaceable  exercise  of  his 
ministi-y  in  any  part  of  England;  that  his  most  'vaiiraoXQ  friends  had  many 
ways  expressed  their  desires  of  his  going  with  them  into  another  country; 
that  many  eminent  ministers,  and  excellent  Christians,  had  already  trans- 
planted themselves;  that  he  could  not  with  a  safe  conscience  comply  with 
the  ceremonies  and  mixt  communion  at  home;  that  it  was  his  duty  to  seek 
the  enjoyment  of  divine  ordinances  in  a  further  measure  than  was  there 
attainable;  and  that  it  would  be  a  sad  thing  for  him,  in  case  of  mortality, 
to  leave  his  wife  and  son  in  the  midst  of  the  northern  barbarities;  which 
considerations  now  disposed  him  for  New-England.  So  having  preached 
his  farewell  sermon  at  Newcastle,  he  came  from  thence  in  a  disguise  to 


g34  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI     AMERICANA; 

Ipswicb,  and  from  thence  to  Karl's  Coin:  longing  to  be  in  a  country 
where  he  might  not  lose  any  more  precious  time  through  the  inconveni- 
ences of  ttnsdt lenient. 

§  8.  Mr.  Shepard  and  Mr.  Norton  coming  now  together  unto  Yarmouth, 
to  take  shipping  for  New-England,  they  were  much  way-laid  by  purse- 
vanUs,  employed  for  the  trepanning  and  entrapping  of  them;  and  these 
purse'vanta  had  proceeded  so  far  as  by  a  sum  of  money  to  obtain  a  prom- 
ise from  a  boy,  belonging  to  the  house  where  they  scented  Mr.  Shepard's 
quarters,  that  he  would  open  the  door  for  them,  to  take  him  at  a  cer- 
tain hour  of  the  night.  But,  behold  the  watchful  providence  of  God 
over  his  faithful  servants !  The  gracious  and  serious  words  of  Mr.  Shep- 
ard, in  the  hearing  of  this  unlucky  boy,  struck  him  with  horror  to  think 
that  he  should  be  so  wicked  as  to  betray  such  an  holy  man.  Whereupon 
the  convinced  boy  did  with  tears  discover  the  whole  plot  unto  his  godly 
master,  who  forthwith  conveyed  Mr.  Shepard  out  of  the  way,  and  con- 
founded the  setters  that  would  have  catched  him. 

§  0,  It  was  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1634,  ivhen  sailing  teas  now  dari' 
gerous,  that  Mr.  Shepard  shipped  himself  in  a  ship  of  about  four  hundred 
tun,  commanded  by  a  very  able  seaman,  but  under  a  perpetual  entail  and 
series  of  disasters,  after  some  injustice  had  been  used  about  her.  They  set 
sail  from  Harwich  upon  the  edge  of  the  winter;  but  after  several  deliver- 
ances from  several  distresses,  within  a  few  hours  of  their  first  setting  out, 
the  winds  drove  them  again  back  into  Yarmouth  road;  where  there  arose 
one  of  the  most  fearful  storms  that  ever  was  known.  They  thought 
they  had  lost  all  their  anchors,  and  with  their  anchors  all  their  hopes;  and 
though  thousands  from  Yarmouth  walls  did  pity  them,  yet  none  could 
relieve  them:  however,  the  compassions  of  an  eminent  officer,  then 
amongst  the  spectators,  were  a  little  distinguished,  when  he  scoffingly 
said,  "As  for  a  poor  collier  there  in  the  road,  he  pitied  him  very  much; 
but  as  for  the  Puritans  in  the  other  ship,  he  was  not  concerned;  their 
faith  would  save  them."  In  this  extremity,  Mr.  Shepard,  with  all  the 
mariners  in  one  part  of  the  ship,  and  Mr.  Norton,  with  two  hundred  pas- 
sengers in  the  other,  poured  out  their  most  fervent  prayers  unto  Almighty 
God;  whereupon  the  wind  immediately  so  abated,  that  the  ship  stayed; 
and  they  found,  though  the  upper  part  of  the  vessel  was  all  broken,  yet 
their  l:ist  anchor  unbroken,  and  themselves  delivered  from  so  great  a  death. 

^  10.  The  next  day,  which  was  the  Lord's  day,  he  went  ashore  to  Yar- 
mouth, where  one  of  his  first  ivorks  was  to  bury  his  first-bor7i  son;  though 
he  durst  not  himself  be  present  at  the  burial,  because  his  danger  from  the 
horrid  manratehers  ashore  had  less  of  mercy  and  more  of  horror  in  it, 
than  what  ho  eseapod  from  the  merciless  and  horrible  waves  of  the  sea. 
Mr.  liridge,  of  Norwich,  now  kindly  invited  him  thither;  whither,  when 
he  came,  the  worthy  Madam  Corbet  freely  offered  him  a  great  house  of 
hers,  then  .'<t:inding  empty  at  Bastwick;  and  there  he  spent  all  the  winter. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  355 

in  the  company  and  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Harlackinden,  a  friend 
that  loved  him  at  all  times.  In  the  spring  he  went  up  to  London;  where 
by  a  removal  from  the  lodgings  which  he  took  on  his  first  arrival  there, 
he  again  very  narrowly  escaped  those  "  to  whom  such  a  shepherd  was 
an  abomination." 

The  perils  wherein  he  was  continually,  "from  his  own  countrymen," 
compelled  him  once  more  to  encounter  the  ^enYs  a^  5ea;  so  that  in  July 
following,  he  sailed  from  Gravesend,  in  a  bottom  too  decayed  and  feeble 
indeed  for  such  a  voyage;  but  yet  well  accommodated  with  the  society 
of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Jones,  and  other  Christians,  which  more  significantly 
made  good  the  7iame  of  the  ship.  The  Defence.  In  their  first  storm,  the 
vessel  sprang  a  leak,  which  let  in  the  water  faster  than  both  pumps  were 
able  to  turn  it  out;  a  leak  eighteen  inches  long,  and  an  inch  wide:  but  it 
was,  though  with  much  difficulty,  found  and  stopped,  just  as  they  were 
upon  diverting  into  Ireland  for  their  safety.  Being  thus  again  delivered, 
they  got  into  New-England,  and  on  October  3,  they  were  set  ashore  at 
Boston;  from  whence,  within  a  day  or  two,  his  friends  at  Cambridge 
gladly  fetched  him. 

§  11.  Mr.  Hooker,  with  his  congregation  at  Cambridge,  now  removing 
to  Hartford,  upon  Connecticut  river,  many  comfortable  dwellings  and 
considerable  demesnes  were  hereby  somewhat  prepared  for  sale  to  the 
good  people  which  Mr.  Shepard  brought  over  with  him,  who  were  loth 
to  lose  any  more  of  their  short  lives,  by  more  tedious  removals.  Accord- 
ingly, taking  up  their  station  at  Cambridge,  Mr.  Shepard,  with  several  of 
his  good  people,  did  on  the  first  of  the  ensuing  February,  in  a  vast  assem- 
bly, wherein  were  present  the  magistrates  of  "the  colony,  with  the  minis- 
ters and  messengers  of  the  neighbouring  churches,  keep  a  day  of  prayer ; 
in  the  close  of  which  day  they  made  a  confession  of  their  faith,  with  a 
declaration  of  what  regenerating  impressions  the  grace  of  God  had  made 
upon  them;  and  then  they  entred  into  their  covenant,  whereby  they 
became  a  church ;  to  which  Mr.  Cotton  in  the  name  of  the  rest,  gave  the 
"right  hand  of  fellowship."  However,  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Shepard 
unto  the  pastoral  charge  of  this  church,  was  deferred  until  another  day, 
wherein  there  was  more  time  to  go  through  the  other  solemnities  proper 
to  such  a  great  occasion. 

§  12.  Within  a  year  after  the  gathering  of  the  church  at  Cambridge, 
and  the  ordaining  of  Mr.  Shepard  in  that  church,  the  country  was  miser- 
ably distracted  by  a  storm  of  Antinomian  and  Familistical  ojiiiuons 
then  raised.  The  mother  opinion  of  all  the  rest  was,  "That  a  Cliiistian 
should  not  fetch  any  evidence  of  his  good  state  before  God,  from  the  siglit 
of  any  inherent  qualification  in  him;  or  from  any  conditional  promise 
made  unto  such  a  qualification."  From  the  womb  of  this  fruitful  opinion, 
and  f)"om  the  countenance  hereby  given  to  immediate  and  unwarranted 
revelations,  'tis  not  easie  to  relate  how  many  monsters,  worse  than 
Vol.  I.— 25 


0Q»  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

African,  arose  in  these  regions  of  America:  but  a  s7jnod,  assembled  at 
Cambridge,  whereof  Mr.  Shepard  was  no  small  part,  most  happily  crushed 
them  al^  The  vigihmcy  of  Mr.  Shepard  was  blessed,  not  only  for  the 
preservation  of  his  own  congregation  from  the  rot  of  these  opinions,  but 
also  for  the  dcHverance  of  all  the  flocks  which  our  Lord  had  in  the  wilder- 
ne-ss.  And  it  was  with  a  respect  unto  this  vigilancy,  and  the  enlightning 
and  powerful  ministry  of  Mr.  Shepard,  that  when  the  foundation  of  a  col- 
kil'jc  was  to  be  laid,  Cambridge,  rather  than  any  other  place,  was  pitched 
upon  to  be  the  seat  of  that  happy  seminary :  out  of  which  there  proceeded 
maiiv  notable  preachers,  who  were  made  such  very  much  by  their  sitting 
under  Mr.  Shepard's  ministry. 

§  13.  It  lias  been  a  question  of  some  curiosity,  what  might  be  the  dis- 
temper of  Ilezckiah,  whereof  he  recovered  so  remarkably  and  miracu- 
lously? Now,  when  I  consider  the  chattering,  whereto  the  sick  prince  was 
brought  by  his  disease,  and  the  catajdasm  which  he  used  of  things  discus- 
sive  and  emollient,  I  incline,  with  Bartholinus,  to  think  that  his  distemper 
■might  be  a  malitjnant  quinsie,  whereof  usually  the  sick  are  either  killed  or 
(like  llczekiah)  cured  on  the  third  day.  Such  a  distemper  arrested  our 
holy  Slicpard,  when,  in  the  course  of  nature,  and  in  the  wish  of  good  men 
he  might  have  yet  lived  with  us,  for  much  more  than  fifteen  years ;  yea, 
twice  fifteen  more,  would  scarce  have  carried  him  further  than  the  comvion 
age  of  man.  lleturning  home  from  a  council  at  Eowly,  he  fell  into  a  quin- 
sie, with  a  symptomatical  fever,  which  suddenly  stopped  a  silver  trumpet^ 
from  whence  the  people  of  God  had  often  heard  the  joyful  sound.  Among 
other  })assages  uttered  by  him,  wOien  he  lay  a  dying,  he  addressed  those 
that  were  about  him  with  these  words:  "Oh,  love  the  Lord  Jesus  very 
dearly!  that  little  part  that  I  have  in  him,  is  no  small  comfort  to  me  now." 
He  died  August  25,  1649,  when  he  was  forty-three  years  and  nine  months 
old;  and  left  behind  him  of  three  wives,  which  he  successively  married, 
three  sons,  who  have  since  been  the  shejjherds  of  three  several  churches  in 
this  country, 

§  1-i.  'Tis  a  good  saying.  Nan  Annis  sed  Factis  vivunt  mortales.'^'  Accord- 
ingly, we  will  over-again  measure  the  short  life  of  Mr.  Shepard  by  the  great 
work  which  he  did  in  it:  in  all  of  which,  the  motto  of  Weber  was  tlie  design 
of  our  Shepard,  Autori  Vitoi  Vivendum  deo.f 

Now,  besides  the  other  frequent  and  constant  labours  of  his  ministry, 
which  left  their  impressions  on  the  souls  of  multitudes,  where-ever  he 
came,  the  j)?r.v.s  has  preserved  some  of  his  labours  for  the  surviving  gener- 
ation; and  the  published  composures  of  this  laborious  person  are  of  two 
sorts;  namely,  the  xnovoHlodrinal  and  the  more  practical;  though  indeed 
he  was  of  such  a  spirit  as  always  to  gain  the  point  of  mixing  both  in  the 
game  di.seourscs. 

§  15.  Among  his  composures  of  the  more  dnrtrinal  sort,  the  hell  seems 

•  Life  it  mraraml  nol  by  yenm,  but  by  uclioiw.  f  I-if.-  sboi.W  be  .leveled  to  Him  who  gave  it. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  337 

to  be  born  by  his  elaborate  and  judicious  treatise,  entituled,  "  Tlieses  Sab- 
hatiae;^^  wherein  he  hath  handled  the  morality  of  the  Sabbath  with  a  degree 
of  reason,  reading,  and  religion,  which  is  truly  extraordinary.  It  was  his 
observation, 

"  If  any  state  would  reduce  the  people  under  it  unto  all  sort  of  superstition  and  impiety, 
let  them  erect  a  dancing  sabbath;  and  if  the  God  of  this  world  would  have  .ill  professors 
enjoy  a  total  immunity  from  the  law  of  God,  and  all  manner  of  licentiousness  allowed  them 
without  check  of  conscience,  let  him  then  make  an  every-day  sabbath.''^ 

And  it  was  an  extreme  grief  unto  his  devout  soul  to  see  the  extreme 
ignorance  and  prqfaneness  wherewith  many  in  the  English  nation  decried 
the  sacred  observation  of  the  Lord's  day  as  a  novelty  no  older  than  Perkins, 
and  as  the  stratagem  of  a  few  old  disciplinarian  Puritans.  Wherefore,  as 
the  most  comprehensive  service  to  be  done  for  the  true  'power  of  godliness, 
which  he  saw  would  rise  and  fall  with  the  Sabbath,  he  did  in  these  learned 
theses  maintain  the  morality  and  advise  the  sanctification  of  that  sacred  rest. 
Having  thus  manifested  his  concern  for  the  foarth  commandment,  he  mani- 
fested a  concern  for  the  second  also  by  a  discourse,  wherein,  besides  a  more 
full  opening  of  sundry  particulars  concerning  liturgies,  the  power  of  the 
keys,  the  matter  of  the  visible  church,  there  is  more  largely  handled  the  con- 
troversie  concerning  the  Catholick  visible  church;  tending  to  clear  up  the 
old  way  of  Christ  in  the  churches  of  New-England.  That  which  inspired 
him,  with  Mr.  John  AUin  of  Dedham,  to  write  this  discourse,  was  espe- 
cially a  two  fold  consideration,  expressed,  among  other  things,  in  the  fair 
porch  of  this  book,  about  the  temple  of  God.  One  thing  that  moved  hira 
was  his  desire  oi  re^jjnation ;  whereof  he  says, 

r'We  freely  confess  that  we  think  the  reformation  of  the  church  doth  not  only  consist  in 
pulFgiiig  out  corrupt  worship,  and  setting  up  the  true,  but  also  in  purging  the  churches  from 
such  profimeness  and^sinfulness  as  is  scandalous  to  the  gospel,  and  makes  the  Lord  weary 
of  his  own  ordinances^ 

About  the  way  of  attaining  which  reformation,  he  adds, 

'"Tis  true,  where  there  is  no  church-relation,  but  a  people  are  ready  to  begin  a  new  con- 
stituting of  churches,  reformation  is  to  be  sought  in  the  first  constitution:  this  is  our  case." 
"But  where  corrupted  churches  (such  as  we  conceive  the  congregation  of  England  gen- 
erally to  be)  are  to  be  reformed,  there  we  conceive  that  such  congregations  should  be  called 
by  able  ministers  unto  repentance  for  former  evils,  and  confessing  and  bewailing  their  sins, 
renew  a  solemn  covenant  with  God  to  reform  themselves,  and  to  submit  unto  the  discipline  of 
Christ.  By  which  means  such  as  refuse  so  to  do,  exclude  themselves,  and  others,  by  the  sever- 
ity of  discipline,  should  be  purged  out,  if  falling  into  sin  they  remain  impenitent  in  the  same.'" 

Another  thing  that  moved  him,  was  his  regard  for  New-England,  whereof 
his  words  there  must  never  be  forgotten ;  and  the  reason  of  my  transcrib- 
ing them  is,  because  the  Church- History  of  my  country  is  briefly  comprised 
in  them.     Saith  he, 


888 


MA(iNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


-The  Ix.rd  knows  how  many  longings  and  panti.igs  of  heart  have  been  in  many  af^er  the 
I>,rd  Jesus  to  Hee  his  goings  in  the  sanctuary,  as  the  one  thing  their  souls  desired  and  re- 
quested  of  hin.,  and  that  ti.ev  might  'dwell  in  his  house  for  ever;'  the  fruit  of  which  prayers, 
and  desire.s  this  liherty  of  New-Kngland,  hath  been  taken  to  be,  and  thankfully  received  of 
Cod      Vea,  h.)W  many  serious  cmsultatinns  with  one  another,  and  with  the  faithful  ministers 
and  other  Vn.inent  servants  of  Christ,  have  been  t.iken  about  this  work,  is  not  unknown  to 
nome;  and  surely  all  the  jxTsons  whose  hearts  the  Lord  stirred  up  in  this  business,  were 
not*  rash,  weak-spirited,  inconsiderate  of  what  they  left  behind,  or  of  what  it  was  to  go  into 
a  wilderness.'     Hut  if  we  were  able  to  recount  the  singular  workings  of  Divine  Providence, 
for  Uie  bringing  on  this  work  to  what  it  is  come  unto,  it  would  stop  the  mouths  of  all ;  whatever 
many  may  say  or  think,  we  believe  afterlimes  will  'admire  and  adore  the  Lord  herein,  when 
all  his  holy  ends,  and  the  ways  he  has  used  to  bring  them  about,  shall  appear.'     Look  from 
one  end  of  the  heaven  unto  another,  whether  the  Lord  hath  assayed  to  do  such  a  work  as 
tliis  in  anv  nation;  to  carry  out  a  people  of  his  own,  from  so  flourishing  a  state,  to  a  wilder- 
ness so  far  dist,int,  for  such  ends,  and  for  such  a  work ;  yea,  and  in  few  years  hath  done  for 
them,  as  he  hath  here  done,  for  his  poor  despised  people.     When  we  look  back,  and  consider 
what  a  strange  poise  of  spirit,  he  hath  laid  upon  many  of  our  hearts,  we  cannot  but  wonder 
at  our  selves  that  so  many,  and  some  so  weak  and  tender,  with  such  cheerfulness  and  constant 
rrsoliilions,  against  so  many  persuasions  of  friends,  and  discouragements  from  the  ill  report 
of  this  country,  the  straits,  icanis,  and  trials  of  God's  people  in  it,  yet  should  leave  our 
ncconimodations  and  comforts — forsake  our  dearest   relations,  parents,  brethren,  sisters, 
Christian  friends  and  acquaintiinces — overlook  all  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  the  vast  seas, 
the  thoughts  whereof  vv:is  a  terror  to  many — and  all  this,  to  go  into  a  wilderness,  where  we 
could  forecast  nothing  but  care  and  temptations,  only  in  hopes  of  enjoying  Christ  in  his  ordi- 
nances, in  the  fellowship  of  his  people.     Was  this  from  a  stupid  sencelesness,  or  desperate 
carelessness,  what  became  of  us  or  ours?  or  want  of  natural  aff'edions  to  our  dear  country  or 
nearest  relations?     No,  surely:  with  what  bowels  of  compassion  to  our  dear  country;  with 
wliat  heart-breaking  affections  to  our  dear  relations  and  Christian /nV«(/.s,  many  of  us  at  least 
came  aw:iy,  the  Lord  is  witness.     What  shall  we  say  of  the  singular  providence  of  God, 
bringing  so  many  ship-loads  of  his  people  through  so  many  dangers,  as  upon  eagles'  wings, 
with  so  much  safety  from  year  to  year?  \\\q,  fatherly  care  of  our  God,  m  feeding  and  cloathing 
80  many  in  a  wilderness,  giving  such  heallhfulness,  and  great  increase  of  posterity  ?     What . 
shall  we  say  of  the  work  it  self  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ?  and  the  form  of  a  commonuiealth 
erected  in  a  wilderness,  and  in  so  few  years  brought  to  that  state,  that  scarce  the  like  can 
be  seen  in  any  of  our  English  colonies,  in  the  richest  places  of  this  America,  after  many  more 
years'  sbnding?     That  the  Lord  hath  carried  the  spirits  of  so  many  of  his  people,  through 
all  their  toilsome  labours,  wants,  difficulties,  losses,  with  such  a  measure  of  cheerfulness  and 
contentment.     But,  above  all,  we  must  acknowledge  the  singular  pity  and  mercies  of  our 
God,  that  hath  done  all  this,  and  much  more,  for  a  people  so  unworthy,  so  sinful,  that  by 
murmnrrngs  of  many,  unfuithfulness  in  promises,  oppressions,  and  other  evils,  which  are  found 
among  us,  have  so  dishonoured  his  ]\Lajesty,  exposed  his  work  here  to  much  scandal  and 
obloquy,  fur  which  we  have  cause  for  ever  to  be  ashamed,  that  the  Lord  should  yet  own  us, 
and  rather  correct  us  in  mercy,  than  cast  us  off  in  displeasure,  and  scatter  us  in  this  wilder- 
ness; which  gives  us  cause  to  say,  'Who  is  a  God  like  our  God,  that  pardons  iniquities,  and 
passes  by  the  transgressions  of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage;  even  because  he  delightetii 
in  mercy  I'" 

Having  almost  written  the  life  of  Mr.  Shepard— jea,  of  many  other 
his  ffllow  exiles— in  transcribing  this  passage,  I  may  now  go  on 'to  add. 
that  there  has  been  directed  now  unto  the  whole  English  world  a  most 
excellent  letter  of  ^fr.  Shc])riv(l,  about  "the  church-membership  of  cliil- 


OK,     THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  339 

dren,  and  their  right  to  baptism."  This  letter,  like  that  of  the  glorious 
martyr  Philpot,  written  at  the  like  time^  for  the  like  end^  recited  in  Foxe's 
^^  Acts  and  3Ionuments,^^  was  written  by  him,  not  three  months  before  his 
going  to  that  Lord  whose  charge  had  been,  "For  little  children  to  be  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven:"  and  it  was  written  to 
one  that  was  then  wavering  about  the  point  of  infant-haj^tism^  but  hereby 
recovered  and  established.  The  son  of  this  reverend  person  published 
this  letter,  with  hopes  that  it  might  have  a  better  effect  than  the  famous 
letter  of  Elijah  had  upon  Jehoram,  which  many  think  written  before  his 
translation,  and  concealed  until  a  fit  season,  afterwards,  appeared  for  the 
presenting  of  it.  But  I  shall  conclude  the  catalogue  of  his  doctrinal  tracts, 
with  the  mention  of  another  letter  of  his,  printed  at  London  in  the  year 
1645,  under  the  title  of  ^'' New- England'' s  Lamentations  for  Old  England's 
Errors. " 

§  16.  But  composures  of  a  more  practical  sort  were  those  to  the  writing 
whereof  he  had  a  more  lively  disposition  of  mind.  And  among  these,  to 
pass  by  the  sermon  of  his,  printed  under  the  title  of,  "  Wine  for  Gospel 
Wantons^  or  Cautions  against  Spiritual  Drunkenness,^^  in  which  sermon,  about 
as  long  as  fifty  years  ago,  he  uttered  his  complaint  of  this  tenour:  "Do 
not  we  see  great  unsettledness  in  the  covenant  of  God,  walking  with  God 
at  perad ventures,  and  hanckerings  after  the  whoredoms  of  the  world,  at 
this  day?  and  divisions  and  distractions?  nothing  done  without  division 
and  contention?  certainly  something  is  amiss!"  And  to  pass  by  a  treatise 
of  his,  printed  under  the  title  of,  ^^  Subjection  to  Christ,  in  all  his  Ordi- 
nances and  Appointments,  the  best  means  to  preserve  our  liherti/ f  there  are 
especially  three  of  his  books,  which  have  been  more  considered.  The 
first  and  least  of  those  books  is  called,  "  The  Sincere  Convert:'"'  which  the 
author  would  commonly  call  his  ragged  child;  and  once,  even  after  its 
fourth  edition,  wrote  unto  Mr.  Giles  Firmin  thus  concerning  it:  "That 
which  is  called,  '  The  Sincere  Convert i*  I  have  not  the  book :  I  once  saw 
it:  it  was  a  collection  of  such  notes  in  a  dark  town  in  England,  which 
one  procuring  of  me,  published  them  without  ray  will  or  my  privity. 
I  scarce  know  what  it  contains,  nor  do  I  like  to  see  it;  considering  the 
many  ^^aXfjuafa  typograpliica,*  most  absurd;  and  the  confession  of  him  that 
published  it,  that  it  comes  out  much  altered  from  what  was  first  written." 
The  many  injudicious  readers,  which  that  useful  book  has  found,  among 
devout  and  serious  people,  and  the  woful  horrors  which  have  thereby  been 
raised  in  many  godly  souls,  oblige  me  to  add  the  censure  of  Mr.  Giles 
Firmin,  whose  words  in  his  ^' Real  Christian'^  are: 

"  In  short,  as  to  that  book,  for  the  general  part  of  it,  the  book  is  very  solid,  quick,  and 
searching;  it  cuts  very  sharply.  It  is  not  a  book  for  an  unsound  heart  to  delight  in:  I  mean, 
in  those  places  where  he  agrees,  both  with  the  Scriptures  and  with  other  able  divines,  and 
of  tljcse  makes  use;  but  for  the  other  passages,  which  do  not  agree  with  either  (as  there  are 

•  Typographical  errors. 


890 


MAONALIA    CHUISTl     AMKKICANA; 


aome 


m,mc  thitifrs  in  it)  I  will  lot  thoni  go,  as  boing  none  of  Mr.  Shepard's,  and  not  troul,le  my  self 
with  tliem;  and  wish  no  Christian  that  is  tender  and  sincere,  to  trouble  himself  with  them. 
This  1  put  in,  beeause  I  hear  that  book  hath  eauscd  mueh  trouble  in  gracious  Christians: 
bad  it  Ix-en  to  Christians  in  name  only,  unsound  believers,  hypoeritcs,  I  should  not  h;xve 
troubled  my  self  about  it,  for  I  know  it  is  not  for  their  tooth." 

But  this  book  vvxs  followed  with  a  second  and  larger,  called,  "  I'lie  Sound 
Believer  f'  which  in  a  more  di.stinct,  correct,  and  most  judicious  treatise  of 
evatifjelical  conversion,  discovers  the  ivork  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christy 
in  reconciling  of  a  sinner  unto  God.  And  as,  in  the  preface  to  that  book, 
he  gives  that  reason  for  his  writing  it,  "I  considered  my  weak  body,  and 
my  short  time  of  sojourning  here,  and  that  I  shall  not  speak  long  to  chil- 
dren, friends  or  God's  precious  people;  I  am  sure  not  to  many  in  England, 
to  whom  I  owe  almost  my  whole  self,  and  whom  I  shall  see  in  this  world 
no  more;  I  have  been  therefore  willing  to  take  the  season,  that  I  might 
leave  some  part  of  God's  precious  truth  on  record,  that  it  might  speak 
(Ohl  that  it  might  be  to  the  heart)  among  whom  I  cannot,  and  when  I 
shall  not  be:"  so  the  next  book  of  his  occurring  to  our  notice,  is  Vi  posthu- 
mous one.  And  that  is  a  volume  in  folio,  opening  and  applying  the  para- 
ble of  the  ten  virgins;  and  handling  the  dangers  incident  unto  the  most 
flourishing  churches  or  Christians;  which  book  is  from  the  authors  notes, 
a  transcript  of  sermons  preached  at  his  lecture,  from  June,  1626,  to  May, 
1640.  Whereof  the  venerable  names  of  Greenhil,  Calamy,  Jackson,  Ash, 
Taylor,  have  subscribed  the  testimony,  "That  though  a  vein  of  serious, 
solid,  and  hearty  piety  run  through  all  this  author's  works,  yet  he  hath 
reserved  the  best  wine  till  the  last."  These  were  the  tvorhs  of  that  man, 
whose  "death  in  the  Lord"  has  now  carried  him  to  a  "rest  from  his  labours." 

§  17.  As  he  was  \  very  studious  person,  and  a  very  lively  preacher/  and 
one  who  therefore  took  great  pains  in  his  preparations  for  his  publick 
labours,  which  preparations  he  would  usually  finish  on  Saturday,  by  two 
a  clock  in  the  afternoon ;  with  respect  whereunto  he  once  used  these  words, 
"God  will  curse  that  man's  labours,  that  lumbers  up  and  down  in  the 
world  all  the  week,  and  then  upon  Saturday  in  the  afternoon  goes  to  his 
study;  when,  as  God  knows,  that  time  were  little  enough  to  pray  in  and 
weep  in,  and  get  his  heart  into  a  fit  frame  for  the  duties  of  the  approaching 
Sabbath."  So  the  character  of  his  daily  conversation  was  a  trembling  walk 
with  Gotl.  Now,  to  take  true  measures  of  his  conversation,  one  of  the 
best  glasses  that  can  be  used  is  the  diarj/,  wherein  he  did  himself  keep  the 
remembrances  of  many  remarkables  that  passed  betwixt  his  God  and  him- 
self; who  were  indeed  a  sufficient  theatre  to  one  another.  It  would  give  some 
inequality  to  this  part  of  our  church-history,  if  all  the  holy  memoirs  left 
in  the  private  writings  of  this  walker  with  God,  should  here  be  tran- 
scribed: but  I  will  single  out  from  thence  a  few  passages,  which  might  be 
more  agreeably  and  profitably  exposed  unto  the  world. 

§  18.  We  will  begin  with  what  his  eminent  successor,  Mr.  Mitchel,  entred 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  391 

in  Lis  own  diary,  as  reported  by  Mr.  Shepard  unto  himself;  which  runs 
in  these  Latin  terms: 

*'  Olim  Cantabrigise,  Ego  Horrore  el  Tenehris  opp/etus,  An  ad  Mensani  Domini 
accederem  maxime  Dubitavi ;  Tandem  autem  accessi  utcunque.  Cum  vera  Panis 
et  \'\n\xm  jam  essent  Communicanda,  mihi  Exeundum  putavi ;  tanfd  confusione  fui 
oppressus  !  Sed  Deus  me  ihi  relinuit,  ac  tandem  hue  me  adegit,  ut,  Licet,  ego  nihil 
possim  in  accipiendo  Christo,  ad  ilium  tanien  respicerem,  ut  lUe  me  prehenderet  et 
ad  me  veniret.  Statim,  tarn  perspicue  se7isi  Christum  ilhicescentem  Animo,  quam 
solem  Orientem  sentire  possum.  Hoc  tantopere  me  evexit,  et  de  vita  Fidei  hue 
usque  Erudivit,  ut  non  possum  non  magnipendere."*  Mr.  Mitchel  had  this  of  Mr. 
Shepard,  August  13,  1646. 

§  19.  How  experimentally  acquainted  he  himself  was  with  the  practice 
and  import  of  the  doctrine  wherein  he  chiefly  insisted,  in  his  preaching 
unto  others,  will  be  illustrated  from  this  most  edifying  record  in  his  diary: 

"April  10. — I  had  many  thoughts  which  came  in,  to  press  me  to  give  up  my  self  to  Christ 
Jesus,  which  was  the  dearest  thing  I  had:  and  I  saw  that  if,  when  I  gave  my  self  to  Christ, 
he  would  give  himself  to  me  again,  it  would  be  a  wonderful  change;  to  have  the  bottomless 
Fountain  of  all  good,  thus  communicated  unto  me!  Thus,  two  or  three  days,  I  was  exercised 
about  this;  and  at  last  (which  was  the  day  wherein  I  fell  sick  on  the  Sabbath)  in  my  study 
I  was  put  to  a  double  question;  First,  Whether  Christ  would  take  me,  if  I  gave  my  self  to 
him?  Then,  Whether  I  might  take  him  again  upon  it?  And  so  I  resolved  to  seek  an  answer 
to  both,  from  God  in  meditation.  So  on  the  Saturday,  April  11,  I  gave  myself  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  thus.  First,  I  acknowledged  all  I  was,  or  had,  was  his  own;  as  David  spake  of  their 
offerings,  I  acknowledged  him  the  owner  of  all.  Secondly,  I  resigned  not  only  my  goods 
and  estate,  but  my  child,  ttife,  church,  and  self  unto  the  Lord;  out  of  love,  as  being  the  best 
and  dearest  things  which  I  have.  Thirdly,  I  prized  it  as  the  greatest  mercy,  if  the  Lord  will 
take  them ;  and  so  I  desired  the  Lord  to  do  it.  Fourthly,  I  desired  him  to  take  all  for  a  three- 
fold end;  to  do  with  me  what  he  would;  to  love  me;  to  honour  himself  by  me,  and  all  mine. 
Fifthly,  Because  there  is  a  secret  reservation,  that  the  Lord  shall  do  all  for  the  soul  that  giveth 
up  it  self  to  the  Lord;  but  'tis  that  God  may  please  my  will  and  love  rne,  and  if  he  doth  not, 
then  the  heart  dieth ;  hence  I  gave  up  my  toill  also  into  the  Lord's  hands,  to  do  with  it  what 
he  please.  Sixthly.  My  many  whorish  lusts  I  also  resigned,  but  that  he  would  take  them  all 
away.  And  Seventhly,  that  he  would  keep  me  also  from  all  sin  and  evil.  Thus,  I  gave  my 
self  unto  the  Lord;  but  then  I  questioned,  'Will  the  Lord  take  me?'  In  answer  whereto, 
First,  I  saw  that  the  Lord  desired  and  commanded  me  to  give  him  my  heart.  Secondly,  I  saw 
that  this  was  pleasing  to  him  and  the  contrary  displeasing.  Thirdly,  I  saw,  that  it  was  fit 
for  him  to  take  me, and  to  do  what  he  will  with  me.  But  then  I  questioned, 'Will  the  Lord 
receive,  and  do  me  good  everlastingly?'  Because  I  gave  up  my  friends  and  the  whole  church 
to  the  Lord  also,  as  I  did  my  self;  and  'will  the  Lord  take  all  them?'  For  answer,  here  I 
saw  the  great  privilege  of  it,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  in  committing  some  men's  souls  to  the 
care  of  one  godly  man  of  a  ptiblick  spirit,  because  he,  like  Moses,  commends  them,  gives 
them,  returns  them  all  to  the  Lord  again;  and  so  a  world  of  good  is  communicated  for  his 

•  At  Cambridge  I  was  once  bo  greatly  overcome  by  mental  darkness,  that  I  doubted  whether  I  ought  to  go  to 
the  Lord's  Table.  At  last,  however,  I  went.  But  when  the  bread  and  wine  were  about  to  be  administered,  I  felt 
fis  if  I  must  go  out,  so  intense  was  my  confusion.  But  God  kept  me  there,  and  at  length  brought  my  mind  to  this 
point,  that  although  I  might  be  unable  to  receive  Christ,  yet  I  might  look  to  him,  that  he  might  draw  me  and  come 
to  me.  At  once  I  perceived  Christ  shining  into  my  mind,  as  clearly  as  I  can  perceive  the  rising  sun.  This  so 
enraptured  me,  and  instructed  me  so  far  in  the  life  of  faith,  that  I  cannot  help  valuing  it  above  all  price. 


898 


MAGNALIA    ClIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


lake.  Tlic  thin!  question  was, '  But  mifjlit  I  take  the  Lord?'  and  my  answer  was,  'If  the 
Lord  dill  apprehend  mid  Uikc  me  to  Iiiiiisulf,  then  I  niifrjit  take  him,  for  I  had  no  other  to 
lay  liold  on.'" 

§  20.  Of  what  thoughts  and  what  frames  he  sometimes  had  in  his  prepar- 
ations, for  the  Lord's  table,  we  will  recite  but  one  expressive  meditation : 

"July  10,  1641. On  the  evening  of  this  day,  before  the  sacrament,  I  saw  it  my  duty  to 

soqufstor  my  self  from  ail  other  tilings  for  tlie  Lord  tlie  next  day. And  now  I  saw  my 

bleKsedncss  did  not  lie  in  receiviiyr  of  g(X)d  and  comfort  from  God,  but  in  holding  forth  the 
glury  of  Ciod,  and  his  virtues.  For  'tis,  I  saw,  an  amazing  glorious  object  to  see  God  in  the 
crtalure!  CJod  speak,  God  act,  the  Deity  not  being  the  creature,  and  turned  into  it;  but  till- 
ing of  it,  shining  through  it;  to  be  covered  with  God  as  with  a  cloud,  or  as  a  glass  lanthorn 
to  have  his  beams  penetrate  through  it.  Nothing  is  good  but  God,  and  I  am  no  further  good 
than  as  I  hold  forth  God.  Tiie  devil  overcame  Eve  to  damn  her  self,  by  telling  her  that  she 
should  be  like  God.  Oh!  that  is  a  glorious  thing!  and  should  not  I  be  holy,  and  be  like  him? 
Moreover,  I  found  my  heart  drawn  more  sweetly  to  close  with  God,  thus  as  my  end,  and  to 
pl.ice  my  happiness  therein.  Also,  I  saw  it  was  my  misery  to  hold  forth  sin,  and  Satan,  and 
self,  in  my  course.  And  I  saw  one  of  these  two  things  must  be  done.  Now  because  my 
soul  wanted  pleasure,  I  purposed  then  to  hold  forth  God,  and  did  hope  it  should  be  my  plea- 
sure 80  to  do,  as  it  would  be  my  pain  to  do  otherwise." 

§  21.  How  irakhful  he  was  in  the  discharge  of  his  ministry^  let  this  his 
meditation  intimate: 

"August  15 — I  saw,  on  the  Sabbath,  four  evils  which  attend  me  in  my  ministry.  First, 
Either  the  devil  treads  me  down  hy  discouragement  and  shame;  from  the  sense  of  the  mean- 
ness of  what  I  iiave  provided  in  private  meditations,  and  unto  this  I  saw  also  an  answer; 
to  wit,  that  every  thing  sanctified  to  do  good,  its  glory  is  not  to  be  seen  in  it  self,  but  in  the 
Lord's  sanctifying  of  it:  or,  from  an  apprehension  of  the  unsavouriness  of  peoples'  spii-its, 
or  their  unreadiness  to  hear  in  hot  or  cold  times.  Secondly,  or  carelessness  possesses  me; 
arising,  because  I  have  done  well,  and  been  enlarged,  and  have  been  respected  formerly,  hence 
it  is  no  such  matter,  though  I  be  not  always  alike ;  besides,  I  have  a  natural  dvlness  and 
cloudiness  of  spirit,  which  does  naturally  prevail.  Thirdly,  Infirmities  and  weakness,  as  want 
of  light,  want  of  life,  want  of  a  spirit  o{ power  to  deliver  what  I  am  affected  with  fur  Christ; 
and  hence  I  saw  many  souls  not  set  forward  nor  God  felt  in  my  ministry.  Fourthly,  Want 
of  success,  when  I  have  done  my  best.  I  saw  these,  and  that  I  was  to  be  humbled  for  tliese. 
1  saw  also  many  other  sins,  and  how  the  Lord  might  be  angry.  And  this  day,  in  musing 
thus,  I  saw,  that  when  I  saw  God  angry,  I  thought  to  pacify  him  by  abstaining  from  all  sin 
for  the  time  to  come.  But  when  I  remembred.  First,  that  my  righteousness  could  not  satisfie, 
and  that  this  was  resting  on  my  own  righteousness.  Secondly,  I  saw  I  could  not  do  it. 
Thirdly,  I  saw  righti-ousness  ready  made,  and  already  finished,  fit  only  for  that  purpose. 
And  I  saw  that  CJod's  afflicting  me  for  sin,  was  not  that  I  should  go  and  satisfie  by  refrrming, 
but  only  be  humhlM  for,  and  separated  from  sin,  being  reconciled  and  made  righteous  hy 
faith  in  Christ,  which  I  saw  a  little  of  that  night.  This  day  also  I  found  my  heart  untoward, 
Md  and  heavy,  by  musing  on  the  many  eri7.s-  to  come;  but  I  saw,  if  I  carried  four  things  in 
my  mind  alway.s,  I  should  be  comforted.  First,  that,  in  my  self,  I  am  a  dying,  condemned 
wreU-h,  but  by  Christ  reconciled  and  alive.  Secondly,  In  my  self  and  in  all  creatures  find- 
ing  tnsvfTinenry,  and  no  rest,  but  God  all-suffuient,  and  enough  to  me.  Thirdly,  Feeble  and 
unable  to  do  any  thing  my  self:  but  in  Christ  able  to  do  all  things.  Fourthly,  Although  I 
enjoyed  all  these  but  in  part,  in  this  world,  yet  I  should  have  them  all  perfect  shortly  in 
he:»ven;  where  (Jod  will  show  himself  fully  reconciled,  sufficient  and  efficient,  and  abolish 
all  sins,  and  live  in  me  perfectly." 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  393 

§  22.  How  sensible  he  was  of  tbe  least  failings  in  himself,  and  how  desirous 
to  mend  those  failings,  may  be  gathered  from  the  ensuing  brief  meditations: 

"December  1. — A  small  thing  troubled  me.  Hence  I  saw  that  though  the  Lord  had  made 
me  that  niglit  attain  that  part  of  humiliation,  that  I  deserved  nothing  but  misery,  yet  I  fell 
short  in  tliis  other  part;  namely,  to  submit  unto  God  in  any  crossing  providence  or  com- 
mandment; but  I  had  a  spirit  soon  touched  and  provoked.  I  saw,  also,  that  the  Lord  let  sin 
and  Satan  prevail  there,  that  I  might  see  my  sin,  and  be  more  humbled  by  it,  and  so  get 
strength  against  it." 

Again. — "IMarch  19. — I  said,  as  pride  was  my  sin,  so  shame  should  be  my  punishment. 
And  many  fears  I  had  of  Eli's  punishment,  for  not  reproving  sin  when  I  saw  it,  and  th.it 
sharply ;  and  here  I  considered  that  the  Lord  may,  and  doth  sometimes  make  one  good  man 
a  terrour  and  dreadful  example  of  outward  miseries,  that  all  others  may  fear  that  be  godly, 
lest  his  commands  should  be  slighted,  as  he  did  Eli." 

Once  more. — ^"October  10. — When  I  saw  the  gifts  and  honour  attending  them  in  another, 
I  began  to  affect  such  an  excellency;  and  I  saw  hereby  that  usually  in  my  ministry,  I  did 
affect  an  excellency,  and  hence  set  upon  the  work :  whereas  the  Lord  hereupon  humbled  me 
for  this,  by  letting  me  see  this  was  a  diabolical  pride;  and  so  the  Lord  made  me  thankful 
for  seeing  it,  and  put  me  in  mind  to  watch  against  it." 

§  23.  Of  how  humble  and  of  how  puhlick  a  spirit  he  wag^  we  will  inform 
our  selves,  especially  from  two  meditations,  which  he  wrote  on  such  days  of 
prayer  as  he  was  used  unto.     The  first  was  this: 

"  Nov.  3. — On  a  fast-day  at  night,  in  preparation  for  the  duty,  the  Lord  made  me  sensible 
of  these  sins  in  the  churches.  1,  Ignorance  of  them.:-ehes ;  because  of  secret  evils.  2,  Of 
God;  because  most  men  were  full  of  dark  and  doubtful  consciences.  3,  Not  caring  for  Christ, 
dearly,  only.  4,  Neglect  of  duties;  because  of  our  place  of  security.  6,  Standing  against 
all  means,  because  we  grow  not  better.  6,  Earihliness;  because  we  long  not  to  be  with 
Christ.  And  I  saw  sin,  as  my  greatest  evil,  because  I  saw  my  self  was  not  better  than  God. 
I  was  rile,  but  he  was  o^oorf  only,  whom  my  sin  did  cross;  and  I  saw  what  cause  I  had  to 
loath  my  self,  and  not  to  seek  honour  unto  my  self.  Will  any  desire  his  dunghill  to  be 
commended?  will  he  grieve,  if  it  be  not?  if  he  judge  so  indeed  of  it.  So  my  heart  began 
to  fall  off  from  it;  and  the  Lord  also  gave  me  some  glimpse  of  my  self,  and  a  good  day  and 
time  it  was  to  me. 

"On  the  end  of  the/as/,  Ifrst  went  unto  God,  I  rested  upon  him  as  sufficient;  secondly, 
waited  on  him  as  efficient;  and  said,  'Now,  Lord,  do  for  thy  churches,  and  help  in  mercy!' 
In  the  beginning  of  the  day,  I  began  to  consider,  tchether  all  the  country  did  not  fare  the  worse 
for  my  sins?  I  saw  it  was  so,  and  this  was  an  humbling  thought  to  me;  and  I  thought  if 
every  one  in  particular  thought  so  and  was  humbled,  it  would  do  well.  I  consider  also,  that 
ii  repentance  turn  away  judgments,  then,  if  the  question  be,  'Who  they  are  that  bring  judg- 
ments?' the  answer  would  be,  'They  that  think  their  sins  so  small  as  that  God  is  not  angry 
with  them  at  all.'" 

The  second  was  this: 

"April  4. — Preparing  for  a  Fast. — May  not  I  be  the  cause  of  the  church's  sorrows,  which 
are  renewed  upon  us?  for,  u-hat  have  the  sheep  done? 

"L  My  heart  has  been  long  lying  out  from  the  Lord.  The  Lord  first  sent  a  terrible  storm 
at  se.a,  to  awaken  me;  and  the  deliverrtuce  from  it  was  so  sweet,  that  I  could  not  but  think 
my  life  after  that  should  be  only  heavenly,  as  being  pulled  from  an  apparent  death  to  live  a 


^QA  MAGXALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

nrif  life  Thru,  immo.rmt.-Iv  upon  this  my  child  was  taken  away  from  me;  my  first-h<.m, 
which  mud«  inc  ren.cinbor,  i'.ow  bitter  it  was  to  cross  the  Lord's  love.  Thirdly,  I  set  my 
f.ii-e  to  N.-w-KnjjIand,  where,  considering  the  liherlie.s  of  God's  house,  I  resolved  and  thought 
ii  fit  tn  Ik.  wh<.lly  for  the  I^rd,  in  all  manner  of  holiness,  at  bed,  at  lx)ard,  every  where. 
Fourthly,  Tlu-n  tlie  Lord  took  my  dear  wife  from  me,  and  this  made  me  resolve  to  delight 
no  mort-  in  i-rralurrs,  but  in  the  J-ord,  and  to  seek  him.  Fifthly,  the  Lord  then  threatned 
hlitulness  to  inv  child:  and  this  made  (Jod's  will  ajfiicting  sweet  to  me,  but  much  more  com- 
maiulim:  nnd  profiiisiriir :  and  then  I  could  do  his  will,  and  leave  those  things  to  himself. 
But,  oh"!  how  is  my  'gold  become  dim?'  and  how  little  have  I  answered  the  Lord!  consider- 
in"  mv  ship  rfsolulions.  1  have  wanted  remembrance,  heart  and  strength  or  will  to  do  any 
of^these  things.  And  therefore,  I  have  not  cause  to  blariie  the  Lord;  for  he  has  perswaded 
Djy  lieart  to  this;  but  my  own  concupiscence  and  vile  nature,  which,  Lord!  that  I  might 
mourn  for!  that  thou  mayst  restore  cnmforls  to  me!  Aposlacy  from  God  is  grievous,  though 
it  be  in  a  lillle  de<rree ;  to  serve  Satan  without  promise !  to  forsake  the  Lord  against  promise ! 
What  evil  have  I  found  in  the  Lord?  This  brings  more  disgrace  upon  the  Lord  than  if  there 
had  never  been  any  coming  to  him. 

"II.  The  ])eople  committed  to  me:  they  are  not  pitied  so  much  nor  prayed  for,  nor  visited, 
as  ought  to  have  been;  nor  have  I  shewed  so  much  love  unto  them. 

"HI.  The/ami/^,  I  have  not  editied  nor  instructed,  nor  taken  all  occasions  of  speech  with 
them. 

"IV.  The  gospel  I  have  preached,  has  not  been  seen  in  its  glory ;  not  believed,  not  affecting. 

"V.  Not  seeking  to  Christ  for  supply;  so  that  all  hath  been  dead  works,  and  fruit  of  pride, 
walking  daily  witliout  Ciirist,  and  without  approving  my  self  unto  him.  And  hence,  though 
I  do  his  work,  I  don't  mind  him  in  it;  His  command,  His  presence,  nor  yet  endeavour  to  grow 
somewhat  every  day. 

"My  not  lamenting  the /a//s  of  professors,  and  the  condition  of  the  country,  who  are  not 
indeed  the  glory  if  God  in  the  world,  nor  the  holy  people.  Is  it  not  hence  that  many  pillars 
in  the  church  have  fallen,  as  if  the  Lord  would  not  betrust  such  precious  vessels  to  my  earel 
and  hath  not  the  sorrow  lain  upon  me?  and  hence  universal  mortality?  When  Hezekiah's 
heart  was  lifted  7ip,  then  wrath  came  not  only  on  him,  but  on  all  the  rest: 

"And  I  have  now  had  a  long  sickTiess,  as  if  the  Lord  would  delight  no  more  in  me  to  use 
me.     Oh,  my  God,  who  shall  be  like  to  thee  in  pardoning  and  subduing  mine  iniquities!" 

Beliokl,  reader,  the  language  of  an  holy  soul ! 

But  I  will  now  take  my  leave  of  Mr.  Shepard's  memory,  with  one  dis- 
tick  in  the  funeral  elegy  which  Mr.  Peter  Bulkly  made  on  him:  a  com- 
prehensive 

EPITAPH  . 

Nominis,  Officiique  fuit  Concordia  Dulcis; 
Officio  Pastor  Nomine  Pastor  erat.* 

•  Fitly  hi«  name  and  office  were  the  same : 
Sheplicrd  by  office— Shepard,  too,  by  name. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  395^ 

CHAPTEH  ?L 

PRUDENTIUS:  THE  LIFE  OF  MR.  PETER  PRUDDEN, 

AND  SEVERAL  OTHER  DIVINES,  FAMOUS  IN  THE  COLONY  OF  NEW-HAVEN. 

That  greatest  o^  peace-makers^  the  Son  of  God,  has  assured  us,  "Blessed 
are  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God."  I  am 
sure  then,  'tis  a  blessed  child  of  God  whose  name  is  now  before  us;  {Prud- 
den  shall  we  call  him?  or,  Prudent)  who,  besides  his  other  excellent  qual- 
ities, was  noted  for  a  singular  faculty  to  sweeten,  compose  and  qualify 
exasperated  spirits,  and  stop  or  heal  all  contentions.  Whence  it  was  that 
his  town  of  Milford  enjoyed  peace  luith  truth  all  his  days,  notwithstanding 
some  dispositions  to  variance,  which  afterwards  broke  forth  among  them. 

God  had  marvellously  blessed  his  ministry  in  England,  unto  many  about 
Herefordshire  and  near  Wales;  from  whence,  when  he  came  into  New- 
England,  there  came  therefore  many  considerable  persons  with  him. 

At  their  arrival  in  this  country,  they  were  so  mindful  of  their  business 
here,  that  they  gathered  churches  before  they  had  erected  houses  for  the 
churche^s  to  meet  in.  There  were  then  two  famous  churches  gathered  at 
New-Haven;  gathered  in  two  days,  one  following  upon  the  other;  Mr. 
Davenport's  and  Mr.  Prudden's:  and  this  with  one  singular  circumstance, 
that  a  mighty  barn  was  the  place,  wherein  the  duties  of  that  solemnity 
were  attended.  Our  glorious  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  born  in  a 
stable  and  laid  in  one  of  those  moveable  and  four-squared  little  vessels 
wherein  they  brought  meat  unto  the  cattel,  it  was  the  more  allowable  that 
a  church,  which  is  the  mystical  body  of  that  Lord,  should  thus  be  born  in 
a  barn.  And  in  this  translation,  I  behold  our  Lord,  "with  his  fan  in  his 
hand,  purging  his  floor,  and  gathering  her  wheat  into  the  garner." 

That  holy  man,  Mr.  Philip  Henry,  being  reproached  by  his  persecutors 
that  his  meeting-place  had  been  a  barn,  pleasantly  answered,  "No  new 
thing,  to  turn  a  thrashing-floor  into  a  temple."  So  did  our  Christians  at 
New-Haven. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Prudden,  with  his  church,  removed  unto  Milford; 
where  he  lived  many  years,  an  example  of  piety,  gravity,  and  boiling  zeal, 
against  the  growing  evils  of  the  times. 

And  though  he  had  a  numerous  family,  yet  such  was  his  discretion, 
that  without  much  distraction  he  provided  comfortably  for  them,  notwith- 
standing the  difficult  circumstances  wherewith  an  infant-plantation  was 
encumbred. 

He  continued  an  able  and  faithful  servant  of  the  churches,  until  about 
the  fifty -sixth  year  of  his  own  age,  and  the  fifty-sixth  of  the  present  age; 


396 


MAG  N  ALIA    C  II  R  I  S  T I    AMERICANA; 


when  his  death  wiis  felt  by  the  colony  as  the  fall  of  a  pillar  which  made 
the  whole  fabrick  to  shake. 

Like  that  of  Piccart,  now  let  our  Prudden  lie  under  this 

EPIT  A  r  II. 

Dogmatt  non  tantus  fuit  Autlitorihiis  Idem: 
Exemplo  in  Vita,  jam  quoqite  mortc,  prceit* 

Ikit  our  pen  having  flown  as  far  off  as  the  colony  of  New-Haven,  it 
niav  not  return  without  some  remarks  and  memoirs  of  three  other  worthy 
divines,  that  were  sometimes  famous  in  that  colony.  The  reader  must 
excuse  my  ignorance  of  the  first  circumstances,  if  he  find  them  to  be  born 
jiun  in  our  history: 

MR.    BLACK.'^IAN,    31 R.    PIERSON,    MR.    DENTON. 


CHAPTER  TIL 

TUE   LIFE    OF   MR.   ADAM   BX  AC  KM  AN. 

Among  those  believers  who  first  enjoyed  the  name  of  Christians^  there 
were  several  famous  teachers,  whereof  one  (Acts  xiii.  1)  had  the  name  of 
Ki(jcr.  And  in  the  primitive  churches  of  New-England  also,  there  was 
among  our  famous  teachers  a  good  man,  who  wore  the  same  sir-name:  this 
wiis  our  Mr.  Blackman,  concerning  whom  none  but  a  Romanist  w^ould  have 
used  that  rule: 

Hie  niger  est,  hunc  tu  Bomane,  cateto.\ 

For  he  was  highly  esteemed  in  the  Protestant  country,  where  he  spent  the 
latter  days  of  his  life. 

He  was  a  useful  preacher  of  the  gospel,  first  in  Leicestershire,  then  in 
Derbyshire:  but  coming  to  New-England,  from  the  storm  that  began  to. 
look  black  upon  him,  he  was  attended  with  a  desirable  company  of  the 
faithful,  who  said  unto  him,  "Entreat  us  not  to  leave  you,  or  to  return 
from  following  after  you:  for  whither  you  go,  we  will  go;  and  your  God 
shall  be  our  God." 

New-England  having  received  this  holy  man,  who,  notwithstanding  his 
name,  was  for  his  holiness,  "A  Nazarite  purer  than  snow,  whiter  than 
niilk."  It  was  first  at  Guilford,  and  afterwards  at  Stratford,  that  he  em- 
ployed his  talents;  and  if  a  famous  modern  author  be  known  by  the  name 
u^  Adumux  A'lamamlus^X  our  Adam  Blackman  was  by  the  affections  of  his 
people  so  likewise  called. 


\a^*»  iin  opinions  Ihiin  pxample  bent, 

III*  hitan-ni  rolluwed  whrru  their  patlcrn  went; 

IIU  holy  doalh  their  bri({hte«t  precedenl. 


t  He  Is  a  Black-mav  :    linmanisC,  boware! 

Horace,  Sat.  I.  iv,  85. 
X  Adam,  worthy  to  be  loved. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  397 

It  was  his  opinion,  that  as  for  our  bodies,  thus  for  our  spirits  also,  Cibiis 
sivipl'^x  est  Optimus;*  and  accordingly  he  studied  ^/am  preaching,  which 
was  entertained  by  his  people  with  a  profitable  hearing.  And  as  Luther 
would  say,  he  is  the  ablest  preacher,  Qui  pueriliter,  Trivialiter,  Pojndariter, 
simplicissime  docet."f  so  our  Hooker,  for  the  sake  of  the  sacred  and  solid 
simplicity  in  the  discourses  of  this  worthy  man,  would  say,  "If  I  might  have 
my  choice,  I  would  choose  to  live  and  die  under  Mr.  Blackman's  ministry." 

There  was  a  great  person  among  the  reformers  in  Germany,  who  had 
almost  the  same  name  with  our  Blackman ;  that  was  Melancthon,:}:  and 
indeed  this  good  person  was  a  Melancthon  among  the  reformers  of  New- 
Ilaven ;  in  this  happier  than  he,  that  his  lot  was  cast  among  a  pious  peo- 
ple, who  did  not  administer  so  frequent  occasions  as  the  Germans  did  for 
the  complaint,  "That  old  Adam,  was  too  hard  for  his  young  name-sake." 

For  a  close,  I  may  a]3ply  to  him  the  ingenious  epitaph  of  Beza  upon 
Melancthon : 

Cwi  Niveus  toto  Regnahat  pectore  Candor ; 

Urium  cui  Caelum  ;  cura  laborque  fuit 
Nuin  liogitaa,  qua  sit  dictus  Raiione  Melancthon] 

Scilicet  Euxinum,  qua  Ratione  vacant.^ 

[For  this  is  a  well  known  sea,  called  Euxine,  or  harhoroiis,  because 
there  are  no  good  harbours  in  it.] 


CHAPTER   YIIL 

THE  LIFE  OF  MR.  ABRAHAM  PIERSON. 

It  is  reported  by  Pliny,  and  perhaps  'tis  but  a  Plinyism,  that  there  is 
a  fish  called  Lucerna,  whose  tongue  doth  shine  like  a  torch;  if  it  be  a 
fable,  yet  let  the  tongue  of  a  minister  be  the  moral  of  that  fable ;  now 
such  an  illuminating;-  tongue  was  that  of  our  Pierson. 

He  was  a  Yorkshire  man,  and  coming  to  New-England,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  church  at  Boston ;  but  afterwards  thus  employed,  towards 
the  year  IB-iO.  The  inhabitants  of  Lyn,  straitned  at  home,  looked  out 
for  a  new  plantation;  so  going  to  Long-Island,  they  agreed  both  with  the 
Lord  Starling's  agent  and  with  the  Indian  proprietors  for  a  situation  at 
the  west-end  of  that  Island:  where  the  Dutch  gave  them  such  disturbance, 
that  they  deserted  their  place  for  another  at  the  east-end  of  it.  Proceed- 
ing in  their  plantation,  by  the  accession  of  near  an  hundred  families,  they 

•  Simple  food  is  best. 

+  Who  in  a  child-like,  unconstrained,  popular  and  simple  manner  imparts  instruction. 

J  From  //tAaf,   ''black. 

§  Do  you  ask  why  one  whose  character  is  of  snow-like  purity,  and  whose  aspirations  tend  only  heavenward, 
should  be  called  Melancthon  ?  [black.]  For  the  same  reason  that  a  certain  sea  is  called  the  Euxine  [the  sea  of 
harbors]. 


ggg  m.\(;nalia    CIIKISTI    AMEKICANA; 

called  Mr.  rierson  to  go  thither  with  them;  who,  with  seven  or  eight 
more  of  their  compiiny,  rcguhirly  incorporated  themselves  into  a  church 
state  before  their  going;  the  whole  company  also  entring  at  the  same 
time,  with  the  advice  of  the  government  of  the  Massachuset-Bay,  into  a 
civil'  combination  for  the  maintaining  government  among  themselves. 
Thus  was  there  settled  a  church  at  Southampton,  under  the  pastoral 
charge  of  this  worthy  man;  where  he  did  with  a  laudible  diligence 
undergo  two  of  the  three  hard  labours,  Doceniis  and  Regentis*  to  make  it 
become  (what  Paradise  was  called)  "an  island  of  the  innocent." 

It  was  afterward  found  necessary  for  this  church  to  be  divided.  Upon 
which  occasion  Mr.  Picrson,  referring  his  case  to  council,  his  removal  w^as 
directed  unto  Brainford,  over  upon  the  main,  and  Mr.  Fordham  came  to 
.serve  and  to  feed  that  part  of  the  flock  which  was  left  at  Southampton ; 
but  where-ever  he  came,  he  shone. 

lie  left  behind  him  the  character  of  a  pious  and  prudent  man;  and  a 
"true  child  of  Abraham,"  now  safely  lodged  in  the  Slnu-Ahralla.^; 

EPITAPHIUM. 

Terris  discessit,  suspirans  Gaudia  call, 

Picrsonus  Patriam  scandit  ad  Astra  suam.  t 


Lxliniirxjixl,   xA» 

THE    LIFE    OF   MR.   RICHARD    DENTON. 

TiiK  apostle  describing  the  false  ministers  of  those  primitive  times,  he 
calls  them,  "clouds  without  w^ater,  carried  about  of  winds."  As  for  the 
(nte  ministers  of  our  primitive  times,  they  were  indeed  "carried  about  of 
winds;"  though  not  the  wvids  of  strange  doctrines;  yet  the  winds  of  hard 
fufftring.s  did  carry  them  as  far  as  from  Europe  into  America;  the  hurri- 
catio's  of  persecution,  whereon  doubtless  the  "prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air"  had  his  influence,  drove  the  heavenly  clouds  from  one  part  of  that 
heaven,  the  church,  unto  another.  But  they  were  not  clotuk  ivithout  water, 
where  they  came;  they  came  with  showers  of  blessing,  and  rained  very- 
gracious  impressions  upon  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

Among  these  clouds  was  our  pious  and  learned  Mr.  Richard  Denton,  a 
Yorkshire  man,  who,  having  watered  Halifax  in  England  with  his  fruit- 
ful ministry,  was  by  a  tempest  then  hurried  into  New-England,  where, 
lirst  at  Weathersfield  and  then  at  Stamford,  "his  doctrine  dropt  as  the 
rain,  liis  .speech  distilled  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender 
herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass." 

•  hwlrucllnR  and  ROTcmlng.  j  P.krson,  while  waitinR  till  l.is  chnnge  should  come, 

■  •"  Abruhnm  »  bowra.  Was  but  n  pilgrim,  .ighing  for  his  home. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  399 

Though  "he  were  a  little  man.  yet  he  had  a  great  sonl;  his  well-accom- 
plished mind,  in  his  lesser  body,  was  an  Iliad  in  a  mit-shell. 

I  think  he  was  blind  of  one  eye;  nevertheless,  he  was  not  the  least 
among  the  seers  of  our  Israel ;  he  saw  a  very  considerable  proportion  of 
those  things  which  "eye  hath  not  seen." 

He  was  far  from  cloudy  in  his  conceptions  and  principles  of  divinity: 
whereof  he  wrote  a  system^  entituled,  ^^  Soliloquia  Sacra  f'*  so  accurately, 
considering  the  fourfold  state  of  man,  in  his— i.  Created  Purity;  II. 
Contracted  Deformity;  ill.  Eestored  Beauty;  IV.  Coelestial  Glory — that 
judicious  persons,  who  have  seen  it,  very  much  lament  the  churches  being 
so  much  deprived  of  it. 

At  length  he  got  into  heaven  beyond  clouds,  and  so  beyond  storms; 
waiting  the  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  "  when 
he  will  have  his  reward  among  the  saintsj^ 

EPITAPHIUM. 

Hie  Jacet,  et  fruitur  Tranquilla  sede  Richardus 

Dentonus,  cujus  Fama  perennis  erit. 
Incola  jam  coeli  velut  Astra  micantia  fidget. 

Qui  multis  Fidei  Lurnina  clara  dedit.i 


uijjiilirJLjuXli    Ajo 
THE    LIFE    OF    MR.    PETER    BUIKLY. 

Ipse  Aspectus  Boni  viri  delectat. — Sex4 

§  1.  It  has  been  a  matter  of  some  reflection,  that  among  the  pretended 
successors  of  Saint  Peter,  there  never  was  any  Pope  that  would  pretend 
unto  the  name  of  Peter ;  but  if  any  of  them  had  been  christened  by  that 
name  at  the  font,  they  afterwards  changed  it,  when  they  came  unto  the 
chair.  No  doubt,  as  Raphael  Urbine,  the  famous  painter,  being  taxed, 
for  making  the  face  in  the  picture  of  Peter  too  red,  replied,  He  did  it  on 
purpose,  that  he  might  represent  the  apostle  blushing  in  heaven  to  see  what 
successors  he  had  on  earth:  so  these  infamous  apostates  might  blush  to 
hear  themselves  called  Peter,  while  they  are  conscious  unto  themselves 
of  their  being  strangers  to  all  the  vertues  of  that  great  apostle.  But  the 
denomination  of  Peter  might  be  with  an  everlasting  agreeableness  claimed 
by  our  eminent  Bulkly,  who,  according  to  the  spirit  and  counsel  of  Peter, 
"fed  the  flock  of  God  among  us,  taking  the  oversight  thereof  not  by  con- 
straint, but  willingly;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  willing  mind." 

•  Sacred  Soliloquies, 
t  Here  Pknton  lies;  his  tolls  and  hardships  pasl;        I  On  earth  a  light  of  Faith,  he  shines  at  last, 

Whose  name  no  im-inory  of  dishonour  mars.  Full-orbed  and  glorious  with  the  eternal  stare. 

X  The  very  looks  of  a  good  man  are  a  source  of  pleasiu-e. 


^QQ  MAC.  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

Q  2.  lie  was  descended  of  an  honourable  family,  in  Bedfordsliirc;  where 
for^  many  successive  generations  the  names  of  Edward  and  Peter  were 
ultcrnativflv  worn  by  the  heirs  of  the  family.  His  father  was  Edward 
Bulky,  1).  1^-,  a  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel ;  the  same  whom  we  find 
makinir  a  suiiplement  unto  the  last  volume  of  our  books  of  martyrs.  He 
was  born  at  Woodhil  (or  Odd)  in  Bedfordshire,  January  31st,  1582. 

His  education  was  answerable  unto  his  original;  it  was  learned,  it  was 
genteel,  and,  which  was  the  top  of  all,  it  was  \evy  pious:  at  length  it  made 
hiin  a  Batchellor  of  Divinity  and  Fellow  of  Saint  John's  Colledge  in  Cam- 
brid"c:  the  colledge  whercinto  he  had  been  admitted,  about  the  sixteenth 
year  of  his  age;  and  it  was  while  he  was  but  ix  junior  hatcheUor  that  he 
was  chosen  a  fellow. 

§  3.  When  he  came  abroad  in  the  world,  a  good  benefice  befel  him, 
added  unto  the  estate  of  a  gentleman,  left  him  by  his  father;  whom  he 
succeeded  in  his  ministry  at  the  place  of  his  nativity;  which  one  would 
imagine  hmptations  enough  to  keep  him  out  of  a  ivilderriess. 

Nevertholcss,  the  concern  which  his  renewed  soul  had  for  the  j^'i^'^  '^vor- 
ship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  the  planting  of  evangelical  churches 
to  exercise  that  worship,  caused  him  to  leave  and  sell  all^  in  hopes  of  gain- 
ing the  "j)carl  of  great  price"  among  those  that  first  peopled  New-England 
upon  those  glorious  ends.  It  was  not  long  that  he  continued  in  conformity 
to  the  cerenionies  of  the  church  of  England;  but  the  good  Bishop  of  Lin- 
coln coiniived  at  his  non-conformity,  (as  he  did  at  his  father's,)  and  he 
lived  an  unmolested  non-conformist  until  he  had  been  three  prentice-ships 
of  years  in  his  ministry.  Towards  the  latter  end  of  this  time^  his  ministry 
had  a  notable  success,  in  the  conversion  of  many  unto  God;  and  this  was 
one  occasion  of  a  latter  end  for  this  time.  When  Sir  Nathanael  Brent  was 
Arch-Bishop  Laud's  General,  as  Arch-Bishop  Laud  was  another'' s,  com- 
plaints were  made  against  Mr.  Bulkly,  for  his  non-conformity,  and  he 
was  therefore  silenced. 

§  4.  To  New-England  he  therefore  came,  in  the  year  1635;  and  there 
having  been  for  a  while  at  Cambridge,  he  carried  a  good  number  of  plant- 
ers with  him,  up  further  into  the  tvoods,  where  they  gathered  the  tuelfth 
church  then  Ibrmed  in  the  colony,  and  called  the  town  by  the  name  of 
Concord. 

Here  he  huricd  a  great  estate,  while  he  raised  one  still  for  almost  every 
person  whom  he  employed  in  the  affairs  of  his  husbandry.  He  had  many 
and  godly  servants,  whom,  after  they  had  lived  with  him  a  fit  number  of 
years,  he  still  dismissed  with  bestowing  farms  upon  them,  and  so  took 
others  after  the  like  manner,  to  succeed  them  in  their  service  and  his  kind- 
ness. Thus  he  cast  his  bread  both  upon  the  waters  and  into  the  earth, 
not  expecting  tiie  return  of  this  his  charity  to  a  religious  plantation,  until 
"after  many  days." 

§  5.  He  was  a  most  excellent  scholar,  a  very  well-read  person,  and  one 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  401 

who,  in  his  advice  to  young  students,  gave  demonstrations  that  he  knew 
what  would  go  to  make  a  scholar.  But  it  being  essential  unto  a  scholar  to 
love  a  scholar,  so  did  he;  and  in  token  thereof  endowed  the  library  of 
Harvard-Colledge  with  no  small  part  of  his  own. 

.  And  he  was  therewithal  a  most  exalted  Christian;  full  of  those  devo- 
tions which  accompany  a  "conversation  in  heaven;"  especially,  so  exact 
a  Sabbath-keeper,  that  if  at  any  time  he  had  been  asked,  "whether  he 
had  strictly  kept  the  Sabbath?"  he  would  have  replied,  Ghristiarius  sum, 
intermittere  non  possum.^  And  conscientious,  even  to  a  degree  of  scrupu- 
losity. That  scrupulosity  appeared  particularly  in  his  avoiding  all  novelties 
of  apparel,  and  the  cutting  of  hair  so  close,  that  of  all  the  famous  name- 
sakes he  had  in  the  world,  he  could  have  least  born  the  sir-name  of  that 
well  known  author,  Petrus  Crinitus.f 

§  6.  It  was  observed  that  his  neighbours  hardly  ever  came  into  his  com- 
pany, but  whatever  business  he  had  been  talking  of,  he  would  let  fall  some 
holy,  serious,  divine,  and  useful  sentences  upon  them,  ere  they  parted: 
an  example  many  ways  worthy  to  be  imitated  by  every  one  that  is  called 
a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

In  his  ministry  he  was  another  Farel,  Quo  Nemo  tonuit  fortius  ;X  he  was 
Very  laborious,  and  because  he  was,  through  some  infirmities  of  body,  not 
so  able  to  visit  his  flock,  and  instruct  them  from  house  to  house,  he  added 
unto  his  other  publick  labours  on  the  Lord's  days,  that  of  constant  cate- 
chising; wherein,  after  all  the  unmarried  people  had  answered,  all  the  peo- 
ple of  the  whole  assembly  were  edified  by  his  expositions  and  applications. 

His  first  sermon  was  on  Eom.  i.  16:  "I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ."  At  Odel  he  preached  on  part  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  and 
part  of  Jonah,  and  a  great  part  of  the  gospel  of  Matthew,  and  of  Luke; 
the  Epistles  to  the  Philippians,  and  of  Peter,  and  of  Jude;  besides  many 
other  scriptures.  At  Concord  he  preached  over  the  illustrious  truths  about 
the  person,  the  natures,  the  offices  of  Christ;  [what  would  he  have  said,  if 
he  had  lived  unto  this  evil  day,  when  'tis  counted  good  advice  for  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel,  "not  to  preach  much  on  the  person  of  Christ?"]  the 
greatest  part  of  the  book  of  Psalms:  the  conversion  of  Zacheus;  Paul's 
commission,  in  Acts  xxvi.  18.  His  death  found  him  handling  the  com- 
mandments; and  John  xvi.  7,  8,  9.  He  expounded  Mr.  Perkins  his  six 
principles,  whereto  he  added  a  seventh,  and  examined  the  young  people, 
what  they  understood  and  remembered  of  his  exposition. 

Moreover,  by  a  sort  of  winning,  and  yet  prudent  familiarity,  he  drew 
persons  of  all  ages  in  his  congregation  to  come  and  sit  with  him,  when  he 
could  not  go  and  sit  with  them;  whereby  he  had  opportunity  to  do  the 
part  of  a  faithful  pastor,  in  considering  the  state  of  his  floch. 

Such  was  his  pious  conduct  that  he  was  had  much  in  reverence  by  his 

•  I  am  a  Christian :  I  cannot  swerve  from  duty.  t  Peter  the  Long  Haired. 

X  Than  whom  no  one  thundered  louder. 

Vol.  L— 26 


^QO  MAONALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

uroiAo;  and  when  at  any  time  he  was  either  hasti/  in  speaJdnj  to  such  as 
wore  about  him,  whereto  lie  was  disposed  by  his  bodily  pains,  or  severe  m 
prmrhiwj  against  some  things,  that  others  thought  were  no  way  momentous, 
whereto  the  great  exactness  of  his  piety  inclined  him;  yet  those  little 
.tinrjinesses  took  not  away  the  interests  which  he  had  in  their  hearts;  thiy 
"knowing  him  to  be  a  just  man,  and  an  holy,  observed  him." 

And  tlie  observance  which  his  owp  people  had  for  him  was  also  paid  him 
from  all  sorts  of  people  throughout  the  land;  but  especially  from  the  min- 
isters of  the  country,  who  would  still  address  him  as  a  father,  a  prophet,  a 
counsellor,  on  all  occasions. 

§  8.  Upon  his  importunate  pressing  a  piece  of  charity,  disagreeable  to 
llie  will  of  the  riding  elder,  there  was  occasioned  an  unhappy  discord  in  the 
church  of  Concord;  which  yet  was  at  last  healed  by  their  calling  in  the 
hi'lp  of  a  council,  and  the  ruling  elder's  abdication.  Of  the  temptations 
which  occurred  on  these  occasions,  Mr.  Bulkly  would  say,  "He  thereby 
(_.;ime — 1,  To  know  more  of  God;  2,  To  know  more  of  himself;  8,  To 
know  more  of  men."  Peace  being  thus  restored,  the  small  things  in  the 
beginning  of  the  church  there,  increased  in  the  hands  of  their  faithful 
I)ulklv,  until  he  was  translated  into  the  regions  which  afford  nothing  but 
concord  and  glory;  leaving  his  well-fed  "flock  in  the  wilderness"  unto  the 
pastoral  care  of  his  worthy  son,  Mr.  Edward  Bulkly. 

§  9.  It  is  remarked,  that  a  man's  ivhole  religion  is  according  to  his 
accpiaintance  with  the  neio  covenant.  If,  then,  any  person  would  know 
wliat  Mr.  Peter  Bulkly  was,  let  him  read  his  judicious  and  savoury  treat- 
ise of  the  gospel  covenant;  which  has  passed  through  several  editions,  with 
mucli  acceptance  among  the  people  of  God.  Quickl}^  after  his  first  com- 
ing into  this  country,  he  preached  many  sermons  on  Zech.  ix.  11:  "The 
blood  of  thy  covenant."  The  importunity  of  his  congregation  prevailed 
with  him  to  preach  this  doctrine  of  the  covenant  over  again  in  his  lectures, 
and  fit  it  for  the  press.  He  did  accordingly;  and  of  that  book  the  well- 
known  Mr.  Shepard,  of  Cambridge,  has  given  this  testimony:  "The  church 
of  God  is  bound  to  bless  God,  for  the  holy,  judicious,  and  learned  labours 
of  this  aged,  experienced,  and  precious  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath 
taken  much  pains  to  discover,  and  that  not  in  Avords  and  allegories,  but 
in  the  demonstration  and  evidence  of  the  spirit,  the  great  mystery  of  god- 
liness wrapt  \\\^  in  the  covenant;  and  hath  now  fully  opened  many  knotty 
questions  concerning  the  same,  which  happily  have  not  been  brought  so 
full  to  light  until  now;  which  cannot  but  be  of  singular  and  seasonable 
u.se  to  prevent  apostasies  from  the  simplicity  of  the  covenant  and  gospel 
of  Christ." 

§  10.  Having  offered  this  particular  account  of  a  book,  which  is  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  Jirst -born  of  New-England,  I  may  not  forbear  doing 
my  country  tlie  service  of  extracting  from  it  one  paragraph,  which  we  may 
reckon  the  dying  charge  of  a  Moses  to  an  Israel  in  a  wilderness: 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


403 


"And  thou,  New-England,  which  art  exalted  in  priviledges  of  the  gospel  above  many  other 
people,  know  thou  the  'time  of  tliy  visitation,'  and  consider  the  great  things  the  Lord  hath 
done  for  thee.  The  gospel  hiiih  free  passage  in  all  places  where  thou  dwellest;  Oh!  that  it 
might  be  glorified  also  by  thee!  Thou  enjoyest  many  faithful  witnesses,  which  have  testified 
unto  thee  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  Thou  hast  many  bright  stars  shining  in  thy  firm- 
ament, to  give  thee  the  '  knowledge  of  salvation  from  on  high,  to  guide  thy  feet  in  the  way  of 
peace.'  Be  not  high-minded  because  of  thy  priviledges,  but  fear  because  of  thy  danger. 
Tiie  more  thou  hast  committed  unto  thee,  the  more  thou  must  account  for.  No  people's 
account  will  be  heavier  than  thine,  if  thou  do  not  walk  worthy  of  the  means  of  thy  salvation. 
The  Lord  looks  for  more  from  thee  than  from  other  people:  more  zeal  for  God,  more  love  to 
his  truth,  more  justice  and  equity  in  thy  ways:  thou  shouldest  be  a  special  people,  an  only 
people,  none  like  thee  in  all  the  earth.  Oh !  be  so,  in  loving  the  gospel,  and  the  ministers 
of  it,  having  them  in  'singular  love  for  their  work's  sake.' 

"  Glorifie  thou  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  has  glorified  thee.  Take  heed,  least  for  neglect 
of  either,  God  'remove  thy  candlestick'  out  of  the  midst  of  thee;  lest  being  now  'as  a  city 
upon  an  hill,'  which  many  seek  unto,  thou  be  left  '  like  a  beacon  upon  the  top  of  a  mountain,' 
desolate  and  forsaken.  If  we  walk  unworthy  of  the  gospel  brought  unto  us,  the  greater  our 
mercy  hath  been  in  the  enjoying  of  it,  the  greater  will  ovit  judgment  be  for  the  contempt." 

§  11.  His  first  wife  was  the  daugliter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Allen,  of  Golding- 
ton:  a  most  vertuous  gentlewoman,  whose  nephew  was  the  Lord  Mayor 
of  London,  Sir  Thomas  Allen.  By  her  he  had  nine  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. After  her  death,  he  lived  eight  years  a  widdower,  and  then  married 
a  vertuous  daughter  of  Sir  Richard  Chitwood ;  by  whom  he  had  three 
sons  and  one  daughter. 

Age  at  length  creeping  on  him,  he  grew  much  afraid  of  out-living  his 
work;  and  his  fear  he  thus  expressed  in  a  short  Epigram,  composed  March 
25,  1657: 


Pigra  senectutis  jam  venit  inutilis  mtas, 

JVil  aliiid  nunc  sum  quam  fere  pondus  iners. 

Da  tatneti,  Jllme  Deus,  duni  vivam,  vivere  laudi 
JEtemiim  san'cti  A''ominis  usque  Tui. 

JVe  vivam  (moriar  potius .')  nil  utile  Agendo  : 


Finiat  opto  magis,  mors  properata  Dies. 
Vel  doccam  in  Sancto  Cwtu  tua  verba  salutig, 

Cceleslive  canam  Cantica  sacra  Choro ; 
Sen  vivam,  vioriarve,  tuus  sitn,  C/triste,  quod  uni 

Debita  mea  est,  debita  morsque  tibi* 


He  was  iYZ,  as  well  as  old,  when  he  writ  these  verses;  but  God  granted 
him  his  desire.  He  recovered,  and  preached  near  two  years  after  this, 
and  then  expired,  March  9,  1658-9,  in  the  seventy -seventh  year  of  his  age. 

§  12.  The  Epigram  newly  mentioned,  invites  me  to  remember  that  he 
had  a  competently  good  stroke  at  Latin  poetry;  and  even  in  his  old  age 
affected  sometimes  to  improve  it.  Many  of  his  composures  are  yet  in  our 
hands.     One  was  written  on  his  Birth-day,  S^fie,  31st,  1654: 


Ultimus  iste  Dies  Mensis,  mihi  primus  habetur  ; 

Qtto  ctFpi  lucem  cernerc  primus  erat, 
Septuaginta  duos  Jinnos  eiinde  pcrcgi. 

•  I've  renched  the  evening  of  my  mortal  day ; 

A  sluggish  mass  of  clay  is  this  my  frame ; 
Yet  grant,  O  God,  that  while  I  live,  I  may 

Live  to  the  glory  of  Thy  holy  name. 
And  if  in  life  I  may  not  honour  Thee, 
From  such  dishonour  may  Death  set  me  free. 

+  This  last  day  of  the  month  \n  first  to  me. 
For  with  it  dawning  life  began  to  be. 
Nor  have  its  mild  returns  been  slow  or  few : 


Atque  tot  Annorum  est  Ultimus  iste  Dies, 
Prmteritu  Veteri  jum  nunc  novus  incipit  Jinnus 

0  utinam  mihi  sit  mens  nova,  vita  nova.-f 

Whether  within  Thy  holy  courts  below 

1  preach  salvation  unto  dying  men — 
Or  in  Thine  Upper  Temple,  with  the  flow 

Of  aiigel-quirings  blend  my  raptured  strain — 
Living  or  dying,  Thine  I  still  would  be  : 
My  life  and  death  alike  are  due  to  Thee. 

Of  seventy-two  long  years  this  is  the  last ; 
A  new  year  now  begins,  the  old  year  passed: 
Oh  may  my  heaj-t  and  life  be  also  new ! 


A 


•104 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Another  of  them  wiis  written  on  an  Earthquake,  October  29,  1653; 


F^t*  Pri  Mutu  leUuM  fnrf/acta  tremeieit, 

Ttrra  Trimrm*  muta  est  tcJibut  ipsa  >ui; 
.Vmtant  yul<ra  Orbis,  muiiji  eompngo  taluta  ft; 

y.t  rultu  irali  cantremU  lUt  Ilei. 
(-.•Htrrmuit  ttllmt,  imis  eoneutsa  Cavernis, 

foHdtnbui  quanguam  lit  graris  ilia  tuis. 
y.remit  art  fatrta  mag»o  cum  murmure  vtnla$, 

Quet  i»  ri$ceribut  ctauterat  ante  $uit. 


Ipsa  tremit  TfUus  scelerum  gravitate  virorum, 

Sub  sceleri.i  nostri  pondcre  Terra  tremit. 
O  no3  quam  duri !    Sunt  ferrea  pectora  noMs  ; 

JVon  etrnim  gemimua  cum  gemit  nmne  solum, 
Quis  te  non  vietuit,  metuit  quern  Fabrica  mundt 

Quemque  timent  call,  terraque  tola  tremit. 
Mvtibus  a  Tantis  nunc  tandem  terra  quiescat, 

acd  cesscnt  potius  crimina  nostra  precor,* 


The  rest  we  will  bury  with  him,  under  this 


EPITAPH. 

Ohxit  jam  qui  jamdudum  abierat  Bulklaeus ; 
Nee  Patriam  ille  mutavit,  nee  pane  vitam : 
Ed  ivit,  qud  ire  conaueverat,  et  ubi  jam  erat.i 


THE    LIFE    OF    MR.    RALPH    PARTRIDGE. 

When  David  was  driven  from  his  friends  into  the  wilderness,  he  made 
this  pathetical  representation  of  his  condition,  "  'Twas  as  when  one  doth 
hunt  a  partridge  in  the  mountains."  Among  the  many  worthy  persons 
who  were  persecuted  into  an  American  wilderness,  for  their  fidelity  to 
the  ecclesiastical  kingdom  of  our  true  David,  there  was  one  that  bore  the 
name  as  well  as  the  state  of  an  hunted  partridge.  What  befel  him,  was, 
as  Bede  saith  of  what  was  done  by  Failix,  Juxta  nominis  sui  Sacramentum.lf. 

This  was  Mr.  Kalph  Partridge,  who  for  no  foult  but  the  delicacy  of  his 
good  spirit.,  being  distressed  by  the  ecclesiastical  setters,  had  no  defence, 
neither  of  beak  nor  claiv,  but  njiight  over  the  ocean. 

The  place  where  he  took  covert  was  the  colony  of  Plymouth,  and  the 
town  of  Duxbury  in  that  colony. 

This  Partridge  had  not  only  the  innocency  of  the  dove,  conspicuous  in 
his  blameless  and  pious  life,  which  made  him  very  acceptable  in  his  con- 
versation, but  also  the  loftiness  of  an  eagle,  in  the  great  soar  of  his  intel- 
lectual abilities.  There  are  some  interpreters  who,  understanding  church 
officers  by  the  living  creatures,  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse, 


•  The  lolld  enrth,  bcforo  nn  anffry  God, 
HhakM  at  tin-  UTrors  df  Mix  awTiil  iukI. 
The  balance  of  Uio  roiKlily  worUI  is  lost — 
It*  va«t  ruuntlalioiiR,  In  cmfuKiiin  togs'd, 
ThroiiKh  all  Ihv  hollows  o(  its  deepest  caves 
KiK-k  liko  n  vcim-l  rwiiii<IeriiiK  in  the  waves. 
VuliiinM  of  iiul|>hiiniii^  nir,  with  booming  sound, 
Fltirst  IhruUKh  tho  tforKiti  of  the  partud  ground. 

^  Ki'LCLY  halh  left  u.i  for  a  happier  shoru — 
Nay,  ralbur  llngurs  whuro  ho  was  before. 


The  enrth  doth  heave,  with  groanings  of  distress, 

Bonoiilli  the  weight  of  human  sinfulness. 

Shall  not  our  eyes  drop  penitential  rain, 

When  all  creation  travaileth  in  pain  1 

Grkat  God!  who  shall  not  fear  Thee  in  the  hour 

When  heaven  and  earth  are  trembling  at  Thy  power! 

Father,  to  nature's  tumult  whisper  peace, 

And  bid  tho  wickedness  of  man  to  cease  ! 

lie  ne'er  hath  slept  beneath  this  humble  sod, 
For  both  in  life  and  death  he  was  with  God 


t  Id  conformity  with  his  christening. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  405 

■will  have  the  teacher  to  be  intended  by  the  eagle  there,  for  his  quick  insight 
into  remote  and  hidden  things.  The  church  of  Duxburj  had  such  an 
eagle  in  their  Partridge^  when  they  enjoyed  such  a  teacher. 

By  the  same  token,  when  the  Platform  of  Church  Discipline  was  to  be 
composed,  the  Synod  at  Cambridge  appointed  three  persons  to  draw  up 
each  of  them,  "a  model  of  church-government,  according  to  the  word  of 
God,"  unto  the  end  that  out  of  those  the  synod  might  form  what  should 
be  found  most  agreeable;  which  three  persons  were  Mr.  Cotton,  and  Mr. 
Mather,  and  Mr.  Partridge.  So  that,  in  the  opinion  of  that  reverend 
assembly,  this  person  did  not  come  far  behind  the  first  two  for  some  of 
his  accomplishments. 

After  he  had  been  forty  years  a  faithful  and  painful  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  rarely,  if  ever,  in  all  that  while  interrupted  in  his  work  by  any 
bodily  sickness,  he  died  in  a  good  old  age,  about  the  year  1658. 

There  was  one  singular  instance  of  a  weaned  spirit^  whereby  he  signal- 
ized himself  unto  the  churches  of  God.  That  was  this :  there  was  a  time 
when  most  of  the  ministers  in  the  colony  of  Plymouth  left  the  colony, 
upon  the  discouragement  which  the  want  of  a  competent  maintenance 
among  the  needy  and  froward  inhabitants  gave  unto  them.  Nevertheless 
Mr.  Partridge  was,  notwithstanding  the  paucity  and  the  poverty  of  his 
congregation,  so  afraid  of  being  any  thing  that  looked  like  a  bird  wan- 
dring  from  his  nest,  that  he  remained  with  his  poor  people  till  he  took  wing 
to  become  a  hird  of  paradise,  along  with  the  winged  seraphim  of  heaven. 

EPITAPHIUM. 

Avolavit.* 


PSALTES.t  THE  LIFE  OF  MR.  HENRY  DUNSTER. 

Notwithstanding  the  x^i^sration  which  we  pay  to  the  names  and 
works  of  those  reverend  men,  whom  we  call  the  fathers,  yet  even  the 
Roman  Catholicks  themselves  confess,  that  those  fathers  were  not  infjlible. 
Andradius,  among  others,  in  his  defence  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  has  this 
passage:  "There  can  be  nothing  devised  more  superstitious,  than  to  count 
all  tilings  delivered  by  the  fathers  divine  oracles.''''  And,  indeed,  it  is  plain 
enough  that  those  excellent  men  were  not  without  errors  and  frailties,  of 
which,  I  hope,  it  will  not  be  the  part  of  a  chavi  to  take  some  little  notice. 
Thus,  Jerom  had  his  erroneous  opinion  of  Peter's  being  unjustly  repre- 
hended ;  and  was  fearfully  asleejy  in  the  other  matters,  wherein  he  opposed 
Vigilantius.     Augustine  was  for  admitting  the  infants  of  Christians  unto 

•  Ho  has  flown  away!  t  The  Psalmodist. 


406 


MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


the  Lord's  Supper:  and,  ahxs!  how  much  of  Babylon  is  there  in  his  best 
book  "/>«  Civitate  Dei.'"*  Ilihiry  denied  the  soid-sorroics  of  our  Lord  in 
his  ]4ssion,  if  you  will  believe  the  report  of  Bellarmine.  Clemens  Alex- 
luidrijuis  alhrmcd  that  our  Lord  neither  eat  nor  drank  from  the  necessities 
of  human  life;  and  that  he  and  his  apostles,  after  their  death,  preached  unto 
the  damued  in  hell,  of  whom  there  were  many  converted.  Origen  taught 
inanv  things  contrary  unto  the  true  faith,  and  frequently  confounded  the 
Scriptures  with  false  expositions.  Tertullian  fell  into  Montanism,  and 
forbad  all  semnd  marriages.  IIow  little  agreement  was  there  between 
Kpiphanius  and  Chrysostom,  Irenaeus  and  Victor,  Cornelius  and  Cyprian? 
And,  indeed,  that  I  may  draw  near  to  my  present  purpose,  the  erroneous 
opinion  of  rvbaptism  in  Cyprian,  is  well  known  to  the  world. 

Wherefore  it  may  not  be  wondred  at  if,  among  the  first /ai!/<ers  of  New- 
England,  there  were  some  things  not  altogether  so  agreeable  to  the  prin- 
ciples whereupon  the  country  was  in  the  main  established.  But  among 
those  of  our  fathers  who  differed  somewhat  from  his  brethren,  was  that 
learned  and  worthy  man  Mr.  Henry  Dunster. 

He  was  the  president  of  our  Harvard  College  in  Cambridge,  and  an  able 
man:  [as  we  may  give  some  account,  when  the  history  of  that  college 
comes  to  be  offered.] 

But  wonderfully  falling  into  the  errors  of  Antipaedobaptism,  the  overseers 
of  the  college  became  solicitous  that  the  students  there  might  not  be  una- 
wares ensnared  in  the  errors  of  their  president.  Wherefore  they  laboured 
with  an  extreme  agony,  either  to  rescue  the  good  man  from  his  own  mis- 
takes, or  to  restrain  him  from  imposing  them  upon  the  hope  of  the  floch,  of 
both  which,  finding  themselves  to  despair,  they  did,  as  quietly  as  they 
could,  procure  his  removal^  and  provide  him  a  successor,  in  Mr.  Charles 
Chauncey. 

He  was  a  very  good  Hebrician,  and  for  that  cause  he  bore  a  great  part 
in  the  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms,  now  used  in  our  churches.  But 
after  some  short  retirement  and  secession  from  all  publick  business,  at 
Scituate,  in  the  year  1659,  he  went  thither,  where  he  bears  his  part  in 
everlasting  and  cielestial  hallelujahs.  It  was  justly  counted  an  instance 
of  an  excellent  spirit,  in  Margaret  Meering,  that  though  she  had  been  excom- 
municated by  the  congregation  of  Protestants,  whereof  Mr.  Rough  was  pas- 
tor, and  she  seemed  to  have  hard  measure  also  in  her  excommunication; 
yet  when  Mr.  Rough  was  imprisoned  for  the  truth,  she  was  very  serviceable 
to  him,  and  at  length  suffered  martyrdom  for  the  truth  with  him.  Some- 
thing that  was  not  altogether  unlike  this  "excellent  spirit"  was  instanced 
by  our  Dunster.  For  he  died  in  such  harmony  of  affection  with  the  good 
men  who  had  been  the  authors  of  his  removal  from  Cambridge,  that  he, 
by  his  will,  ordered  his  body  to  be  carried  unto  Cambridge  for  its  burial, 
and  beijueathed  Icjacies  to  those  very  persons. 

•  Tbe  City  of  God, 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ^.^Y 

Now,  I  know  not  where,  better  than  here,  to  insert  that  article  of  our 
church-history,  which  concerns  our  metrical  translation  of  the  Psalms  now 
sung  in  our  churches. 

About  the  year  1639,  the  New-English  reformers,  considering  that  their 
churches  enjoyed  the  other  ordinances  of  Heaven  in  their  scriptural  purity, 
were  willing  that  the  ordinance  of  "The  singing  of  psalms,"  should  be 
restored  among  them  unto  a  share  in  that  piirity.  Though  they  blessed 
God  for  the  rehgious  endeavours  of  them  who  translated  the  Psalms  into 
the  meetre  usually  annexed  at  the  end  of  the  Bible,  yet  they  beheld  in  the 
translation  so  many  detractions  from,  additions  to,  and  variations  of,  not  only 
the  text,  but  the  very  sense  of  tlie  psalmist,  that  it  was  an  offence  unto 
them.  Eesolving  then  upon  a  new  translation,  the  chief  divines  in  the 
country  took  each  of  them  a  portion  to  be  translated:  among  whom  were 
Mr.  Welds  and  Mr.  Eliot  of  Koxbury,  and  Mr.  Mather  of  Dorchester. 
These,  like  the  rest,  were  of  so  different  a  genius  for  their  poetry,  that  Mr. 
Shepard,  of  Cambridge,  on  the  occasion  addressed  them  to  this  purpose: 

You  Roxb'ry  poets,  keep  clear  of  the  crime 

Of  missing  to  give  us  very  good  rhime. 
And  you  of  Dorciiester,  your  verses  lengthen, 
But  with  the  text's  own  words,  you  will  them  strengthen. 

The  Psalms  thus  turned  into  meetre  were  printed  at  Cambridge,  in  the 
year  1640.  But,  afterwards,  it  was  thought  that  a  little  more  of  art  was 
to  be  employed  upon  them:  and  for  that  cause,  they  were  committed  unto 
Mr.  Dunster,  who  revised  and  refined  this  translation ;  and  (with  some 
assistance  from  one  Mr.  Richard  Lyon,  who  being  sent  over  by  Sir  Henry 
Mildmay,  as  an  attendant  unto  his  son,  then  a  student  in  Harvard  College, 
now  resided  in  Mr,  Dunster's  house:)  he  brought  it  into  the  condition 
wherein  our  churches  ever  since  have  used  it. 

Now,  though  I  heartily  join  with  those  gentlemen  who  wish  that  the 
poetry  hereof  were  mended;  yet  I  must  confess,  that  the  Psalms  have  never 
yet  seen  a  translation,  that  I  know  of,  nearer  to  the  Hebrew  original;  and 
I  am  willing  to  receive  the  excuse  which  our  translators  themselves  do 
offer  us,  when  they  say: 

"If  the  verses  are  not  always  so  elegant  as  some  desire  or  expect,  let  them  consider  that 
God's  altar  needs  not  our  polishings;  we  have  respected  rather  a  plain  translation,  than  to 
smooth  our  verses  with  the  sweetness  of  any  paraphrase.  We  have  attended  conscience 
rather  than  elegance,  fidelity  rather  than  ingenuity ;  that  so  we  may  sing  in  Zion  the  Lord's 
songs  of  praise,  according  unto  his  own  will,  until  he  bid  us  enter  into  our  Master's  joy,  to 
sing  eternal  hallelujahs." 

Reader,  when  the  reformation  in  France  began,  Clement  Marot  and 
Theodore  Beza  turned  the  Psalms  into  French  meetre,  and  Lewis  Guadimel 
set  melodious  tunes  unto  them.  The  singing  hereof  charmed  the  souls  of 
court  and.city,  town  and  country.     They  were  sung  in  the  Lovre  it  self, 


4^  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

M  well  as  in  the  Protectant  churches:  ladies,  nobles,  princes— yea.  King 
Henry  himself— sang  thcin.  This  one  thing  mightily  contributed  unto  the 
ilownVal  of  Popery,  and  the  progress  of  the  gosi)el.  All  ranks  of  men 
])raelised  it;  a  gentleman  of  the  reformed  religion  would  not  eat  a 
meal  witiiout  it.  Tiie  pojnsh  clergy  raging  hereat,  the  cardinal  of  Lorrain 
^ot  the  profane  and  obscene  odes  of  the  pagan  poets  to  be  turned  into 
Krench,  and  sang  at  the  court:  and  the  Divine  Psalms  were  thus  banished 
Ironi  that  wickc<l  court. 

Jk'iiold,  the  reformatii)n  pursued  in  the  churches  of  New-England  by 
the  P.salms  in  a  new  meetre:  God  grant  the  reformation  may  never  be  lost 
whiK"  the  Psalms  are  sung  in  our  churches! 

Put  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Dunster  is  to  be  acknowledged.  And  if  unto 
the  Christian,  while  singing  of  Psalms  on  earth,  Chrysostom  could  well 
sav,  Ms'"'  'AyyeXojv  'aSeig,  fj-er'  'Ayys\<^v  'ujxvsr^ — Thou  art  in  a  consort  ivith 
amjch! — how  much  more  may  that  now  be  said  of  our  Dunster? 

From  the  epitaph  of  Henricus  Rentzius,  we  will  now  furnish  our  Henry 
Dunster  with  an 

EPITAPH. 

Praco,  Pater,  Servus;  Sonui,  Fovi,  Coluique; 

Sacra,  Scholam,  Clirisium ;    Voce,  Ixigore,  Fide; 
Famam,  Animam,  Corpus;  Dispcrgit,  Recreat,  A'xlit; 

Virtus,  Christus,  Humus;  Laude,  Salute,  Sinu.* 


THE    LIFE    OF   MR.   EZEKIEL    ROGERS. 

Si  in  Dorlore  Ecclfsi<e,  ad  dwiroKptroy  mariv,  accesserit  cwccis  Seovrtiiv,  and  Polita  Eruditio,  ad 
Erudiiioncm  dvyofiit  IpfirivtvTikn,  ac  Facvndia;  n<z  hie  Talis  Omnibus  Absolutis  videbitur. — 
Melc.  Adam,  in  Vita  Haiteri.t 

§  1.  Tt  is  among  the  greater  Prophets  of  Israel  that  we  find  an  Ezekiel 
who  had  in  his  very  name.  The  Fortitude  of  God.  And  it  is  not  among 
the  smaller  Prophets  of  New-England  that  we  have  also  seen  an  Ezekiel ; 
one  inspired  with  a  divine  fortitude,  for  the  work  of  a  tvitness  prophesying 
in  the  sackchUi  of  a  ivilderness.  This  was  our  famous  Ezekiel  Rogers,  of 
whom  we  have  more  to  say  than  barely  that  he  was  born  in  the  year  1590, 
and  that  he  died  in  the  year  IfiOO. 

•  A  prnjurhpr,  I  hnvi-  clmiiloKl  wr.-cl  9<in«). :  a  fiillipr  rprosident  of  a  college],  I  have  instructed  my  charge  with 
prr»cv,.mnr.. :  n  WTvnnt  ..f  ChriM,  I  hnvo  f,.llow,Ml  my  Ma.stor  with  fidelity.  Virtue  siRnalizes  my  name  with  true 
pnire:  ChrlKl  rtnlii'm^  my  ix.ul  with  hi«  calvali.in  :  the  earth  hides  my  body  in  its  bosom. 

t  ir  in  n  Christian  leflrhcr,  to  faith  .inf,ii;n..d  ,houM  be  adde.l  a  disiinsition  to  help  the  needy,  and  elegant 
ir».Mlnr,hlp;  and  to  «-h..l..r.lnp  the  pow.-r  of  interpretation  an<l  elociuence;  we  should  confessedly  find  in  tho 
•ubjxl  of  Ihii  tkolch  Just  mich  a  man. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  409 

§  2.  His  father  was  Mr.  Eichard  Rogers,  of  Weathersfield  in  England, 
the  well  known  author  of  the  book  that  is  known  by  the  name  of  "  Tlie 
iSeven  Treatises. ''''  Of  that  Eichard  we  will  content  ourselves  with  one  pithy 
passage,  mentioned  by  his  grandson,  Mr.  William  Jenkyns,  in  his  exposi- 
tion upon  Jude:  "That  blessed  saint,"  saith  he,  "was  another  Enoch  in 
his  age;  a  man  whose  'walking  with  God'  appeared  by  that  incomparable 
directory  of  a  Christian  life,  called  '  The  Seven  Treatises,^  woven  out  of 
Scripture,  and  his  own  experimental  practice;  he  would  sometimes  say, 
'  That  he  should  be  sorry,  if  every  day  were  not  to  him  as  his  last  day,' " 
It  is  this  Ezekiel  Eogers  whereof  we  are  now  to  give  an  account.  The 
early  sparklings  of  wit,  judgment,  and  learning,  in  him,  gave  his  father 
no  little  satisfaction,  and  expectation  of  his  proficiency;  and  at  thirteen 
years  of  age  made  him  capable  of  preferment  in  the  university ;  where  he 
proceeded  Master  of  Arts  at  the  age  of  twenty.  Eemoving  thence  to  be 
chaplain  in  a  family,  famous  for  both  religion  and  civility — namely  the  fam- 
ily of  Sir  Francis  Barrington,  at  Hatfield  Broad  Oak  in  Essex — he  there 
had  opportunity  not  only  to  do  good  by  his  profitable  preaching,  but  also 
to  get  good  by  his  conversation  with  persons  of  honour,  who  continually 
resorted  thither,  and  he  kiieiv  and  used  his  opportunity  to  the  utmost. 

§  3.  Both  in  inxiying  and  j^f'ctching,  he  had  a  very  notable  fiiculty ;  'twas 
accompanied  with  strains  of  oratory,  which  made  his  ministry  very  accept- 
able. Hence,  after  five  or  six  years'  residence  in  this  worshipful  family, 
Sir  Francis  bestowed  upon  him  the  benefice  of  Eowly  in  Yorkshire;  in 
hopes  that  his  more  lively  ministry  might  be  particularly  successful  in 
awakening  those  drowsy  corners  of  the  north:  and  accordingly  the  church 
there,  standing  in  the  centre  of  many  villages,  there  was  now  a  great  resort 
unto  the  service  therein  performed. 

§  4.  Nevertheless  Mr.  Eogers  had  much  uneasiness  in  his  mind  about 
his  own  experience  of  those  truths  which  he  preached  unto  others;  he 
feared  that,  notwithstanding  his  pathetical  expressions,  wherewith  his 
hearers  were  affected,  he  was  himself,  in  his  own  soul,  a  stranger  to  that 
faith  and  repentance  and  conversion.^  which  he  pressed  upon  them.  This 
consideration  very  much  perplexed  him;  and  his  perplexity  was  the 
greater,  because  he  could  not  hear  of  any  experienced  minister  in  those 
])arts  of  the  kingdom,  to  whom  he  might  utter  the  trouble  that  was  upon 
him.  At  last,  hoping  that  either  from  his  brother  of  Weathersfield,  or 
his  cousin  of  Dedham,  he  might  receive  some  satisfaction,  he  took  a  jour- 
ney into  Essex  on  purpose  to  be  by  them  resolved  of  his  doubts.  His 
design  was  to  have  came  at  his  famous  kinsman  before  his  lecture  began; 
but  missing  of  that.^  he  gat  into  the  assembly  before  the  beginning  of  the 
sermon;  where  he  found  that,  by  the  singular  providence  of  God,  his 
doubts  were  as  punctually  and  exactly  resolved,  as  if  the  excellent  preacher 
had  been  acquainted  with  his  doubts  before-hand. 

§  6.  Being  now  satisfied  of  his  own  effectual  vocation,  he  went  on  in 


^^Q  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

}iLs  ininLstrv  with  a  very  signal  blessing  of  Ueaven  upon  it,  unto  the  efTect- 
ual  vocation  of  many  more:  his  ministry  was  much  frequented  and  remark- 
ably successful.  In  the  exercise  whereof,  he  once  had  opportunity  to 
preach  in  the  stately  7mniiter  of  York,  on  a  publick  occasion,  which  he 
served  and  suited  notably.  Dr.  Matthews  was  then  the  Arch-Bishop  of 
York,  who  permitted  the  use  of  those  lectures,  which  Arch-Bishop  Grindal 
liad  erected;  whereby  the  liyht  of  the  gospel  was  marvellously  ditlused 
unto  many  places  that  sat  in  "  the  region  and  the  shadow  of  death."  All 
the  pious  ministers  in  such  a  precinct,  had  a  meeting  once  a  month,  in  some 
noted  i)lace,  when  and  where  several  of  them  did  use  to  preach  one  after 
another;  beginning  and  concluding  the  whole  exercise  with  prayer.  Mr. 
Rogers  bore  his  part  in  these  lectures,  as  long  as  Dr.  Matthews  lived; 
from  one  of  which,  an  accuser  of  the  brethren  went  once  unto  the  Arch- 
Bishop  with  this  accusation,  that  one  of  the  ministers  had  made  this  peti- 
tion in  his  prayer:  "May  the  Almighty  shut  heaven  against  the  Arch- 
Bishop's  grace;"  whereat  the  Arch-Bishop,  instead  of  being  offended,  as 
the  pick-thankly  reporter  hoped  he  would  have  been,  fell  a  laughing 
heartily,  and  answered,  "Those  good  men  know  well  enough,  that  if  I 
were  gone  to  heaven,  their  exercises  would  soon  be  put  down."  And  it 
came  to  pass  accordingly ! 

§  6.  In  delivering  the  icord  of  God,  he  would  sometimes  go  bej^ond  the 
strength  which  God  had  given  him;  for  though  he  had  a  livehj  spirit,  yet 
he  had  a  crazy  hodf/ ;  which  put  him  upon  studying  phy sick,  wherein  he 
attained  unto  a  skill  considerable.  But  the  worst  was  this,  that  riding 
far  from  home,  some  violent  motion  used  by  him  in  ordering  of  his  horse, 
broke  a  vein  within  him;  whereupon  he  betook  himself  to  his  chamber, 
and  there  kept  private,  that  his  friends  might  not  persecute  him  with  any 
of  their  unseasonable  kindness.  But  in  two  month's  time  he  obtained  a 
cure,  so  that  he  returned  unto  his  family  and  his  employment;  God  would 
not  suft'er  that  mouth  to  be  stopped,  which  had  so  many  testimonies  to  bear 
still  for  his  truth  and  ways! 

§  7.  At  last,  the  severity  wherewith  suhscrijytion  was  then  urged,  put 
a  period  unto  the  twenty  years'  publick  ministry  of  our  useful  Rogers, 
although  the  man  who  suspended  him  shewed  him  so  much  respect  as  to 
let  him  enjoy  the  profits  of  his  living  two  years  after  the  suspension,  and 
let  him  also  put  in  another  as  good  as  he  could  get.  He  employed  one 
Mr.  liisliop  to  sni)ply  his  place  in  the  ministry,  from  which  a  Bishop  had 
confmed  him;  nevertheless,  this  good  man  also  was  quickly  silenced, 
because  he  would  not  in  publick  read  the  censure  which  was  passed  upon 
Mr.  Rogers. 

§  8.  Many  prudent  men  in  those  times,  foreseeing  the  storms  that  were 
likely  in  a  few  years  to  break  upon  the  P]nglish  nation,  did  propose  New- 
England  for  their  hidiny-pJacc.  And  of  these,  our  Mr.  Rogers  was  one, 
who  hud  been  accompanied  by  Sir  William  Constable  and  Sir  Matthew 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ^n 

Boynton  also  in  his  voyage  hither,  if  some  singular  providences  had  not 
hindred  them.  Hither  did  the  good  hand  of  God  bring  him,  with  many 
of  his  Yorkshire  friends,  in  the  year  1638 — ships  having  been  by  his  dis- 
cretion and  influence  brought  from  London  unto  Hull,  to  take  in  the  pas- 
sengers. Arriving  at  New-England,  he  was  urged  very  much  to  settle 
with  his  Yorkshire  folks  at  New-Haven;  but  in  consideration  of  the 
dependance  that  several  persons  of  quality  had  on  him  to  chuse  a  meet 
place  for  their  entertainment  in  this  wilderness,  when  they  should  come 
hither  after  him,  he  was  advised  rather  to  another  place,  which  he  was 
profered  very  near  his  reverend  kinsman,  Mr.  Nathanael  Rogers  of  Ips- 
wich. The  towns  of  Ipswich  and  Newbury  were  willing,  on  easy  terms, 
to  part  with  much  of  their  land,  that  they  might  admit  a  third  plantation 
in  the  middle  between  them;  which  was  a  great  advantage  to  Mr.  Ezekiel 
Rogers;  who  called  the  town  Rowly,  and  continued  in  it  about  the  same 
number  of  years  that  he  had  spent  in  that  Rowly  from  whence  he  came, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantick  ocean. 

§  9.  About  five  years  after  his  coming  to  New-England,  he  was  chosen 
to  preach  at  the  Court  of  Election  at  Boston;  wherein,  though  the  occa- 
sion and  the  auditory  were  great^  yet  he  shewed  his  abilities  to  be  greater ; 
insomuch,  that  he  became  famous  through  the  whole  country.  And  what 
respect  all  the  churches  abroad  paid  him,  he  much  more  found  in  his  own 
church  at  home;  where  he  was  exceedingly  successful,  and  approved  in 
his  ministry,  in  which  the  points  of  regeneration  and  union  with  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hy  faith,  were  those  whereon  he  most  insisted. 

In  the  management  of  those  points,  he  had  a  notable  faculty  at  pene- 
trating into  the  souls  of  his  hearers,  and  manifesting  the  very  secrets  of 
their  hearts.  His  prayers  and  sermons  would  make  such  lively  representa- 
tions of  the  thoughts  then  working  in  the  minds  of  his  people,  that  it 
would  amaze  them  to  see  their  own  condition  so  exactly  represented. 
And  his  occasional  discourses  with  his  people — especially  with  the  young 
ones  among  them — and  most  of  all,  with  such  as  had  been,  by  their 
deceased  parents,  recommended  unto  his  watchful  care — were  marvel- 
lously profitable.  He  was  a  Tree  of  Knowledge,  but  so  laden  with  fruit, 
that  he  stoopt  for  the  very  children  to  pick  off  the  apples  ready  to  drop 
into  their  mouths.  Sometimes  they  would  come  to  his  house,  a  dozen  in 
an  evening;  and  calling  them  up  into  his  study,  one  by  one,  he  would 
examine  them,  Hoio  they  walked  with  God?  How  they  spent  their  time? 
What  good  books  they  read?  Whether  they  prayed  without  ceasing? 
And  he  would  therewithal  admonish  them  to  take  heed  of  temptations  and 
corruptions  as  he  thought  most  endangered  them.  And  if  any  differences 
had  fallen  out  amongst  his  people,  he  would  forthwith  send  for  them,  to 
lay  before  him  the  reason  of  their  difierences;  and  such  was  his  interest 
in  them,  that  he  usually  healed  and  stopt  all  their  little  contentions,  before 
they  could  break  out  into  any  open  flames. 


412 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


§  10.  After  ten  or  twelve  years  most  prosperous  attendance  on  his  min- 
istry in  Howly,  some  unhajipy  griefs  befel  liim,  which  were  thus  occa- 
fiioni'd.  It  was  tliouglit  pity,  that  so  great  an  ability  as  that  wherewith 
Mr.  Kof^ers  was  talented,  should  be  confined  unto  so  small  an  auditory  as 
lliat  wlicrcto  his  fjord's  day  labours  were  confined;  and  he  was  perswaded 
tliorofore  to  set  up  a  lecture,  once  in  a  fortniglit,  whereto  the  inhabitants  of 
other  towns  resorted  with  no  small  satisfaction.  A  most  excellent  young 
man  wa.s,  upon  this  increase  of  his  labours,  obtained  for  his  assistant:  but 
til  rough  the  devices  of  Satan  there  was  raised  a.  jealousy  in  the  hearts  of 
many  among  the  people,  that  their  old  pastor  was  not  real  and  forward 
enough  in  prosecuting  the  settlement  of  that  assistant;  and  this  jealousy 
broke  forth  into  almost  unaccountable  dissatisfactions  between  him  and 
them ;  which,  though  they  were  afterwards  cured,  yet  the  cure  was  in 
some  regards  ioo  palliative. 

§  11.  The  rest  of  this  good  man's  time  in  the  world  was  iv inter ;  he 
saw  more  niijhts  than  days,  and  in  vicissitudes  of  affliction,  "the  clouds 
returning  after  the  rain."  lie  buried  his  first  wife,  and  all  the  children 
he  had  by  that  wife,  lie  then  married  a  virgin  daughter  of  the  well- 
known  Mr.  John  Wilson,  in  hopes  of  issue  by  her;  but  God  also  took 
her  away,  with  the  child  she  had  conceived  by  him. 

After  this,  he  married  once  more  a  person  in  years  agreeable  to  him; 
but  that  very  night  a  fire  burnt  his  dwelling-house  to  the  ground,  with  all 
tlie  goods  that  he  had  under  his  roof  Having  rehuilt  his  house,  he 
received  a /«//  from  his  horse,  which  gave  to  his  right  arm  such  a  bruise, 
as  made  it  ever  after  useless  unto  him;  upon  which  account  he  was  now 
put  upon  learning  to  write  with  his  left  hand. 

— Pollehat  mira  Dcxteritate  tamen.* — 

Thus  having  done  the  will  of  God,  he  was  put  upon  further  trial  of  his 
patimcef  But  there  was  this  comfortable  in  his  trial,  that  the  good  spirit 
of  God  enabled  him  to  bear  his  crosses  cheerfully,  and  rejoice  in  his 
tribulations. 

§  12.  The  natural  constitution  of  his  body  was  but  feeble  and  crazy: 
neverthele.s<3,  by  a  prudent  attendance  to  the  rides  of  health,  his  life  was 
lengthened  out  considerably:  but  at  last  a  lingring  sickness  ended  his 
day.s,  January  23,  1660,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age.  His  books 
wherewith  he  had  recruited  his  library,  after  the  fire,  which  consumed 
the  good  library  that  he  had  brought  out  of  England,  he  bestowed  upon 
Harvard  College. 

His  lands,  the  greatest  part  of  them,  with  his  house,  he  gave  to  the 
town  and  church  of  Rowlv. 

§  i;3.  Because  it  will  give  some  illustration  unto  our  church-history,  as 
well  as  notably  describe  the  excellent  and  exemplary  spirit  of  this  good 

•  NeverlhelrM,  he  used  his  fingers  with  mnrvclUmg  dexterity. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  4|3 

man,  and  it  hath  been  sometimes  noted,  Optima  Historia^  est  Historia  Epis- 
tolaris*  I  will  here  insert  one  of  his  letters,  written  (with  his  left  hand) 
unto  a  worthy  minister  in  Charlestown,  the  6th  of  the  12th  month,  1657 : 

Dear  Brother  :  Though  I  have  now  done  my  errand  in  the  other  paper,  yet  racthinks  I 
am  not  satisfied  to  leave  you  so  suddenly,  so  barely.  Let  us  hear  from  you,  I  pray  you ; 
how  you  do.  Doth  your  ministry  go  on  comtbrtiibly?  find  you  fruit  of  your  labours]  are 
new  converts  brought  in?  Do  your  children  and  family  grow  more  godly?  I  find  greatest 
trouble  and  grief  about  the  rising  generation.  Young  people  are  little  stirred  here;  but  they 
strengthen  one  another  in  evil,  by  example,  by  counsel.  Much  ado  I  have  with  my  own 
family;  hard  to  get  a  servant  that  is  glad  of  catechising,  or  family-duties :  I  had  a  rare  bless- 
ing of  servants  in  Yorkshire;  and  those  that  I  brought  over  were  a  blessing:  but  the  young 
brood  doth  much  afflict  me.  Even  the  children  of  the  godly  here,  and  elsewhere,  make  a 
woful  proof.  So  that,  I  tremble  to  think,  what  will  become  of  this  glorious  work  that  we 
have  begun,  when  the  ancient  shall  be  gathered  unto  their  fathers.  I  fear  grace  and  blessing 
will  die  with  them,  if  the  Lord  do  not  also  show  more  signs  of  displeasure,  even  in  our 
days. — We  grow  worldly  every  where;  methinks  I  see  little  godliness,  but  all  in  a  hurry 
about  the  world;  every  one  for  himself,  little  care  of  public  or  common  good. 

"It  hath  been  God's  way,  not  to  send  sweeping  judgments,  when  the  ciiief  magistrates 
are  godly  and  grow  more  so.  I  beseech  all  the  Bay-ministers  to  call  earnestly  upon  magis- 
trates (that  are  often  among  them)  tell  them  that  their  godliness  will  be  our  protection:  if 
they  fail,  I  shall  fear  some  sweeping  judgment  shortly.     The  clouds  seem  to  be  gatliering. 

"I  am  hastning  home,  and  grow  very  asthmatical,  and  short-breathed.  Oh!  tliat  I  might 
see  some  signs  of  good  to  the  generations  following,  to  send  me  away  rejoicing!  Thus  I 
could  weary  you  and  my  self,  and  my  left  hand;  but  I  break  off  suddenly.  O,  good  brother, 
I  thank  God,  I  am  near  home ;  and  you  too  are  not  for.  Oh,  the  weight  of  glory  that  is 
ready  waiting  for  us,  God's  poor  exiles!  We  shall  sit  next  to  the  martyrs  and  confessors. 
O,  the  embraces  wherewith  Christ  will  embrace  us!  Cheer  up  your  spirits  in  the  thoughts 
thereof;  and  let  us  be  zealous  for  our  God  and  Christ,  and  make  a  conclusion.  Now  the 
Lord  bring  us  well  through  our  poor  pilgrimage.  •> 

"  Your  affectionate  brother,  "Ez.  Rogers." 

EPITAPH. 

A  resurrection  to  Immortality  is  here  expected, 

for  what  was  mortal  of  the  Reverend 

EZEKIEL   ROGERS, 

Put  off,  January  23,  1660. 

When  preachers  die,  what  rules  the  pulpit  gave      1    The  faith  and  life,  which  your  dead  pastor  taught 
Of  living-,  are  still  preached  from  the  grave.  I    Now  in  one  grave  with  bim,  sirs,  bury  not. 

Abi,  Viator. 
A  Mortuo  disce  Vivere  ut  Moriturus ; 
E  Terris  disce  Cogitate  de  Calis.f 

*  The  best  history  is  history  in  the  epistolary  form. 
+  Traveller,  depart! 

Ptand  by  his  grave,  and  learn  that  thou  must  die; 

Theu  trace  his  shining  path  to  yonder  sky. 


^^.j  MAGNALIA    CHRI8TI    AMERICANA; 

CHAPTER   II?. 

El  LOG  ITS:*    THE    LIFE    OF    MR.    NATHANAEL   ROGERS. 

In  Jf.su  mea  Vita  meo,  mea  Clausula  Vita 
Est,  et  in  hoc  Jesu  Vita  perennia  erit.f 

^  1.  It  is  a  rcfloetion,  carrying  in  it  somewhat  of  curiosity,  that  as  in  the 
old  Testament,  God  saw  \\\q.  first  sinners  under  a  tree,  so  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Christ  saw  one  of  the  first  believers  under  a  tree,  with  a  particular 
observation.  The  sinner  hid  himself  among  the  trees  of  the  garden,  assisted 
with  fig-leaves,  but  it  was  a  false  covert  and  shelter  whereto  he  trusted ;  the 
Most  High  discovered  him.  The  believer  also  hid  himself  under  a  fig-tree, 
where,  nevertheless,  the  shady  leaves  hindred  not  o«ir  Lord  from  seeing 
of  him.  The  sinner,  when  he  was  discovered,  expressed  his  fear,  sayiiig, 
•'I  heard  thy  voice,  and  I  was  afraid."  The  believer  seen  by  our  Lord, 
expressed  \\\sfaiili,  saying,  "Master,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  The  name 
of  tiiis  believer  was  Nathanael.  At  the  beginning  of  the  law  under  the 
Old  Testament,  you  have  nature  in  an  Adam  under  a  tree;  at  the  beginning 
of  the  gospel,  under  the  New  Testament,  you  have  grace  under  a  tree  in  a 
Katlianael.  Truly,  at  the  beginning  of  New-England,  also,  among  the  first 
believers  that  formed  a  church  for  our  God  in  the  country,  there  was  a, 
famous  Nathanael,  who  retired  into  these  American  woods,  that  he  might 
serve  the  King  of  Israel:  this  was  our  Nathanael  Rogers.  One  of  the  first 
Er»glish  arch-bishops  assumed  the  name  of  Dews  dedit,j^  and  the  historian 
says,  lie  answered  the  name  that  he  assumed.  Our  Nathanael  was  not  iu 
the  rank  of  arch-bishops;  but  as  was  his  name,  A  Gift  OF  GoD,  so  was  he/ 

§  2.  Cornelius  Tacitus,  who  is  by  the  great  Budseus  called,  "the  wick- 
edest of  all  writers,"  reports  of  the  Jews,  that  they  adored  an  ass's  head; 
because  by  a  direction  from  a  compamj  of  asses,  errorem  sitimque  depule- 
rant;%  and  this  report,  received  by  him  from  a  railing  Egyptian,  became  so 
received,  that  no  defence  against  it  would  be  allowed.  That  excellent 
companij  of  divines  which  led  the  people  of  God  unto  the  sweet  waters  of 
his  institutions,  in  the  wilderness  of  New-England,  whereinto  they  were 
driven,  have  been  esteemed  no  better  than  a  company  of  asses,  by  the 
Romishly  affected  writers  of  this  age.  But  those  heads  which  are  justly 
adniind  (though  not  adored)  among  that  people,  had  more  of  angels  than  of 
asses  in  them:  the  English  nation  had  few  better  Christians  than  most,  and 
it  liad  not  many  better  scholars  than  some  who  then  retired  into  these  ends 
of  tiie  earth.  Now,  among  all  those  great  men  who  submitted  themselves 
unto  all  the  littleness  of  a  wilderness,  there  is  a  very  high  rank  to  be 
assigned  unto  one,  who  is  now  to  be  described. 

•  Thf  Pnni'ifyriBt.  I        t  In  Christ  my  life  nnd  end  of  life  sliall  le, 

t  (mkIV  ll«hl.  I  And  Christ  shull  be  elL-inul  lifa  to  luo. 

I  They  hail  undiid  tholr  wanderings  nnd  quenched  their  thirst. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  4|5 

He  was  the  second  son  of  that  famous  man,  Mr.  John  Rogers  of  Dedham ; 
and  born  while  his  father  was  minister  of  Ilaveril,  about  the  year  1598. 
He  was  educated  at  the  grammar  school  in  Dedham,  till  he  was  near  four- 
teen years  old,  and  then  he  was  admitted  into  Emanuel  .College  in  Cam- 
bridge. There  he  became  a  remarkable  and  incomparable  proficient  in  all 
academick  learning;  but  some  circumstances  of  his  father  would  not  per- 
mit him  to  wait  iov  preferments^  after  he  was  become  capable  oi  employments 
in  other  places.  His  usual  manner  there,  was  to  be  an  early  and  exact  stu- 
dent; by  which  means  he  was  quickly  laid  in  with  a  good  stock  of  learn- 
ing;  but  unto  all  his  other  learning,  there  was  that  glory  added,  the  fear 
of  God,  for  the  crown  of  all;  the  principles  whereof  were  instilled  into  his 
young  soul  with  the  counsels  of  his  pious  mother,  while  he  yet  sat  on  her 
knees,  as  well  as  his  holy  father,  when  he  came  to  riper  years.  From  his 
very  childhood  he  was  exemplary  for  the  success  which  God  gave  unto 
the  cares  of  his  parents,  to  principle  him  with  such  things,  as  rendred  him 
"wise  unto  salvation." 

§  3.  Having  from  his  youth  been  used  unto  the  most  religious  exercises, 
not  only  social,  but  also  secret,  nevertheless  the  hurries  of  avocation  carried 
him  abroad  one  morning  before  he  had  attended  his  usual  devotions  in  his 
retirements;  but  his  horse  happening  to  stumble  in  a  plain  road,  it  gave 
him  a  bruising,  bloody,  dangerous  fall;  which  awakened  him  so  to  con- 
sider of  his  omission  in  the  morning,  that  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  he  was 
wondrous  careful  to  omit  nothing  of  his  daily  duties :  wherein  at  length 
he  so  abounded,  that  as  Carthusian  speaks,  Dulcissimo  Deo  totus  immergi 
cupis  et  inviscerari.* 

§  4.  Though  he  were  of  a  pleasant  and  cheerful  behaviour,  yet  he  was 
therewithal  sometimes  inclined  unto  melancholy;  which  was  attended  with, 
and  ^er\ia,\)B  productive  of,  some  dejections  in  his  own  mind,  about  his  inter- 
est in  the  favour  of  God.  Whence,  even  after  he  had  been  a  preacher  of 
some  standing,  he  had  sometimes  very  sore  despondencies  and  objections 
in  his  own  soul,  about  the  evidences  of  his  own  regeneration;  he  would 
conclude  that  no  grace  of  God  had  ever  been  wrought  in  him.  Where- 
upon a  minister,  that  was  his  near  friend,  gave  him  once  that  advice,  "To 
let  all  go  for  lost,  and  begin  again  upon  a  new  foundation ;"  but  upon  his 
recollecting  himself,  he  found  that  he  could  not  forego,  he  might  not 
renounce  all  his  former  blessed  experience.     And  so  his  doubts  expired. 

§  5.  The  first  specimen  that  he  gave  of  his  ministerial  abilities,  was  as 
a  chaplain  in  the  house  of  a  person  of  quality ;  whence,  after  a  year  or 
two  thus  fledged,  he  adventured  a  flight  unto  a  great  congregation  at  Book- 
ing, in  Essex,  under  Dr.  Barkham ;  not  without  the  wonder  of  many, 
how  the  son  of  the  most  noted  Puritan  in  England  should  come  to  be 
employed  under  an  Episcopal  Doctor,  so  gracious  with  Bishop  Laud;  but 
this  Dr.  Barkham  was  a  good  preaclier  himself,  and  he  was  also  willing  to 

•  Thou  desirest  to  be  wholly  bathed  and  incorporated  in  thy  beloved  Lord. 


4jg  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

gratifjo  his  parishioners,  who  were  many  of  them  religiously  disposed: 
hence,  Uu)Ugh  tlie  Doctor  would  not  spare  a  tenUi-jmrt  of  his  revenues, 
which,  from  his  divers  livings,  amounted  unto  near  a  thousand  a  year,  to 
one  wlu)  did  al»<ive  tlirec-quarlers  of  his  work,  yet  he  was  otherwise  very 
courteous  and  civil  to  our  Mr.  Eogcrs,  whom  his  parishioners  handsomely 
maintjiined  out  of  their  own  purses,  and  shewed  what  a  room  he  had  in 
their  hrart.s  by  their  doing  so. 

§  t).  All  this  while,  Mr.  Kogers  had,  like  his  father,  applied  his  thoughts 
only  to  the  main  points  of  "repentance  from  dead  works,"  and  "faith 
towards  God;"  and  he  had  never  yet  looked  into  the  controverted  points 
of  discipline.  Indeed,  the  disposition  of  his  famous  father  towards  those 
things,  I  am  willing  to  relate  on  this  occasion;  and  I  will  relate  it  in  his 
own  words,  which  1  will  faithfully  transcribe,  from  a  MS.  of  his  now  in 
my  hands: 

"If  ever  I  come  into  trouble  [he  writes]  for  want  of  conformity,  I  resolve  with  my  self, 
by  God's  assistance,  to  come  away  with  a  clear  conscience,  and  yield  to  nothing  in  present 
until  I  have  prayed  and  fasted,  and  conferred:  and  though  the  liberty  of  my  ministry  be  pre- 
cious, yet  buy  it  not  with  a  guilty  conscience.  I  ara  somewhat  troubled  sometimes  at  my 
subscription,  but  I  saw  sundry  men  of  good  gifts,  and  good  hearts,  as  I  thought,  that  did  so. 
And  I  could  not  prove  that  tliere  was  any  thing  contrary  to  the  word  of  (jiod;  though  I  mis- 
liked  them  UHK-h,  and  I  knew  them  'unprofitable  burthens  to  the  Church  of  God.'  But  if  I 
be  urged  unto  the  use  of  them,  I  am  rather  resolved  never  to  yield  thereto.  They  are  to 
nie  very  irksome  things ;  yet  seeing  I  was  not  able  to  prove  them  flatly  unlawful,  or  con- 
trary to  (lud's  word,  I  therefore  thought  better  to  save  my  liberty  with  subscribing,  (seeing 
I  did  it  not  against  my  conscience,)  than  to  lose  it,  for  not  yielding  so  far.  Yet  this  was 
some  small  troubh;  to  me,  that  I  did  it,  when  I  was  in  no  special  peril  of  any  present  trouble; 
which  yet  I  thought  I  were  as  good  do  of  my  self,  as  when  I  should  be  urged  to  it.  But, 
it  may  be,  I  might  not  have  been  urged  of  a  long  time,  or  not  at  all;  but  might  have  escaped 
by  friends  and  money,  as  before;  which  yet  I  feared;  but  it  was  ray  weakness,  as  I  now  con- 
ceive it;  which  I  beseech  God  to  pardon  unto  me.  Written  1627.  This  I  smarted  for  1631. 
If  I  liad  read  this,  it  may  be,  I  had  not  done  what  I  did." 

Header,  in  this  one  passage  thou  hast  a  large  history  of  the  thoughts, 
and  fears,  and  cares,  with  which  the  Puritans  of  those  times  were  exercised. 

But  ^[r.  Hooker,  now  lecturer  at  Chelmsford,  understanding  that  this 
young  preacher  was  the  son  of  a  father  whom  he  most  highly  respected, 
he  communicated  unto  him  the  grounds  of  his  own  dissatisfaction  at  the 
ceremonies  then  imposed.  Quickly  after  this,  the  Doctor  of  Booking  being 
present  at  the  funeral  of  some  eminent  person  there,  he  observed  that  Mr, 
Kogers  forbore  to  put  on  the  surjMce,  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  on 
that  occasion;  which  inspired  him  with  as  much  disgust  against  his  curate, 
as  his  curate  had  against  the  surplice  it  self  Whereupon,  though  the 
Doctor  were  so  much  a  gentleman  as  to  put  no  publick  affront  upon  Mr. 
liogers,  yet  he  gave  him  his  pri'mte  advice  to  provide  for  himself  in  some 
other  place. 

§  7.  See  the  providence  of  our  Lord!  about  that  very  time,  Assington, 
in  Suffolk,  being  void  by  the  death  of  the  former  incumbent,  the  patron 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  4^7 

thereof  was  willing  to  bestow  it  upon  the  son  of  his  honoured  friend  in 
Dedham;  whither  he  now  removed,  after  that  Booking  had  for  four  or 
five  years  enjoyed  his  labours.  The  inhabitants  of  Bromly,  near  Colches- 
ter, were  at  the  same  time  extreamly  discontented  at  their  missing  of  him. 
However,  see  again  the  providence  of  our  Lord !  the  Bishop  of  Norwich 
let  him  live  quietly  five  years  at  Assington,  which  the  Bishop  of  London 
would  not  have  done  at  Bromly.  This  was  the  charge  now  betrusted  with 
our  Rogers;  concerning  whom,  I  find  an  eminent  person  publishing  unto 
the  world  this  account:  "Mr.  Nathanael  Eogers,  a  man  so  able  and  so  judi- 
cious in  soul- work,  that  I  would  have  betrusted  my  soul  with  him  as  soon 
as  with  any  man  in  the  Church  of  Christ." 

§  8.  Here  his  ministry  was  both  highly  respected  and  greatly  prospered, 
among  persons  of  all  qualities,  not  only  in  the  town  it  self,  but  in  the 
neighbourhood.  He  was  a  lively,  curious,  florid  preacher;  and  by  his 
holi/  living,  he  so  farther  preached,  as  to  give  much  life  unto  all  his  other 
preaching.  He  had  usually,  every  Lord's  day,  a  greater  number  of  hear- 
ers than  could  croud  into  the  church;  and  of  these  many  ignorant  ones 
were  instructed,  many  ungodly  ones  were  converted,  and  many  sorrowful 
ones  were  comforted.  Though  he  had  not  his  father's  notable  voice,  yet 
he  had  several  ministerial  qualifications,  as  was  judged,  beyond  his  father; 
and  he  was  "one  prepared  unto  every  good  work;"  though  he  was  also 
exercised  with  bodily  infirmities,  which  his  labours  brought  upon  him. 
'Tis  a  thing  I  find  observed  by  Mr.  Firmin,  "John  Rogers  was  not  John 
Chrysostom;"  and  yet  God  honoured  no  man  in  those  parts  of  England 
with  the  conversion  of  souls  more  than  him.  And  good  Bishop  Brown- 
rig  would  say,  "John  Rogers  will  do  more  good  with  his  ^oild  notes,  than 
we  shall  do  with  our  set  musickj''  But  our  Nathanael  Rogers,  was  a  "fisher 
of  men,"  who  came  with  a  silken  line,  and  a  golden  hook,  and  God  prospered 
him  also.  He  was  an  Apollo,  who  had  his  harp  and  his  arroivs;  and  the 
arrows  his  charming  and  piercing  eloquence,  which  had  -o-^^og  xai  Ba^o^*  in 
it,  were  "arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man."  He  not  only  knew  how 
to  build  the  temple,  but  also  how  to  carve  it:  and  he  could  say,  with  Lac- 
tantius,  (his  very  name's-sake)  Vellem  mihi  dari  Eloquentiam,  vel  quia  magis 
credunt  Homines  veritati  ornatce,  vel  ut  ipsi  suis  Armis  vincantur.f 

§  9.  But  a  course  was  taken  to  extinguish  these  lights  as  fast  as  any 
notice  could  be  taken  of  them.  It  was  the  resolution  of  the  Hierarchy, 
that  the  ministers  who  would  not  conform  to  their  impositions,  must  be 
silenced  all  over  the  kingdom.  Our  Mr.  Rogers  perceiving  the  approaches 
of  the  storm  towards  himself,  did  out  of  a  particular  circumspection  in  his 
own  temper,  choose  rather  to  prevent  than  to  receive  the  censures  of  the 
ecclesiastical  courts ;  and  therefore  he  resigned  his  place  to  the  patron,  that 

•  liOftincss  and  weight. 

+  I  WDuld  that  I  were  gifted  with  eloquence,  both  because  men  lend  readier  credence  to  truth  omaBaeatod, 
and  because  they  might  so  be  overcome  by  their  own  weapons. 

YOL.  I.— 27 


^^g  MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

SO  some  godly  and  learned  conformist  might  be  invested  with  it:  never- 
theless, not  l)eing  free  in  his  conscience  wholly  to  lay  down  the  exercise 
of  his  ministry,  he  designed  a  removal  into  New-England;  whereunto  he 
was  the  rather  'moved  by  his  respect  unto  Mr.  Hooker,  for  whom  his  value 
was  extraordinary.     Kcader,  in  all  this  there  is  no  reproach  cast  upon  this 

excellent  Rogers.      Karrjyopia  To.aurrj  Jyxwf^iov  idTiv* 

%  10.  He  had  married  the  daughter  of  one  Mr.  Crane  of  Cogeshal,  a 
gentleman  of  a  very  considerable  estate,  who  would  gladly  have  maintained 
this  his  worthy  son-indaw,  with  his  family,  if  he  would  have  tarried  in 
P^ngland;  but  observing  the  strong  inclination  of  his  mind  unto  a  New- 
Kiiglish  voyage,  he  durst  not  oppose  it.  Now,  though  Mr.  Rogers  were 
a  person  very  unable  to  bear  the  hardships  of  travel,  yet  the  impression 
which  God  had  made  upon  his  heart,  like  what  he  then  made  upon  the 
hearts  of  many  hundreds  more,  perhaps  as  weakly  and  feeble  as  he^  carried 
hira  through  the  enterprize  with  an  unwearied  resolution  ;  which  resolution 
was  tried,  indeed,  unto  the  utmost.  For  whereas  the  voyage  from  Graves- 
end  unto  Boston  uses  to  be  dispatched  in  about  nine  or  ten  weeks,  the 
ships  which  came  with  Mr.  Rogers  were  fully  twenty-four  weeks  in  the  voy- 
age; and  yet  in  this  tedious  passage  not  one  person  did  miscarry.  After 
they  had  come  two-thirds  of  their  way,  having  reached  the  length  of 
Newfound-land,  their  wants  were  so  multiplied,  and  their  ivinch  were  so 
contrary,  that  they  entred  into  a  serious  debate  about  returning  back  to 
England:  but  upon  their  setting  apart  a  day  for  solemn  fasting  and  prayer, 
the  weather  cleared  up;  and  in  a  little  time  they  arrived  at  their  desired 
port;  namely,  about  the  middle  of  November,  in  the  year  1636. 

§  11.  It  was  an  extream  discouragement  unto  him,  at  his  arrival,  to  find 
the  country  thrown  into  an  horrible  combustion,  by  the  Familistical  opin- 
ions, which  had  newly  made  such  a  disturbance,  as  to  engage  all  persons 
on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  controversies  all  the  country  over.  But  God 
blessed  \hQ  jnayers  and  pains  of  his  people,  for  the  speedy  stopping  of  that 
gangreen;  and  settled  the  country  in  a  comfortable  peace,  by  a  Sj'nod  con- 
vened at  Cambridge  the  next  year ;  whereto  our  Mr.  Rogers,  and  Mr.  Par- 
tridge, who  came  in  the  same  ship  with  him,  contributed  not  a  little  by 
their  judicious  discourses  and  collations. 

^  12.  His  first  invitation  was  to  Dorchester;  but  the  number  of  good 
men  who  came  hither,  desirous  of  a  settlement  under  his  ministry,  could 
not  be  there  accommodated;  which  caused  him  to  accept  rather  of  an  invi- 
tatit)n  to  Ipswich,  where  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church,  on  February 
20,  1688.  At  his  ordination,  preaching  on  2  Cor.  ii.  16,  "  Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things:"  a  sermon  so  copious,  judicious,  accurate,  and  elegant, 
that  it  struck  the  hearers  with  admiration.  Here  was  a  renowned  church 
consisting  mostly  of  such  illuminated  Christians,  that  their  pastors  in  the 
exercise  of  their  ministry,  might  (as  Jerom  said  of  that  brave  woman  Mar- 

*  Such  censure  is  praise. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  4^9 

cella)  Sentire  se  non  tarn  Discipulos  habere  quam  Judices*  His  colleague 
here,  was  the  celebrious  Norton;  and  glorious  was  the  church  of  Ipswich 
now,  in  two  such  extraordinary  persons,  with  their  different  gifts,  but 
united  hearts,  carrying  on  the  concerns  of  the  Lord's  kingdom  in  it. 
While  our  humble  Eogers  was  none  of  those  who  do,  Taj  twv  d^sXcpojv  Xa/A- 
irporriTaj,  £a;;Twv  dfxaupwo'sif  vofAii^siv, — "Think  the  brightness  of  their  brethren 
to  shadow  and  obscure  themselves."  But  if  Norton  were  excellent,  there 
are  persons  of  good  judgment,  who  think  themselves  bound  in  justice  to 
say,  that  Rogers  came  not  short  of  Norton,  in  his  greatest  excellencies. 

§  13.  While  he  lived  in  Ipswich,  he  went  over  the  five  last  chapters 
of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  in  his  ministry;  the  twelfth  chapter  to  the 
Hebrews;  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Hosea;  the  doctrine  o^ self-denial  and 
walking  with  God;  and  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah;  to  the  great  satis- 
faction of  all  his  hearers,  with  many  other  subjects  more  occasionally 
handled.  It  was  counted  pity  that  the  public  should  not  enjoy  some  of 
his  discourses,  in  all  which  he  was,  k-x.  rwv  sfjosvrwv  dXXa  tojv  dxpi§!iVTwv  .-f  but 
his  physician  told  him,  that  if  he  went  upon  transcribing  any  of  his  com- 
posure, his  disposition  to  accuracy  would  so  deeply  engage  him  in  it  as  to 
endanger  his  life:  wherefore  he  left  few  monuments  of  his  ministry  but 
in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  which  were  many.  But  though  they  were  so 
many,  that  he  did  justly  reckon  that  well-instructed  and  well-inclined 
people  his  crown,  yet  in  the  paroxism  of  temptation  among  them,  upon  Mr. 
Norton's  removal,  the  melancholy  heart  of  Mr.  Rogers  thought  for  a  while 
they  were  too  much  a  croivn  of  thorns  unto  him. 

§  14.  It  belongs  to  his  character  that  he  "feared  God  above  many," 
and  "walked  with  God,"  at  a  great  rate  of  holiness:  though  such  was  his 
reservcdness,  that  none  but  his  intimate  friends  knew  the  particidarities  of 
his  ivalk,  yet  such  as  were  indeed  intimate  with  him  could  observe  that 
he  was  much  in  fasting,  and  prayer,  and  meditation,  and  those  duties 
wherein  the  power  of  godliness  is  most  maintained:  and  as  the  graces  of 
a  Christian,  so  the  gifts  of  a  minister,  in  him,  were  beyond  the  ordinary 
attainments  of  good  men.  Yea,  I  shall  do  a  wrong  unto  his  name,  if  I  do 
not  freely  say,  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  men,  that  ever  set  foot  on 
the  American  strand.  Indeed,  when  the  Apostle  Paul  makes  that  just 
boast,  "I  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest  apostles:"  he  does  not 
speak  (as  we  commonly  take  it)  in  respect  of  such  as  were  true  apostles, 
but  in  reference  to  those  false  apostles,  who  had  nothing  to  set  them  out 
but  their  own  lofty  ivords,  with  an  unjust  slight  of  him.  Whereas  our 
blessed  Rogers,  I  may,  without  injury  or  odium,  venture  to  compare  with 
the  very  best  of  the  true  ministers,  which  made  the  best  days  of  New-England, 
and  say,  "he  came  little,  if  at  all,  behind  the  very  chiefest  of  them  all." 

§  15.  He  was  much  troubled  with  spitting  of  blood;  wherein  he  would 

*  Feel  as  if  their  flocks  were  rather  their  judges  than  their  disciples. 
+  Not  one  of  the  loose  babblers,  but  of  the  accurate  investigators. 


420 


MACNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMEIUCANA; 


comfort  himself  with  the  saying  of  one  Mr.  Price,  upon  such  an  occasion, 
"That  tliou^'h  he  should  sjiit  out  his  own  blood,  by  which  his  life  was  to 
be  maintained,  yet  he  should  never,  Eximere  Sanrjuinem  Christi*  or  lose 
the  benefits  of  Christ's  blood,  by  which  he  was  redeemed."  He  was  also 
subject  unto  the  Fla(u3  IIypocondriaciis^\  even  from  his  youth;  wherewith 
when  he  was  first  surprized,  he  thought  himself  a  chjing  man;  but  a  good 
physician  and  a  long  experience  convinced  him  that  it  was  a  more  citron- 
teal  distemper.  And  while  he  was  under  the  early  discouragements  of  this 
distemper,  I  find  the  famous  Mr.  Cotton,  in  a  letter  dated  March  9,  1631, 
thus  encouraging  of  him: 

"I  bless  tlic  Lord  with  yon,  who  supporteth  your  feeble  body  to  do  him  service,  and  mean 
whili-  pi'rfecti'th  the  power  of  iiis  grace  in  your  weakness.  You  know  who  said  it,  'Unmor- 
tified  strength  postetli  hard  to  hell,  but  sanctified  weakness  creepeth  fast  to  heaven.'  Let 
not  your  sjiirit  faint,  though  your  body  do.  Your  soul  is  precious  in  God's  sight;  your 
'hairs  arc  numbered,'  and  the  number  and  measure  of  your  fainting  fits,  and  wearisome 
nights,  arc  weighed  and  limited  by  liis  hand,  who  hath  given  you  his  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to 
'take  upon  him  your  infirmities,'  and  'bear  your  sicknesses.'  " 

Nor  was  it  this  distemper  which  at  last  ended  his  days;  but  it  was  a 
flood  of  rhtiim^  occasioned  partly  by  his  disuse  of  tobacco,  whereto  he 
had  formerly  accustomed  himself,  but  now  left  it  off,  because  he  found 
himself  in  danger  of  being  enslaved  unto  it;  which  he  thought  a  thing 
below  a  Christian,  and  much  more  a  minister.  He  had  often  been  seized 
with  fits  of  sickness  in  the  course  of  his  life:  and  his  last  seemed  no  more 
threatening  than  the  former,  till  the  last  morning  of  it.  An  epidemical 
sort  of  cough  had  arrested  most  of  the  families  in  the  country,  which 
proved  most  particularly  fatal  to  bodies,  before  labouring  with  rheum- 
atic indispositions.  7'lm  he  felt;  but  in  the  whole  time  of  his  illness,  he 
was  full  of  heavenly  discourse  and  counsel,  to  those  that  came  to  visit  him. 
One  of  the  last  things  he  did,  was  to  bless  the  three  children  of  his  only 
<Jaughtcr,  who  had  purchased  his  blessing  by  her  singular  dutifulness 
unto  him.  It  is  a  notable  passage  in  the  Talmuds,  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Tsipjior,  expressing  an  extreme  unwillingness  to  have  the  death  of  E. 
Judah  (whom  they  surnamed  The  Holy,)  reported  unto  them,  he  that 
brought  the  report,  thus  expressed  himself,  "Holy  men  and  angels  took 
hold  of  the  tables  of  the  covenant,  and  the  hand  of  the  angels  prevailed, 
so  that  they  took  away  the  tables!"  And  the  people  then  perceived  the 
meaning  of  the  i)arabolizer  to  be,  that  holy  men  would  fain  have  detained 
K  Judah  still  in  this  world;  but  the  angels  took  him  away.  Reader,  I 
am  as  lothc  to  tell  the  death  of  Rogers  the  Holy;  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Ij)s\vich  were  as  lothc  to  hear  it:  but  I  must  say,  the  "hand  of  the  angels 
IMovailed,"  on  July  3,  1655,  in  the  afternoon,  when  he  had  uttered  those 
lor  his  la.st  words,  "My  times  are  in  thy  hands." 

§  16.  He  was  known  to  keep  a  diary;  but  he  kept  it  with  so  much 

•  Bpurn  Bl  ihe  blood  of  Chrtal.  +  Fainling  fit :  hypochondriacal  potion. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  421 

reservation,  that  it  is  not  known  that  ever  any  one  but  himself  did  read 
one  word  of  it:  and  he  determined  that  none  ever  should;  for  he  ordered 
a  couple  of  his  intimate  friends  to  cast  it  all  into  the  fire,  without  ever 
looking  into  the  contents  of  it. 

Surely,  with  the  loss  of  so  incomparable  a  person,  the  survivors  must 
lament  the  loss  of  those  experiences^  which  might  in  these  rich  papers  have 
kept  him,  after  a  sort,  still  alive  unto  us !  but  as  they  would  have  proved 
him  an  incarnate  seraphim,  so  the  other  seraphim,  who  carried  him  away 
with  them,  were  no  strangers  to  the  methods^  by  which  he  had  ripened 
and  winged  himself  to  become  one  of  their  society. 

I  cannot  find  any  composures  of  this  worthy  man's  offered  by  the  press 
"unto  the  world,  except  one,  and  that  is  only  a  letter  which  he  wrote  from 
New-England  unto  a  member  of  the  honourable  House  of  Commons,  at 
Westminster,  in  the  year  1643.  Wherein  observing.  That  Ecclesiam  ad 
Mundi  NoTTnam  Regnorum  et  statuum  componcre^  est  mere  Dominn  Tapetihus 
accommodare ;^  he  pathetically  urged,  that  the  Parliament  would  confess 
the  guilt  of  neglecting,  yea,  rejecting  motions  of  reformation  in  former 
Parliaments,  and  proceed  now  more  fully  to  answer  the  just  expectations 
of  Heaven.  But  I  have  in  my  hands  a  brief  manuscript,  written  in  a 
neat  Latin  style,  whereof  he  was  an  incomparable  master.  'Tis  a  vindi- 
cation of  the  Congregational  church-government;  and  there  is  one  pass- 
age in  it,  by  transcribing  whereof,  I  will  take  the  leave  to  address  the 
present  age. 

^'■Non  rard  Reformationem  impedit  Bijlcultas  Reformandi,  et  Ecclesias  vercs 
DiscipliTKB  Conformes  reddendi.  Jehoshaphat  excelsa  non  amovebat  quia  Populus 
non  Comparaverat  Animum  Deo.  Non  defuerunt  {inquit  Bucerus,)  intra  hos 
Triginta  Annos^  qui  Videri  voluerint  Justain  E'oangelii  PrcBdicalionem  plane 
amplecti,  atque  Religionis  Christi  rite  Constituendce  prcBcipuam  Curam  suscipere, 
propter  quam  etiam  non  parum  periclitati  sunt.  Verum  perpauci  adhuc  reperti  sunt, 
qui  se  Christi  Evangelio  et  Regno  oinnino  suhjecissent.  Multo  vero  minus  per- 
missum  fuit  fidis,  probatisque  Ecclesiarum  Ministris,  nee  adeo  multi  Ministro- 
rum  voluissent  id  sibi  concedi,  ut  qui  Privatis  Admonilionibus  non  acquievissent, 
atque  a  manifeslis  peccatis  suis  recipere  se  noluissent,  eos  una  cum  Ecciesice,  Seni- 
or ibus  ad  hoc  electis,  nomine  totius  Ecclesias,  ad  Pccnilentiam  Vocassent  et  Li  gas- 
sent  ;  eosque,  qui  et  hoc  Salutis  suce,  respuissent,  cum  assensu  EcclesicE  pro  Ethnicis 
et  Publicanis  habendos  Publice  pronunciassent,  Cujus  Paiionem  etiam,  posuit 
Peter  Martyr :  '  Videntur  aliqui  subvereri  Tumultus,  et  Turbas,  quod  sum  Tran- 
quillitali  consulant,  sibique  Jingant  atque  somnient,  quandam  TranquiUilatem  in 
Ecclesia,  quam  iinpossibile  est  ut  habeant,  si  Gregem  Christi  rede  pasci  voluerint.' 
Hinc  Regv.la  PrudentiBe  pro  Regula  Prajcepti  proponitur ;  et  Quczritur  potius  quid 
fieri  convenienter  possit,  quam  quid  debeat.  Fallit  hoec  Regula  ;  cum  multa  Deus 
ejiciat  per  Zelotas  (qrios  iiocant,)  qucB  Politicis  Impossibiiia  Visa  fuerint ;  Puta 
Hezekiam,  Josiam.  et  Edvardum  Sexfum,  Anglise  Regem.  Cum  videas  tinum 
Ezram,  Cinere  et  Cilicio,  fletu  et  Jejunio,  tarn  Spissum  et  Arduum  Opus  superasse, 

•  To  conform  the  church  to  the  standards  of  worldly  power  and  rank  is  like  fitting  a  house  to  its  tapestries. 


^2  MAONALIA    CHRISTI    AMEEICANA; 

quo  Carissimas  Conpiffcs,  et  liheros  desideratissimos,  e  Marilorum  Gremio.  el  Pater, 
nia  Genibus,  revuhit  el  abkgavil;  eoruiuque  nan  tanlum  infimcE  Flehis;  etiiiu 
Munus  ipsoruin  Principuin  el  Anlistitum  prima  fuit  in  Praevaricatione  ista ;  Quia 
inqiuim,  fdf/is  Ministrr  adeo  oX./o^icTro?  est,  ill  in  repurganda  Ecchsia,  nihil  non 
audeat'cum  Bono  Deo?  Magna  quidem  est  Verilalis  el  Sanctitatis  Vis  el  Majes- 
las :  Fidelis  el  Ejficax  est  Assislenlia  Spiritus  iis,  qui  Zclo  accensi  Gloria  Dei 
sedulo  incumbunt.  Tempori  quidem  aliquando  est  cedcndum;  sed  Operi  Dei  imi 
est  xuperscdcndum.''''* 

God  wll  one  day  cause  these  words  to  be  translated  into  English ! 

In  tlic  mean  time,  go  thy  way,  Nathanael,  until  the  end;  for  thou 
shalt  rest — and  on  thy  resting  place  I  will  inscribe  the  words  of  Luther 
upon  his  Nesenus,  for  thy 

EPITAPH. 

O  Nathanael,  Si  mihi  datum  easet  Donum 

Miraculosum  Excitandi  Moriuos, 
Et  si  ullum  unquam  Excitassem, 
TE  nunc  Excitarem.f 

And  for  the  same  use  borrow  the  words,  in  the  epitaph  of  Brentius, 
the  younger. 

Morte  Pia  rapitur,  Caelique  ft  Incola:  Semper 
Audict,  0  niagno  digna  propago  Patre.t 

•  Froqiieiitly  a  Reformation  is  embarrassed  by  the  difficulty  of  making  churches  conform  to  a  sound  system  of 
IfOTprnmcnt.  JKiinsiiAPiiAT  did  not  "take  away  the  high  places,  for  as  yet  the  people  had  not  prepared  their 
heart*  unto  llio  (lod  of  Wunt  fiithers. 

Within  the  liist  thirty  years  (?iiys  Bucor)  men  have  not  been  wanting  who  have  been  willing  openly  to  embrace 
the  true  preaching  of  the  Go?pel,  mid  to  make  the  right  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion  the  chief  object  of 
their  care,  and  in  so  doing  have  even  incurred  much  peril.  But  very  few  have  yet  been  found  who  have  submitted 
Uiemwlves  entirely  to  the  gospel  and  kingdom  of  Christ.  Indeed,  even  the  faithful  and  approved  ministers  of  the 
churchea  have  not  been  permitted,  (and  very  few  have  desired  such  a  privilege,)  to  join  with  the  elders  of  the 
church,  who  are  ap|)ointed  for  this  very  object,  in  calling  and  holding  to  repentance,  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
ehurch,  those  who  have  not  heeded  private  admonitions  and  abstained  from  open  scandal :  or  publicly  to  denounce, 
with  the  assent  of  the  church,  those  who  reject  this  last  stage  of  salutary  discipline,  as  strangers  to  the  cove- 
nant and  no  better  than  heathen.  The  true  explanation  of  this  condition  of  things  is  given  by  Peter  Martyr. 
"Some  disciples,"  says  he,  "seem  to  dread  tumult  and  dissension,  and  prefer  to  provide  for  their  own  tranquillity, 
«nd  conjure  up  to  their  own  imiiginations  a  sort  of  tranquillity  in  the  church,  which  is  totally  irreconcilable  with 
the  faithful  ministration  of  truth  to  the  flock  of  Christ!  Hence  it  appears  that  the  rule  of  prudence  is  set  up  as 
the  rule  of  duty,  and  the  intiuiry  is  rather  what  is  expedient  than  what  is  right.  This  standard  will  fail  :  for  God 
Bccomplishes  many  things  through  men  who  are  called  enthusiasts  which  seem  totally  impracticable  to  calculating 
•chrmers:  take,  for  instance,  llezekiah,  Josiah,  and  Edward  VI.  King  of  England.  When  you  see  an  Ezra,  sing! e- 
han<ti-<t,  by  weeping  and  fasting  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  accomplish  so  intricate  and  arduous  a  task,  as  to  compel 
bmbands  to  put  away  the  wives  of  their  bosoms,  and  parents  to  renoimce  their  beloved  children,  and  this  not 
only  amontf  the  low  populace,  for  "the  hand  of  the  princes  and  rulers  was  chief  in  the  trespass;"  what  faithful 
mlnlnter,  I  iu>k,  is  of  so  little  faith  ils  to  shrink  from  any  method  of  purifying  the  Church,  while  God  is  on  his  side  ? 
Great  in  the  [x.wer  and  majesty  of  truth  and  holiness:  faithful  and  efficient  is  the  aid  of  the  Spirit,  to  those  who 
with  ((lowing  zeal  strive  U>  advance  the  glory  of  God.  Some  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  times  and  seasons:  but 
the  work  of  God  must  not  be  stayed. 


t  ShoiiM  Heaven  this  feeble  will  endower 
With  Ktrenitth  the  bare  of  death  to  burst, 
And  I  were  fain  lu  uw  the  power, 
I  Would  evoke  Natuanarl  flrst. 


X  Wlien  flesh  shall  fail,  and  heart  is  riven, 
And  through  death's  door  he  reaches  beaveni 
This  welcome  shall  his  soul  inspire : 
"  O,  worthy  son  of  holy  sire." 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  423 


APPENDIX. 

The  invaluable  diary  of  Mr.  Nathanael  Rogers  is  lost;  something  of 
his  father'' s  is  not  so:  we  will  do  something  towards  repairing  our  loss  out 
of  that:  some  secret  papers  of  old  Mr,  John  Rogers  are  fallen  into  my 
hands:  I  will  make  them  as  puhlick  as  I  can;  and  I  will  annex  them  to 
the  life  of  his  excellent  son,  because  that  son  of  his  did  live  over  the  life 
of  his  renowned  father.  Thus,  father  and  son  shall  live  here  together; 
and  by  offering  the  reader  an  extract  of  some  observable  "memorials  for 
a  godly  life,"  contained  in  reserved  experiences  of  Mr.  John  Rogers  of 
Dedham,  I  shall  also  describe  the  very  spirit  of  the  old  Puritans,  in  the 
former  age,  by  the  view  whereof  I  hope  there  will  more  be  made  in  that 
age  which  is  to  come.  Sirs,  read  these  holy  memorials,  and  let  it  not  be 
said  of  us,  according  to  the  complaint  which  the  Talmuds  thus  utter :  Si 
prisci  faerunt  Filii  Regum,  nos  sumus  Filii  Hominum  Vulgarium;  et  si 
prisci  fuerunt  Homines  Vulgares,  nos  sumus  velut  Asini*  Let  it  not  be  said, 
us  it  uses  to  be  by  the  Jewish  Rabbi's,  Elegantior  est  Sermo  familiaris 
Patrum,  quavi  Lex  Filiorum.\ 

SIXTY     MEMORIALS     FOR     A     GODLY     LIFE. 

A   COVENANT. 

I.  I  HAVE  firmly  puqiosed,  (by  God's  grace,)  to  make  my  whole  life,  a  meditation  of  a  better 
life,  and  godliness  in  every  part;  that  I  may  from  point  to  point,  and  from  step  to  step,  with  more 
watchfulness,  walk  with  the  Lord. — Oil,  the  infinite  gain  of  it!  No  small  help  hereto  is  daily 
meditation  and  often  conference.  Therefore,  since  the  Lord  hath  given  me  to  see  in  some  sort  the 
coldness  of  the  half-service  that  is  done  to  his  majesty,  by  the  most,  and  even  by  my  self,  1  renew 
my  covenant  more  firmly  with  the  Lord,  to  come  nearer  unto  the  practice  of  godliness,  and  oftener 
to  have  my  conversation  in  heaven,  my  mind  seldomer  and  more  lightly  set  upon  the  things  of  thia 
life,  to  give  to  my  self  less  liberty  in  the  secretest  and  smallest  provocations  to  evil,  and  to  endeav- 
our after  a  more  continual  watch  from  thing  to  thing,  that  as  much  as  may  be  I  may  walk  with 
the  Lord  for  the  time  of  my  abiding  here  below. 

A   FORM   OF   DIRECTION. 

IT.  This  resolutely  determine.  That  God  be  always  my  glory  through  the  day ;  and,  as  occasion 
shall  be  offered,  help  forward  such  as  shall  repair  to  me,  or  among  whom,  by  God's  providence,  I 
shall  come:  and  these  two  being  regarded,  that  I  may  tend  7ny  own  good,  going  forward,  (my  own 
heart,  I  mean,  calling  and  life,  and  my  family  and  charge)  looking  for  my  change,  and  preparing 
for  the  cross — yea,  for  death  it  self:  and  to  like  little  of  mine  estate,  when  I  shall  not  sensibly 
find  it  thus  with  me:  and  whiles  God  afl^ordeth  me  peace,  health,  liberty,  an  heart  delighting  in 
him,  outward  blessings  with  the  same,  to  beware  that  godliness  seem  not  pleasant  to  me,  for  earthly 
commodity,  but  for  it  self:  if  in  this  course,  or  any  part  of  it,  I  should  halt,  or  mislike,  not  to  admit 
of  any  such  deceit :  and  for  the  maintenance  of  this  course,  to  take  my  part  in  all  the  good  helps, 
appointed  by  God  for  the  same  ;  as  these :  first,  to  begin  the  day  with  meditation,  thanksgiving,  confes- 
sion and  prayer:  to  put  on  my  armour:  to  watch  and  pray  oft  and  earnestly  in  the  day  for  holding 
fast  this  course:   to  hearten  on  my  self  hereto  by  mine  own  experience  (who  have  ever  seen,  that  it 

•  If  the  ancients  were  the  sons  of  kings,  we  are  the  sons  of  common  men ;  and  if  the  ancients  were  common 
men,  we  aje  mere  a.sses. 

+  The  famihai'  speech  of  the  fathers  is  more  elegant  than  the  law  of  their  sons. 


424 


MAONALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


gof-th  wfll  wiih  thoitc  which  "  wnik  ofier  this  rule,"  1  Pet.  iii.  13;  Gal.  vi.  16,)  and  by  the  exam- 
pic  of  othrrn  (Ih-b.  xiii.  7).  And  lor  the  belter  helping  my  self  forward,  still  in  this  course,  my 
purposw  and  desire  L",  to  learn  liuniiliiy  and  meekness  more  and  more,  by  God's  chastisements,  nnd 
encourage  my  self  to  this  course  of  life,  by  his  daily  blessings  and  mercies:  and  to  make  the  same 
use  of  bII  exercises  in  my  family.  And  faithfully  to  peruse  and  examine  the  several  parts  of  my 
life  every  evening,  how  this  course  hath  been  kept  of  me,  where  it  hath  to  keep  it  still,  where  it 
hath  not,  to  trek  j)ardon  and  recovery  ;  and  all  behaviour  that  will  not  stand  with  this,  to  hold  me 
from  it,  as  from  bane. 

A    FORM   FOR   A    MINISTER'S   LIFE. 

III.  In  solitariiifss,  to  be  least  solitary:  in  company,  taking  or  doing  of  good  ;  to  wife,  to  family, 
to  neiphbours,  to  fellow-ministers,  to  all  with  whom  I  deal,  kind;  amiable,  yet  modest ;  low  in  mine 
own  eye.s;  oft  with  the  sick  and  afllicted  ;  attending  to  reading;  painful  for  my  sermons;  not 
easily  provoked  unto  anger;  not  carried  away  with  conceits  hastily;  not  wandring  in  fond  dreams, 
about  ease  and  deceivable  pleasures;  not  snared  in  the  world,  nor  making  lawful  liberties  my  delight; 
helpful  to  all  that  need  my  help,  readily,  and  all  those  that  I  ought  to  regard:  and  all  this,  with 
continuance,  even  all  my  days. 

IV.  Chiff  corruptions  to  be  watched  ngainst,  be,  sourness,  sadness,  timorousness,  forgetfulness, 
fretting,  and  inability  to  bear  wrongs. 

V.  I  am  very  backward  to  private  visiting  of  neighbours'  houses,  which  doth  much  hurt:  for 
thereby  their  love  to  me  cannot  be  so  great  as  it  would  be ;  and  I  know  not  their  particular  wants 
nnd  Motes  so  well,  and  therefore  cannot  speak  so  filly  to  them  as  I  might. 

V'l.  A  minister  had  need  look,  that  he  profit  by  all  his  preaching  himself,  because  he  knows  not 
what  others  do:  many,  he  knows,  get  no  good  ;  of  many  more  he  is  uncertain:  so  that  if  he  get 
no  good  himself,  his  labour  and  travail  shall  be  in  vain. 

VII.  Begin  the  day  with  half  an  hour's  meditation  and  prayer.  And  let  me  resolutely  set  my 
self  to  walk  with  God  through  the  day:  if  any  thing  fall  out  amiss,  recover  again  speedily,  by 
humble  confession,  hearty  prayer  for  pardon,  with  cofidence  of  obtaining.     And  so  proceed. 

VIII.  Oh!  mildness,  and  cheerfulness,  with  reverence,  how  sweet  a  companion  art  thou! 

IX.  Few  rare  and  worthy  men  continue  so  to  their  end  ;  but,  one  way  or  other,  fall  into  coldness, 
gTo."ssin,  or  to  the  world:   therefore  beware! 

X.  Count  not  the  daily  direction  nor  Chri.^tian  life  to  be  bondage:  but  count  it  the  sweetest 
liberty,  nnd  the  only  way  of  true  peace.  Whensoever  this  is  counted  hard,  that  state  that  is 
embraced  instead  thereof,  shall  be  harder. 

XI.  Worldly  dealings  are  great  lets  to  fruitfulness  in  study  and  cheerful  proceeding  in  our 
Christian  course. 

XII.  One  can  never  go  about  study,  or  preaching,  if  any  thing  lie  heavy  on  the  conscience. 

XIII.  The  worst  day  wherein  a  man  keeps  his  watch,  and  holds  to  the  daily  rules  of  directions,  \3 
freer  from  danger,  and  brings  more  safety  than  the  best  day,  wherein  this  is  not  known  or  practised. 

XIV.  I  am  oft,  I  confess,  ashamed  of  my  self,  when  I  have  been  in  company,  and  seen  gifts  of 
knowledge  in  many  careless,  unconscionable,  and  odd  ministers;  which  (with  better  reasons)  hath 
stirred  up  a  desire  oft-times  in  me  that  I  could  follow  my  studies.  Yet  I  would  never  have  been 
willing  to  have  changed  with  them:  for  what  is  all  knowledge,  without  a  sanctified  and  comfort- 
able use  of  it.  through  love ;  and  without  fruit  of  our  labour,  in  doing  good,  and  winning  and  build- 
ing up  of  gouls,  or  at  least  a  great  endeavour  after  it. 

XV.  Many  ministera  set  their  minds  much  upon  this  world,  either  profit  or  preferment,  for 
which  ihey  venture  dangerously,  and  some  of  them  are  "soon  snatched  away."  Therefore,  God 
keep  me  ever  from  setting  my  foot  on  such  a  path  as  hath  no  continuance,  and  is  not  without  much 
dang'-r  in  the  end. 

XVI.  h  i.M  good  for  a  man  to  delight  in  that  wherein  he  may  be  bold  to  delight  without  repentance: 
and  that  i.s.  to  be  always  doing  or  seeking  occasion  to  do  some  good.     The  Lord  help  me  herein! 

XVII.  When  God  hedgeth  in  a  man  with  many  mercies,  and  gives  him  a  comfortable  condition, 
it  ia  good  to  acknowledge  it  often,  nnd  be  highly  thankful  for  it.  Else  God  may  soon  bring  a  man 
6o  low,  as  he  would  think  that  slate  happy  that  he  was  in  before,  if  now  he  had  it  again.  There- 
fore, God  make  me  wiae! 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  425 

XVIII.  Right  good  men  have  complained  that  they  are  oft-times  in  very  had  case,  their  hearts 
disordered  and  distempered  very  sore,  for  want  of  taking  to  themselves  a  certain  direction  for  the 
government  of  their  lives. 

XIX.  Idle  and  unjjrofitable  talk  of  by-matters  is  a  canker  that  consumeth  all  good,  and  yet  our 
heart  much  lusteth  after  it :   therefore,  resolve  firmly  against  it. 

XX.  A  necessary  and  most  comely  thing  it  is  for  a  minister  to  carry  himself  so  wisely  and  ami- 
ably unto  all,  as  he  may  do  good  unto  all  sorts ;  to  bring  back  them  that  be  fallen  off,  in  meekness  and 
kindness,  to  pass  by  an  offence  in  those  that  have  wronged  them,  which  is  an  high  point  of  honour, 
and  not  to  keep  from  them,  and  estrange  himself  from  their  acquaintance,  and  so  suffer  them  to  fall 
further,  to  be  lowly  towards  the  meaner  sort  of  Christians ;  to  keep  the  credit  of  his  ministry  with  all. 
— I  am  perswaded,  if  my  light  did  shine  more  clearly,  and  mine  example  were  seen  more  mani- 
festly, in  these  and  such  things,  (which  are  of  no  small  force  to  perswade  the  people,)  that  both 
my  ministry  would  be  of  more  power,  and  that  I  should  draw  them  also  to  be  better. 

XXI.  Look  that  I  lie  not  down  in  bed  but  in  peace  with  God  any  night,  and  never  my  heart 
rest  until  it  relent  truly  for  any  thing  that  hath  passed  amiss  in  the  day. 

XXII.  It  is  good  for  a  minister  not  to  deal  much  with  his  people  about  teorldly  matters,  yet  not 
to  be  strange  to  them:  nor  to  be  a  stumbling-block  unto  the  people,  by  worldliness  or  any  other 
fault,  else  he  deprives  himself  of  all  liberty  and  advantage  of  dealing  with  them  for  their  errors. 

XXIII.  Buffetings  of  Satan,  though  they  be  grievous,  yet  they  are  a  very  good  medicine  against 
pride  and  security. 

XXIV.  Christ's  death,  and  God's  mercy,  is  not  sweet,  but  where  sin  is  sour. 

XXV.  It  is  an  hard  thing  for  a  man  to  keep  the  "rules of  daily  direction,"  at  limes  of  sickness 
or  pain.  Let  a  man  labour  to  keep  out  evil,  when  he  wants  fitness,  strength,  and  occasion,  to  do 
good,  and  that  is  a  good  portion  for  a  sick  body.  Also  in  sickness  that  is  sore  and  sharp,  if  a  man 
can  help  himself  with  short  and  oft  prayers  to  God,  for  patience,  contentment,  meekness,  and  obe- 
dience to  his  holy  hand,  it  is  well,  though  he  can't  bend  the  mind  much  or  earnestly  upon  any  thing. 

XXVI.  Innocence  is  a  very  good  fence  and  fort  against  impatience  in  false  accusations  or  great 
afflictions.  Let  them  that  be  guilty  fret  and  vex  themselves,  and  shew  bitterness  of  stomach  against 
such  as  speak  ill  of  them ;  but  they  that  look  carefully  to  their  hearts  and  ways,  (without  looking 
at  men's  eye,)  let  them  be  still,  and  of  a  "meek  and  quiet  spirit." 

XXVII.  Besides  the  use  of  the  "daily  direction,"  and  following  strictly  the  rules  thereof,  yet 
there  must  be  now  and  then  the  use  of  fasting,  to  purge  out  weariness  and  commonness  in  the 
use  of  it. 

XXVIII.  'Tis  a  rare  thing  for  any  man  so  to  use  prosperity,  as  that  his  heart  be  drawn  the  nearer 
to  God.     Therefore,  we  had  need  in  that  estate  to  watch  diligently,  and  labour  to  walk  humbly. 

XXIX.  Oh,  frowardness!  how  unseemly  and  hurtful  a  thing  to  a  man's  self  and  others!  Ami- 
able cheerfulness,  with  watchfulness  and  sobriety,  is  the  best  estate,  and  meetest  to  do  good,  espe- 
cially to  others. 

XXX.  Follow  my  calhng:  lose  no  time  at  home  or  abroad;  but  be  doing  some  good:  mind  my 
going  homeward:  let  my  life  never  be  pleasant  unto  me  when  I  am  not  fruitful,  and  fit  to  be 
employed  in  doing  good,  one  way  or  other. 

XXXI.  It  is  a  great  mercy  of  God  to  a  minister,  and  a  thing  much  to  be  desired,  that  he  be  well 
moved  with  the  matter  that  he  preaches  to  the  people;  either  in  his  private  meditation,  or  in  his 
publick  delivery,  or  both:  better  hope  there  is  then  that  the  people  will  be  moved  therewith:  which 
we  should  ever  aim  at. 

XXXII.  If  the  heart  be  heavy  at  any  time,  and  wounded  for  any  thing,  shame  our  selves,  and 
be  humbled  for  our  sin,  before  we  attempt  any  good  exercise  or  duty. 

XXXIII.  It's  a  very  good  help,  and  most  what  a  present  remedy,  when  one  feels  himself  dull, 
and  in  an  ill  condition,  straightway  to  confess  it  to  God,  accuse  himself,  and  pray  for  quickning. 
God  sends  redress. 

XXXIV.  There  is  as  much  need  to  pray  to  be  kept  in  old  age,  and  unto  the  end,  as  at  any  time. 
And  yet  a  body  would  think  that  he  that  hath  escaped  the  danger  of  his  younger,  should  have 
no  great  fear  in  his  latter  days,  but  that  his  experience  might  prepare  him  against  any  thing.  How- 
ever, it  is  not  so:  for  many  that  have  done  well,  and  very  commendably  for  a  while,  have  shrewdly 
fallen  (o  great  hurt.     This  may  moderate  our  grief,  when  young  men  of  great  hopes  be  taken  away. 


42g  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

-Oh!  h«w  much  raihrr  hnd  I  die  in  peace  quickly,  than  live  to  disgrace  the  gospel,  and  be  a 
•lumblinK-blm-k  lo  any.  aiuliive  with  reproach !  ,       ,     ,  ,  u        „        j 

XXXV  What  a  sweet  life  is  it  when  every  part  of  the  day  hath  some  work  or  other  alloltfd 
untVit.and  this  done  constantly,  but  without  commonness,  or  customariness  of  spirit  in  the  doing  it! 

XXXVI  When  a  man  is  in  a  drow»ie,  unprofitable  course,  and  is  not  humbled  for  it,  God  oft 
leu  hiin  fall  into  some  senaibU  sin,  to  shame  him  with,  to  humble  his  heart,  and  drive  him  more 
thorou^'hly  to  God,  to  bewail  and  repent  of  Loth. 

XXX  Vil.  A  true  godly  man,  hath  never  his  life  joyful  unto  him,  any  longer  than  his  conversation 
is  holy  and  heavenly.     Oh !  let  it  be  so  with  me  ! 

XXXVIII.  It  is  some  comfort  for  a  man  whose  heart  is  out  of  order,  if  he  seeth  it,  and  that 
with  hearty  mistake,  and  cannot  be  content  until  it  be  bettered. 

XXXIX.  I  have  seen  of  others,  (which  I  desire  to  die  rather  than  it  should  be  verified  of  me!) 
ihnt  nwiiiy  mini.-iiers  did  never  seem  grossly  to  depart  from  God,  until  they  grew  wealthy  and  great. 

XL.  llow  nmeh  better  is  it  to  resist  sin,  when  we  be  tempted  thereunto,  than  to  repent  of  it  after 
we  have  committed  it! 

XLI.  WhaUioever  a.  justified  vian  doth  by  direction  of  God's  word,  and  for  which  he  hath  either 
precept  or  promise,  he  pleases  God  in  it,  and  may  be  comfortable  in  whatsoever  falls  out  thereupon. 
But  where  ignorance,  rashness,  or  our  own  will  carry  us,  we  offend. 

XLI  I.  Let  no  man  boast  of  the  grace  he  hath  had  ;  for  we  stand  not  now  by  that,  but  it  must  be 
daily  nouri.-hed ;  or  else  a  man  shall  become  as  other  7«cn,  and  fall  into  noisome  evils:  for  what 
arc  we  but  a  lump  of  sin  of  our  selves! 

XLI  1 1.  If  tJod  in  mercy  arm  us  not,  and  keep  us  not  in  compass.  Lord,  what  stuff  will  break 
from  us!  for  what  a  deal  of  poison  is  in  our  hearts,  if  it  may  have  issue!  and  therefore  what  need 
of  writc-hfulness  continually? 

XI.IV.  The  worst  day  (commonly)  of  him  that  knoweih,  and  endeavoureth  to  walk  by  the 
"  daily  direction,"  is  freer  from  danger,  and  passed  in  greater  safety,  than  the  best  day  of  a  godly 
man,  that  knows  not  this  "  direction." 

XLV.  Many  shew  themselves /orwarti  Christians  in  company  abroad,  that  yet  where  they  should 
shew  most  fruits  (as  at  home)  are  too  secure;  either  thinking  they  are  not  marked,  or,  if  they  be, 
do  not  much  regard  it.     This  ought  not  to  be. 

XLVI.  Be  careful  to  mark  what  falls  out  in  the  day,  in  heart,  or  life ;  and  be  sure  to  look  over 
oil  at  night,  that  hath  been  amiss  in  the  day ;  that  so  I  may  lie  down  in  peace  with  God  and  con- 
science. The  contrary  were  a  woful  thing,  and  would  cause  hellish  unquietness.  Be  sure  therefore 
that  none  of  the  malicious  subtleties  of  the  devil,  nor  the  naughtiness  of  my  own  heart,  do  carry 
me  further  than  at  night  I  may  sleep  with  quiet  to  God -ward. 

XLVII,  When  God  saith,  (Deut.  xii.  7,)  "That  his  may  rejoice  before  him,  in  all  that  they  put 
their  hands  unto,"  it's  a  great  liberty,  and  enjoyed  of  but  few.  No  doubt  many  of  our  sorrows 
come  through  our  own  default,  which  we  might  avoid.  And  as  for  godly  sorrow,  it  may  stand  with 
this  rejoicing.  If  therefore  we  may  in  all  things  rejoice,  then  from  one  thing  to  another,  from  our 
walkuig  to  our  sleeping:  first,  in  our  first  thoughts  of  God  in  the  morning;  then  in  our  prayer; 
after,  in  our  calling,  and  while  we  are  at  it;  then  at  our  meat,  and  in  company,  and  alone,  at  home 
and  abroad,  in  prosperity  and  adversity,  in  meditation,  in  dealings  and  affairs:  and  lastly,  in  shut- 
ling  up  the  day  in  examination,  and  viewing  it  over.  And  what  hinders?  if  we  be  willing  and 
resolved  to  do  the  will  of  God,  throughout  the  day,  but  that  we  may  "  rejoice  before  him  in  all  we 
put  our  hand  unto." 

XLVIII.  He  that  makes  conscience  of  his  ways,  and  to  please  God  his  only  way,  is  to  take  him 
to  a  "  daily  direction,"  and  some  set  rules,  thereby  looking  constantly  to  his  heart  all  the  day:  and 
thus,  for  the  most  part,  he  may  live  comfortably :  either  not  falling  into  any  thing  that  should  much 
dL'quiet  him,  or  soon  returning  by  repentance  to  peace  again.  But  if  a  man  tie  not  himself  thus  to 
rules,  his  heart  will  break  from  him,  and  be  dit^guised  one  way  or  another,  which  will  breed  continual 
wound  unto  his  conscience,  and  so  he  shall  never  live  any  time  together  in  peace.  The  cause  why 
innny  Chri.-itinns  al.so  give  themselves  great  liberty,  in  not  accusing  themselves  for  many  offences, 
is  ihr  wont  of  some  certain  direction  to  follow  in  the  day. 

XLIX.  When  we  fc-cl  unfitness  to  our  ordinary  duties,  we  either  begin  to  be  discouraged,  or  else 
yield  to  corruption,  and  neglect  our  duties;  neither  of  both  which  should  be,  but  without  discour- 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  427 

agement  we  should  resist  our  untowardness,  and  shake  it  off,  and  flee  to  God  by  prayer,  even  force 
our  selves  to  pray  for  grace  and  fitness  to  pray ;  and  being  earnest,  and  praying  in  faith,  we  may 
be  assured  that  we  shall  obtain  life  and  grace. 

L.  When  the  mind  is  distracted  any  way,  unsettled,  unquiet,  or  out  of  order,  then  get  alone,  and 
muse,  and  see  what  hath  brought  us  to  this  pass;  consider  how  irksome  a  state  this  is,  and  unprofit- 
able ;  pray  to  God,  and  work  with  thy  own  heart,  until  it  be  brought  in  frame.  An  hour  or  two 
alone,  shall  do  a  man  more  good  than  any  other  courses  or  duties. 

LI.  Aim  (if  it  be  possible)  to  spend  one  afternoon  in  a  week  in  visiting  the  neighbour's  houses ; 
great  use  there  is  of  it:  their  love  to  me  will  be  much  increased;  much  occasion  will  be  ministered 
unto  me  for  direction  to  speak  the  more  fitly  in  my  ministry.  I  am  exceedingly  grieved  that  I  am 
so  distracted  with  journeyings  about,  that  I  cannot  bring  this  to  pass. 

LII.  I  never  go  abroad,  (except  I  season  my  mind  with  good  meditations  by  the  way,  or  read, 
or  confer)  but  besides  the  loss  of  my  time,  neglecting  my  ordinary  task  at  home,  at  my  ^tudy,  I 
come  home  weary  in  body,  unsettled  in  mind,  untoward  in  study.  So  that  I  have  small  cause  to 
rejoice  in  my  goings  forth,  and  I  desire  God  to  free  me  more  and  more  from  them :  so  may  I  also 
attend  my  own  neighbours  more  diligently,  which  is  my  great  desire ;  and  the  contrary  hath  been 
and  is  my  great  burthen. 

-  LIII.  I  have  ever  observed  that  my  journeyings  and  distractions  of  divers  kinds,  in  these  my 
later  times,  and  by  too  often  preaching  in  my  younger  years,  I  have  been  held  from  using  means 
to  get  knowledge,  and  grow  therein:  which  I  counted  ever  the  just  punishment  of  God  upon  me, 
for  the  neglect  of  my  young  time,  when  I  should  and  might  have  furnished  my  self. 

LIV.  When  I  am  in  the  best  estate  my  self,  I  preach  most  zealously  and  profitably  for  the  people. 

LV.  It  breeds  an  incredible  comfort  and  joy  when  one  hath  got  power  over  some  such  corruption, 
as  in  former  times  hath  used  to  get  the  mastery  over  him.  This  is  a  good  provocatiou  to  strive 
hard  so  to  do,  and  a  cause  of  great  thankfulness  when  it  so  comes  to  pass. 

LVI.  If  we  be  at  any  time  much  dejected  for  sin,  or  otherwise  disquieted  in  our  minds,  the  best 
way  that  can  be,  is  to  settle  and  quiet  them  by  private  meditation  and  prayer.     Probatum  est. 

LVII.  The  humble  man  is  the  strongest  man  in  the  world,  and  surest  to  stand,  for  he  goes  out 
of  himself  for  help.  The  proud  man  is  the  weakest  man,  and  surest  to  fall:  for  he  trusts  to  his 
own  strength. 

LVIII.  It  is  good  in  all  the  changes  of  our  hfe,  whatsoever  they  be,  to  hold  our  own,  and  be  not 
changed  therewith  from  our  goodness;  as  Abraham,  wheresoever  he  came  (after  his  calling)  still 
built  his  altar  to  the  true  God,  and  "called  upon  his  name:"  he  changed  his  place,  but  never 
changed  his  God. 

LIX.  Our  whole  life  under  the  gospel  should  be  nothing  but  thankfulness  and  fruitfulness.  And 
if  we  must  judge  ourselves  for  our  inward  lustre  and  corruptions  of  pride,  dulness  in  good  duties, 
earthliness,  impatience.  If  we  make  not  conscience  of,  and  be  not  humbled  for  these,  God  will 
and  doth  oft  give  us  up  to  open  sins,  that  stain  and  blemish  our  profession. 

LX.  The  more  we  judge  our  selves  daily,  the  less  we  shall  have  to  do  on  our  sick-beds,  and 
when  we  come  to  die.  Oh,  that  is  an  unfit  time  for  this.'  we  should  have  nothing  to  do  then,  but 
bear  our  pain  wisely,  and  be  ready  to  die.     Therefore,  let  us  be  exact  in  our  accounts  every  day ! 

Header,  having  thus  entertained  thee  with  the  memorials  of  the  famous 
Mr.  John  Eogers,  I  will  conclude  them  with  transcribing  a  remark,  which 
I  find  in  a  book  published  bj  Mr.  Giles  Firmin,  1681: 

"  Some  excellent  men  at  home  conformed,  but  groaned  under  the  burden ;  as,  I  remember, 
Mr.  John  Rogers  of  Dedham,  an  eminent  saint;  though  he  did  conform,  I  never  saw  him 
wear  a  surplice,  nor  heard  him  use  but  a  few  prayers;  and  those,  I  think,  he  said  memorifer, 
he  did  not  read  them;  but  this  he  would  in  his  preaching,  draw  his  finger  about  his  throat, 
and  say,  'Let  them  take  me  and  hang  me  up,  so  they  will  but  remove  these  stumbling-blocks 
out  of  the  church.'  But  how  many  thousands  of  choice  Christians  plucked  up  their  stakes 
here,  forsook  their  dear  friends  and  native  country,  shut  up  themselves  in  ships,  (to  whom 
a  prison  for  the  time  had  been  more  eligible,)  went  remote  into  an  howling  wilderness,  there 


428 


MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


underwent  great  Imrdships,  water  was  their  common  drink,  and  glad  if  they  might  have  had 
but  that  which  tliey  had  given  at  their  doors  here  (many  of  them) :  and  all  tiiis  suffering 
was  tc.  avoid  your  imi>()silion8,  and  that  they  might  dwell  in  the  House  of  God,  and  enjoy 
all  things  therein,  aetordiiig  to  his  own  appointment." 


CHAPTER  X7o 

BIBLIANDER  N  0  V-A  N  G  L  I  C  U  S:*  THE   LIFE   OF  MR.   SAMUEL 

NEWMAN. 

Nulla   Tuns  unqunm   Virtuies  vesciet  JEtas; 
Non  Jus  in  Laudes  Mors  habet  Atra  TuasA 

%  1.  None  of  the  least  services  whieli  the  pens  of  ingenious  and  indus- 
trious men  have  done  for  the  Church  of  God,  hath  been  in  the  writing 
of  Concordances  for  that  miraculous  Book,  where,  Quicquid  docetiir  est 
Veritas;  Quicquid  j^^'c^cijntur,  Bonitas;  Quicquid  promittitui^  Fcelicitas.X 
The  use  of  such  concordances  is  well  understood  by  all  that  "search  the 
Scriptures,"  and  "think  thereby  to  have  eternal  life:"  but  most  of  all  by 
those  Bezaleels,  whose  business  'tis  (as  one  speaks)  "to  cut  and  set  in  gold 
the  diamonds  of  the  divine  word," 

And  therefore  tliere  have  been  many  concordances  of  the  Bible  since 
that  Origen  first  led  the  way  for  such  composures,  and  divers  languages; 
whereof,  it  may  be,  the  Maximce  et  ahsolutissimce.  Concordcmtice,^  most  com- 
pleat,  have  been  those  that  were  composed  by  the  two  Stephens,  Robert 
the  father,  and  Henry  the  son ;  these,  as  their  name  signifies  a  croivn,  so 
in  this  work  of  theirs,  like  Demosthenes  in  his  oration,  De  CoronaJ  have 
carried  away  the  garland  from  all  that  went  before  them. 

Now,  in  the  catalogue  of  concordances,  even  from  that  of  R.  Isaac 
Nathans,  in  Hebrew,  to  all  that  have  in  many  other  derived  languages 
imitated  it,  there  is  none  to  be  compared  unto  that  of  Mr.  Samuel  New- 
man, in  English.  Indeed,  first  Marbeck  in  a  concordance  which  pointed 
unto  chajHers,  but  not  unto  verses;  then  Cotton,  who,  though  no  clergy- 
man himself,  yet  by  his  more,  but  not  quite  perfect  concordance  and  his 
diligence,  obliged  all  clergy-men;  and  afterwards  Bernard,  who  yet  (no 
more  than  his  name's  sake)  "saw  not  all  things;"  and  then  Downham, 
Wickens,  Bennet,  and  how  many  more?  have  "done  vertuously ;"  but  thou, 
Newman,  "  has  excelled  them  all !"  It  hath  been  a  j ust  remark,  sometimes, 
made  by  them,  wIkj  arc  so  wise  as  to  observe  these  things,  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  Clirist,  in  his  holy  providence,  hath  chose  especially  to  make  the 

•  Tl.o  niilhc.r  of  u  NVw-Kngland  Coiiconlaiico.  |        +  Thy  virtues  shall  W  known  to  future  story : 

I  Death  may  destroy  thy  fame,  but  not  thy  glory. 

t  Every  lliini;  t<ui«hl  ig  truth  ;  every  thin?  inculcated  is  goodness;  every  thing  promised  is  felicity. 
I  Thu  must  vulumiiioua  and  complete  concorUanros.  I  On  the  Crown. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  429 

ikcmes  of  those  persons  honourable,  who  have  laboured  in  their  worJcs,  espe- 
cially to  put  honour  upon  the  sacred  Scriptures.  And  in  conformitj^  to 
that  observation,  there  are  dues  to  be  now  paid  unto  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Samuel  Newman,  who  (that  the  Scriptures  might  be  preserved  for  the 
memory,  as  well  as  the  understanding  of  the  Christian  world,)  lirst  com- 
piled in  England  a  more  elaborate  concordance  of  the  Bible  than  had  ever 
yet  been  seen  in  Europe;  and  after  he  came  to  New-England,  made  that 
concordance  yet  more  elaborate,  by  the  addition  of  not  only  many  texts 
that  were  not  in  the  former,  but  also  the  marginal  readings  of  all  the  texts 
that  had  them,  and  by  several  other  contrivances  so  made  the  whole  more 
expedite  for  the  use  of  them  that  consulted  it. 

§  2.  The  life  of  Mr.  Samuel  Newman  commenced  with  the  century  now 
running,  at  Banbury,  where  he  was  born  of  a  family  more  eminent  and 
more  ancient  for  the  profession  of  the  true  Protestant  religion  than  most 
in  the  realm  of  England.  After  his  parents,  who  had  more  piety  and 
honesty  than  icorldly  greatness  to  signalize  them,  had  bestowed  a  good  edu- 
cation upon  him,  and  after  his  abode  in  the  university  of  Oxford  had 
given  more  perfection  to  that  education,  he  became  "an  able  minister  of 
the  New-Testament."  But  being  under  the  conscientious  dispositions  of 
real  Christianity,  which  was  then  called  Puritanism,  the  persecution  from 
the  prevailing  Hierarchy,  whereto  he  therefore  became  obnoxious,  deprived 
him  of  liberty  for  the  peaceable  exercise  of  his  ministry.  Whence  it  came 
to  pass,  that  although  we  might  otherwise  have  termed  him  a  presbyter  of 
one  town  by  ordination,  we  must  now  call  him  an  evangelist  of  many, 
through  persecution;  for  the  Episcopal  molestations  compelled  him  to 
no  less  than  seven  removes,  and  as  many  places  may  now  contend  for  the 
honour  of  his  ministry,  as  there  did  for  Homer's  nativity.  But  a»  eighth 
remove,  whereto  a  weariness  of  the  former  seven  drove  him,  shall  bury  in 
silence  the  claims  all  other  places  unto  him;  for  after  the  year  1638, 
(in  which  year,  with  many  others,  as  excellent  Christians  as  any  breathing 
upon  earth,  he  crossed  the  water  to  America)  he  must  be  styled,  "a 
New-England  man." 

§  3.  After  Mr.  Newman's  arrival  at  New-England,  he  spent  a  year  and 
half  at  Dorchester,  five  at  Weymouth,  and  nineteen  years  at  Kehoboth, 
which  name  he  gave  unto  the  town,  because  his  flock,  which  were  before 
straitned  for  want  of  room,  now  might  say,  "The  Lord  hath  made  room 
for  us,  and  we  shall  be  fruitful  in  the  land;"  nor  will  it  be  wondered  at, 
if  one  so  well  versed  in  the  Scripture,  could  think  of  none  but  a  Scripture- 
name,  for  the  place  of  his  habitation.  How  many  straights  he  afterwards 
underwent  at  Eehoboth,  in  the  dark-day,  when  he  was  almost  the  only 
minister  whose  invincible  patience  held  out,  under  the  scandalous  neglect 
and  contempt  of  the  ministry,  which  the  whole  colony  of  Plymouth  was 
for  a  while  bewitched  into,  it  is  best  known  unto  the  compassionate  Lord, 
who  said  unto  him,  "I  know  thy  works,  and  how  thou  hast  born  and  hast 


^30  MAGNALIA    CHRI8TI    AMERICANA; 

patience,  and  for  my  name's  sake  hast  laboured,  and  hast  not  fointed." 
But  no  doubt  the  straits  did  but  more  eflectually  recommend  neaven  to 
him  as  tlie  only  llehoboth;  whither  he  went  July  5,  in  the  year  of  our 
lx)rd  1063,  when  by  passing  through  nine  sevens  of  years  he  was  come  to 
that  which' we  call,  "the  grand  climaterical."  Nor  let  it  be  forgotten,  that 
in  this  memorable  and  miserable  year,  each  of  three  colonies  of  New-Eng- 
land was  beheaded  of  the  minister  from  whence  they  had  most  of  their 
influences;  Norton  went  from  the  Massachuset  colony.  Stone  went  from 
Connecticut  colony,  and  Newman  from  Plymouth  colony,  within  a  few 
weeks  of  one  another. 

§  4,  lie  was  a  very  livehj  preacher  and  a  very  preaching  liver.  He  loved 
his  church  as  if  it  had  been  h\s  family,  and  he  taught  his  faviily  as  if  it  had 
been  his  church.  He  was  an  hard  student;  and  as  much  toyl  and  oyl  as  his 
learned  name's  sake  Neander  employed  in  illustrations  and  commentaries 
upon  the  old  Greek  Pagan  poets,  our  Newman  bestowed  in  compiling  his 
concordances  of  the  sacred  Scriptures:  and  the  incomparable  relish  which 
the  sacred  Scriptures  had  with  him,  while  he  had  them  thus  under  his 
continual  rumination,  was  as  well  a  mean  as  a  sig7i  of  his  arriving  to  an 
extraordinary  measure  of  that  sanctity  which  the  truth  produces.  But  of 
his  family-discipline  there  was  no  part  more  notable  than  this  one,  that 
once  a  year  he  kept  a  solemn  day  of  humiliation  with  his  family ;  and  once 
a  year  a  day  of  thanksgiving ;  and  on  these  days  he  would  not  only  enquire 
of  his  houshold  what  they  had  met  withal  to  be  humhled  or  to  be  thankful 
for,  but  also  he  would  recruit  the  memoirs  of  his  diary ;  by  being  denied 
the  sight  whereof,  our  history  of  him  is  necessarily  creepled  with  much 
imperfection.  , 

I3ut  whether  it  were  entered  in  that  diary  or  no,  there  was  one  thing 
remarkable  which  once  befel  him,  worthy  of  a  mention  in  this  history.  He 
was  once  on  a  journey  home  from  Boston  to  Eehoboth:  but  hearing  of  a 
lecture  at  Dorchester  by  the  way,  he  thought  with  himself,  "Perhaps  I  shall 
not  be  out  of  my  way  if  I  go  so  far  out  of  my  way  as  to  take  that  lecture." 
There  he  found  Mr.  Mather  at  prayer;  the  prayer  being  ended,  Mr.  IMather 
would  not  be  satisfied  except  he  would  preach.  Accordingly,  after  the 
singing  of  a  psalm,  he  preached  an  excellent  sermon ;  and  by  that  sermon 
a  poor  sinner,  well  known  in  the  place,  was  remarkably  converted  unto 
God,  and  became  a  serious  and  eminent  Christian. 

§  5.  Hospitality  was  an  essential  of  his  character:  and  I  can  tell  when  he 
entertained  angels  not  unawares.  'Tis  doubtless,  a  faulty  piece  of  insensihilitij 
among  too  many  of  the  faithful,  that  they  do  little  consider  the  guard  of 
hx)ly  angels  wherewith  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  wonderfully  supplies  us  against 
the  mischief  and  malice  of  xoickcd  spirits.  Those  holy  angels  are,  it  may 
be,  tu-o  hundred  and  sixty  times  mentioned  in  the  sacred  oracles  of  Heaven: 
and  we  that  read  so  much  in  those  oracles  are  so  earthly-minded,  as  to  take 
little  notice  of  them.     'Tis  a  marvellous  thing  that,  as  one  says,  the  natives 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  43]^ 

of  heaven  do  not  grudge  to  attend  upon  those  who  are  only  the  denisons 
thereof;  and  that,  as  the  ancient  expresses  it,  we  may  see  the  ivholc  heaven 
at  work  for  our  salvation,  God  the  Father  sending  his  jSon  to  redeem  us, 
both  the  Father  and  the  Son  sending  their  Spirit  to  guide  us,  the  Father, 
Son  and  Spirit  sending  their  angels  to  minister  for  us.  Now,  of  the  whole 
angelical  ministration  concerned  for  our  good,  there  is,  it  may  be,  none 
more  considerable,  than  the  illustrious  convoy  and  conduct  which  they 
give  unto  the  spirits  of  believers,  when,  being  expired,  they  pass  through 
the  territories  of  the  "  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,"  unto  the  regions 
where  they  must  attend  until  the  resurrection.  What  Elijah  had  at  his 
translation,  "a  chariot  of  angels,"  does,  in  some  sort,  accompany  all  the 
saints  at  their  expiration ;  they  are  carried  by  angels  unto  the  feast  with 
Abraham,  and  angels  do  then  "receive  them  into  everlasting  habitations." 
Hhe  faith  of  this  matter  has  therefore  filled  the  departing  souls  of  many 
good  men  with  "a joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory;"  thus  the  famous 
Lord  Mornay,  when  dying,  said,  "I  am  taking  my  flight  to  heaven;  here 
are  angels  that  stand  ready  to  carry  my  soul  into  the  bosom  of  my 
Saviour;"  thus  the  famous  Dr.  Holland,  when  dying,  said,  "O,  thou 
fiery  chariot,  which  earnest  down  to  fetch  up  Elijah,  you  angels,  that 
attended  the  soul  of  Lazarus,  bear  me  into  the  bosom  of  my  best  beloved !" 
thus  we  know  of  another,  that  when  dying,  said,  "O  that  you  had  your 
eyes  open  to  see  what  I  see!  I  see  millions  of  angels;  God  has  appointed 
them  to  carry  my  soul  up  to  heaven,  where  I  shall  behold  the  Lord  face 
to  face."  And  now,  let  my  reader  accept  another  instance  of  this  dying 
and  most  lively  expectation! 

Our  Newman,  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  days,  advanced  more  and 
more  towards  the  beginning  of  his  yo?/s;  and  fi  joyful  as  well  as  o,  prayerfid^ 
watchful,  and  fruitful  temper  of  soul,  observably  irradiated  him.  At 
length,  being  yet  in  health,  he  preached  a  sermon  on  these  words  in  Job 
xiv.  14,  "All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait,  until  my  change 
come;"  which  proved  his  last.  Falling  sick  hereupon,  he  did  in  the  after- 
noon of  a  following  Lord's  day  ask  a  deacon  of  his  church  to  pray  with 
him ;  and  the  pious  deacon  having  finished  his  prayer,  this  excellent  man 
turned  about,  saying,  "And  now,  ye  angels  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  come, 
do  your  office!"  with  which  words  he  immediately  expired  his  holy  soul 
into  the  arms  of  angels:  the  spirit  of  this  just  man  was  immediately 
with  the  "innumerable  company  of  angels." 

§  6.  The  believing  sinner  then  has  the  "forgiveness  of  sin"  effectually 
declared  and  assured  unto  him,  when  the  holy  spirit  of  God,  with  a  spe- 
cial operation  (which  is  called  "  The  Seal  of  the  Holy  Spirit'^)  produces  in 
him  a  solid,  powerful,  wonderful,  and  well-grounded  perswasion  of  it; 
and  when  he  brings  home  the  pardoning  love  of  God  unto  the  heart  with 
such  immediate  and  irresistible  efficacy,  as  marvellously  moves  and  melts 
the  heart,  and  overwhelms  it  with  the  inexpressible  consolations  of  k  par- 


482 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


don.  The  "forgiveness  of  sin"  may  be  hope/aUij,  but  cannot  be  joyfully 
evident  unto  us,  without  such  a  special  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  giving 
evidence  tliercunto.  When  we  set  ourselves  to  argue  our  justification, 
from  the  marks  of  our  sanctification  that  we  can  find  upon  ourselves,  we 
do  tcdl;  we  work  riyht;  we  are  in  an  orderly  way  of  proceeding.  But  yet 
we  cannot  well  see  our  sanctification,  except  a  special  operation  of  the 
spirit  of  God  help  our  sight;  and  if  we  do  see  our  sanctification,  yet  our 
si'dit  of  our  justification  will  be  no  more  than  feeble,  except  a  special 
operation  of  the  spirit  of  God  shall  comfort  us.  Our  own  argument  may 
make  us  a  little  ca^y ;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  be  found  in  that  rational  way 
of  ar'uiint;;  but  this  nicer  argument  of  our  own,  w^ll  not  bring  us  to  that 
joyful  peace  of  soul  that  will  carry  us  triumphantly  through  the  "dark 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,"  and  make  us  triumph  over  our  doubts, 
our  fears,  and  all  our  discouragements.  At  last,  the  Spirit  of  God,  he 
will  come  in  gloriously  upon  our  hearts,  and  cause  us  to  receive  the  par- 
don of  our  sins,  offered  freely  through  Christ  unto  us;  and  then  we  shall 
"rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  Nevertheless,  when- 
ever the  "forgiveness  of  our  sins"  is  by  a  special  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  revealed  unto  us,  the  symptoms  of  a  regenerate  soul  do  always 
accompany  it.  Though  the  marks  of  sanctification  are  not  enough  to  give 
us  the  full  joy  of  our  justification,  yet  they  give  us  the  ^jroq/"  of  it.  When 
a  special  operation  of  the  Iloly  Spirit,  gives  us  to  see  our  justification,  it 
will  give  us  to  see  our  sanctification  too. 

In  writing  this,  I  have  written  a  considerable  article  of  our  church-his- 
tory: for  it  was  this  article  that,  perhaps  more  than  any  whatsoever,  exer- 
cised the  thoughts  and  pens  of  our  churches  for  many  years  together. 
But  the  mention  hereof  serves  particularly  to  introduce  a  few  more 
memoirs  of  our  holy  Newman. 

•  All  rjood  Christians  do  sometimes  examine  themselves  about  their  inte- 
riour  state:  and  they  that  would  be  great  Christians,  must  often  do  it. 
Though  the  reserved  papers  of  our  Newman  are  too  carelessly  lost,  yet 
I  have  recovered  one,  which  runs  in  such  terms  as  these: 

"notes,  or  marks  of  grace,  I  FIND  IN  MY  SELF; 

Not  vhnriu  I  desire  to  Glory,  but  to  take  Ground  of  Assurance,  and,  after  our  Apostles'  Eules, 
to  '  make  my  Election  sure,'  though  I  fad  them  but  in  weak  measure. 

"  1.  I  find,  1  Itivp  God,  and  desire  to  love  God,  principally  for  himself. 

"  2.  .\  desire  to  re(iuite  evil  witli  good. 

"3.  A  looliiiifT  >ip  to  God,  to  see  him,  and  his  hand,  in  all  things  that  befal  me. 

"4.  A  greater  fear  of  displeasing  God,  tlian  all  the  worid. 

"6.  A  h>ve  to  such  Christians  as  I  never  saw,  or  received  good  from. 

"  6.  A  grief,  when  I  see  (Jod's  commands  broken  by  any  person. 

"7.  A  mourning  for  not  finding  the  assurance  of  God's  love,  and  the  sense  of  his  favour, 
ill  that  comfortable  manner  at  one  time  as  at  another;  and  not  being  able  to  serve  God  as 

;    should. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  433 

"8.  A  willingness  to  give  God  the  glory  of  any  ability  to  do  good. 

"9.  A  joy  when  I  am  in  Christian  company,  in  godly  conference. 

"10.  A  grief  when  I  perceive  it  goes  ill  with  Christians,  and  the  contrary.  [evening. 

"ll.  A  constant  performance  of  secret  duties,  between  God  and  my  self,  morning  and 

"12.  A  bewailing  of  such  sins  which  none  in  the  world  can  accuse  me  of. 

"13.  A  choosing  of  suffering  to  avoid  sin." 

But  having  thus  mentioned  the  self-examination  which  this  holy  man 
accustomed  himself  unto,  I  know  not  but  this  may  be  a  very  proper 
opportunity  to  observe,  that  the  holiness  of  our  primitive  Christians,  in 
this  land,  was  more  than  a  little  expressed  and  improved  by  this  piece 
of  Christianity.  And  that  I  may  serve  this  design  of  Christianity  upon 
the  devout  reader,  I  will  take  this  opportunity  to  digress  (if  it  be  a  digres- 
sion) so  far,  as  to  recite  a  passage  I  lately  read  in  a  paper,  which  a  private 
Christian,  one  of  our  godly  old  men,  who  died  not  long  since,  (namely,  Mr. 
Clap,  once  the  captain  of  our  castle)  did  at  his  death  leave  behind  him. 

That  godly  man  had  long  been  labouring  under  doubts  and  fears  about 
his  interiour  state  before  God.  At  last  he  was  one  day  considering  with 
himself  what  was  his  most  beloved  sin.  Herewithal  he  considered  whether, 
in  case  the  Lord  would  assure  him  that  all  sin  should  be  for  ever  pardoned 
unto  him,  and  he  should  arrive  safe  to  heaven  in  the  issue,  yet  he  should 
not  in  the  mean  time  have  that  one  sin  mortified,  and  be  delivered  from 
the  reign  and  rage  of  that  one  sin, — whether  this  would  content  him? 
Hereunto  he  found  and  said,  before  the  Lord,  "that  this  would  not  con- 
tent him."  And  hereupon  the  Spirit  of  God  immediately  irradiated  his 
mind,  with  a  strange  and  a  strong  assurance  of  the  divine  love  unto  him. 
He  was  dissolved  into  a  flood  of  tears,  with  assurance  that  God  had  "loved 
him  with  an  everlasting  love."  And  from  this  time  the  assurance  of  his 
pardon  conquered  his  doubts  and  fears,  I  think,  all  the  rest  of  his  days. 

Our  too  defective  history  of  our  Newman  I  will  conclude,  as  Blahos- 
lius  did  in  his  history  of  Johannes  Cornu:  Lorigum  estet  Elogia  hujus  viri 
narrare.  Sed  perfedior  Historia,  ut  de  aliis  vires^  ita  et  de  osto,  consumraatur^ 
et  quotidie  angetur  in  Vitd,  eternd  ;  Quam  da  nohis^  0  Domine  DeuSj  in  glorid 
cum  gaudio  legendam.     Amen.^ 

>  EPITAPHIUM. 

Mortuus  est  Neander  Nov-Anglug, 

Qui  ante  mortem  didicit  mori, 

Et  obiit  ed  morte,  qua  potest  esse,  Ars  bene  moriendi.t 

•  It  would  be  too  great  a  task  to  set  forth  all  his  praises.  But  a  more  perfect  history  of  him,  as  of  some 
other  men,  is  in  progress,  and  daily  ampHBed  into  life  eternal:  which  God  grant  that  we  may,  when  raised  up  to 
glory,  read  for  ourselves  with  unspeakable  joy.    Amen ! 

t  The  Neander  of  New-England  is  dead.  Before  death,  he  learned  to  die,  and  the  art  of  dying  well  died 
with  him. 

Vol.  L— 28 


484 


MAONALIA    CURISTI    AMERICANA*, 


CHAPTER   X?L 

DOCTOR  IRREFRAGABILIS:*  THE  LIFE   OP  MR.  SAMUEL  STONE. 

§  1.  If  the  church  of  Rome  do  boast  of  her  Cornelius  a  Lap{de,f  who 
hath  published  learned  commentaries  upon  almost  the  whole  Bible,  the 
Protestant  and  reformed  church  of  New-England  may  boast  of  her  Sam- 
uel Stone,  who  was  better  skilled  than  the  other  in  sacred  philology,  and 
whose  learned  sermons  and  writings  were  not  stuffed  Avith  such  trifles 
and  flxbles,  and  other  impertinencies,  as  fill  many  pages  in  the  compo- 
sures of  the  other. 

§  2.  In  his  youth,  after  his  leaving  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
where  Emanuel-Colledge  had  instructed  him  in  the  light,  and  nourished 
him  with  the  cup  of  that  famous  university,  he  did,  with  several  other 
persons  that  proved  famous  in  their  generation,  "sit  at  the  feet"  of  a  most 
excellent  Gamaliel;  attending  upon  that  eminently  holy  man  of  God, 
whom  I  will  venture  to  call  Saint  Blackerby.  That  Reverend  Richard 
Blackerby,  whose  most  angelical  sort  of  life  you  may  read  among  the  last 
of  Samuel  Clark's  collections,  was  a  tutor  to  Mr.  Stone;  and  you  may 
reasonably  expect  that  such  a  scholar  should  have  a  double  portion  of 
the  sjnrit  which  there  was  in  such  a  tutor. 

§  3.  Ilaving  been  an  accomplished,  industrious,  but  yet  persecuted  min- 
ister of  the  gospel,  in  England,  he  came  to  New-England  in  the  same 
ship  that  brought  over  Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Hooker.  A  ship  which,  in 
those  three  worthies,  brought  from  Europe  a  richer  loading  than  the  rich- 
est that  ever  sailed  back  from  America  in  the  Spanish  Flota;  even  that 
wreck  which  had  on  board,  among  other  treasures,  one  entire  table  of 
gold,  weighing  above  three  thousand  and  three  hundred  pound.  Indeed, 
the  foundation  of  New-England  had  a  precious  jem,  laid  in  it  when  Mr. 
Stone  arrived  in  these  regions. 

But  the  circumstances  of  this  removal,  require  to  be  related  with  more 
of  particularities.  The  judicious  Christians  that  were  coming  to  New- 
England  with  Mr.  Hooker  were  desirous  to  obtain  a  colleague  for  him, 
and  being  disappointed  of  obtaining  Mr.  Cotton  for  that  purpose,  (who 
nevertheless  took  it  very  kindly  that  Mr.  Hooker  had  sent  them  unto 
him)  they  began  to  think  thiit  a  couple  of  such  great  men  might  be  more 
serviceable  asunder  than  together.  So  their  next  agreement  was,  to  pro- 
cure some  able  and  godly  young  man,  who  might  be  an  assistant  unto  Mr. 
Hooker,  with  something  of  a  discijik  also;  and  those  three— Mr.  Shep- 
ard,  ^fr.  Norton,  and  Mr.  Stone— were  to  this  end  proposed;   and  Mr. 

•  The  Doctor  whom  none  could  confound.  ^  Cornelius  Stone. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


435 


Stone,  then  a  lecturer  at  Torcester  in  Northamptonshire,  was  the  person 
upon  whom  at  length  it  fell  to  accompany  Mr.  Hooker  into  America. 

§  4.  From  the  New-English  Cambridge  he  went  collegue  to  Mr.  Hooker, 
with  a  chosen  and  devout  company  of  Christians,  who  gathered  a  famous 
church  at  a  town  which  they  called  Hartford,  upon  the  well-known  river 
Connecticut.  There  he  continued  feeding  the  flock  of  our  Lord  fourteen 
years,  with  Mr.  Hooker,  and  sixteen  years  after  him ;  till  he  that  was  born 
at  Hartford  in  England,  now  on  July  20,  1663,  died  in  Hartford  of  New- 
England  ;  and  went  unto  the  Heavenly  Society,  whereof  he  would  with 
some  longing  say,  "Heaven  is  the  more  desirable,  for  such  company  as 
Hooker,  and  Shepard,  and  Hains,  who  are  got  there  before  me." 

§  5.  His  way  of  living  was  godly,  sober  and  righteous,  and,  like  that 
great  apostle  who  was  his  name-sake,  he  could  seriously  and  sincerely 
profess,  "Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things;  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee." 
But  there  were  two  things  wherein  the  "power  of  godliness"  uses  to  be 
most  remarkably  manifested  and  maintained;  and  he  was  remarkable  for 
both  of  these  things;  namely,  frequent  fastinr/s  and  exact  /Sabbaths.  He 
would,  not  rarely,  set  apart  whole  days  for  fasting  and  prayer  before  the 
Lord,  whereby  he  ripened  his  blessed  soul  for  the  "inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light."  And  when  the  weekly  Sabbath  came,  which  he  still 
began  in  the  evening  before,  he  would  compose  himself  unto  a  most  heav- 
enly frame  in  all  things,  and  not  let  fall  a  word,  but  what  should  be  grave, 
serious,  pertinent.  Moreover,  it  was  his  custom  that  the  sermon  which 
he  was  to  preach  on  the  Lord's  day  in  his  assembly,  he  would  the  night 
before  deliver  to  his  own  family.  A  custom  which  was  attended  with 
several  advantages. 

§  6.  Being  ordained  the  teacher  of  the  church  in  Hartford,  he  appre- 
hending himself  under  a  particular  and  peculiar  obligation  to  endeavour 
the  edification  of  his  people,  by  a  more  doctrinal  way  of  preaching:  accord- 
ingly, as  he  had  the  art  of  keeping  to  his  hour,  so  he  had  an  incompara- 
ble skill  at  filling  of  that  hour  with  nervous  discourses,  in  the  way  of 
common-place  and  proposition,  handling  the  points  of  divinity,  which  he 
would  conclude  with  a  brief  and  close  application:  and  then  he  would  in 
his  praj^er,  after  sermon,  put  all  into  such  pertinent  confessions,  petitions, 
and  thanksgivings,  as  notably  digested  his  doctrine  into  devotion.  He  was 
a  man  of  principles,  and  in  the  management  of  those  principles  he  was 
both  a  Zoac^-Stone  and  a  Flint-Stone. 

§  7.  He  had  a  certain  pleasancy  in  conversation,  which  was  the  effect 
and  symptom  of  his  most  ready  ivit;  and  made  ingenious  men  to  be  as 
covetous  of  his  familiarity  as  admirers  of  his  ingenuity.  Possibly  he  might 
think  of  what  Suidas  reports  concerning  Macarius,  that  by  the  pAeasancy 
of  his  discourses  on  all  occasions,  he  drew  many  to  the  ways  of  God. 
He  might  be  inclined,  like  Dr.  Statinton,  who  said,  "I  have  used  myself 
to  be  cheerful  in  company,  that  so  standers-by  might  be  the  more  in  love 


436 


MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


with  religion,  seeing  it  consistent  with  cheerfulness."  B.ence  facetious  turns 
were  almost  natural  to  him,  in  his  conversation  with  such  as  had  the 
sence  to  comprehend  the  subtleties  of  his  reparties.  But  still  under  such  a 
reserve  as  to  escape  the  sentence  of  the  canon  of  the  council  of  Carthage, 
Clericum  sctirrilcvi  et  verbis  turpibus  Joculatorem,  ah  officio  Retfahenduni 
esse  censcmus* 

§  8.  Reader,  what  should  be  the  meaning  of  this?  our  Mr.  Stone,  about 
or  before  the  year  1650,  when  all  things  were  in  a  profound  calm,  deliv- 
ered in  a  sermon  his  pre-apprehensions  that  churches  among  them  Avould 
come  to  be  broken  by  schism,  and  sudden  censures,  and  angry  removes: 
and  that  ere  they  were  aware,  these  mischiefs  would  arise  among  them ; 
in  the  churches,  prayers  against  prayers,  hearts  against  hearts,  tears 
against  tears,  tongues  against  tongues,  and  fasts  against  fasts,  and  horrible 
jirejudices  and  underminings.  Many  years  did  not  pass  before  he  saw 
in  his  own  church  all  of  this  accomplished.  He  little  thought  that  his 
oxen  church  must  be  the  stage  of  these  tragedies,  when  he  told  some  of 
his  friends,  "That  he  should  never  want  their  love."  He  did  live  to 
undergo  what  we  are  now  going  to  signifie: 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  his  time,  this  present  evil  world  was  made  yet 
more  evil  unto  him,  through  an  unhappy  difference  which  arose  between 
him  and  a  ruling  elder  in  the  church  whereof  he  was  himself  a  teaching 
elder.  They  were  both  of  them  godly  men ;  and  the  true  original  of  the 
misunderstanding  between  men  that  were  of  so  good  an  understanding,  has 
been  rendred  almost  as  obscure  as  the  rise  of  Connecticut-river.  But  it 
proved  its  unhappy  consequences,  too,  like  that  river  in  its  great  annual 
inundations;  for  it  overspread  the  whole  colony  of  Connecticut.  Such  a 
monstrous  enchantment  there  was  upon  the  minds  even  of  those  who  were 
Christians,  and  brethren,  that  in  all  the  towns  round  about,  the  people 
generally  made  themselves  parties,  either  to  one  side  or  the  other,  in  this 
quarrel;  though  multitudes  of  them  scarce  ever  distinctly  knew  what  the 
quarrel  was:  and  the  factions  insinuated  themselves  into  the  smallest,  as 
well  as  the  greatest  affairs  of  those  towns.  From  the  Jire  of  the  altar, 
there  issued  thundrings  and  lightnings,  and  earthquakes,  through  the  colony. 
As  once  in  Constantinople,  a  fire  that  began  in  the  church  consumed  the 
senate-house :  thus  the  fire  which  began  in  the  church  more  than  a  little 
affected  the  senate-house  in  Connecticut :  and  the  people  also  were  many 
of  them  as  fiercely  set  against  one  another,  as  the  Combites  in  the  poet 
were  against  the  Tentyrites.  A  world  of  sin  was  doubtless  committed, 
even  by  pious  men,  on  this  occasion,  while  they  permitted  so  many  things 
contrary  to  the  laiv  of  charity,  and  so  much  mispending  of  their  time  and 
misplacing  of  their  zeal,  as  must  needs  occur  in  their  woful  variance. 
Alas !  how  many  of  Solomon's  wise  proyerbs  were  explained  and  instanced 
m  the  follies  of  these  contests!     Indeed,  for  the  composing  of  these  bran- 

•  Wo  bellere  Ihl  .  mjurrilou.  clergyman,  who  deaU  in  foul  jests,  should  be  dismissed  from  the  pastoral  offlce. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  437 

gles,  there  was  the  help  of  council  called  in;  but  every  council  fetched 
from  the  neighbourhood  was  thought  prejudiced;  for  which  cause,  at  last, 
a  council  was  desired  from  the  churches  about  Boston,  in  the  Massachusets 
Bay,  whose  messengers  took  the  pains  thus  to  travel  more  than  an  hundred 
miles  for  the  pacification  of  these  animosities;  and  a  sort  of  pacification 
was  thereby  attained;  but  yet  not  without  the  dismission  and  removal  of 
many  vertuous  people  further  up  the  river;  whereby  some  other  churches 
came  to  be  gathered,  which  are  now  famous  in  our  Israel.  'Tis  not  easy 
to  comprehend^  and  I  wish  no  such  faithful  servant  of  God  may  experience 
it;  how  much  the  spirit  of  Mr.  Stone,  was  worn  by  the  continual  dropping 
of  this  contention. — Gutta  cavat  LapidemJ^  But  the  dust  of  mortality 
being  thrown  upon  those  good  men,  the}?-  have  not  only  left  stinging  one 
another,  but  also  they  are  together  hived  with  unjarring  love  in  the  land 
that  flows  with  what  is  better  than  milk  and  honey.  As  for  Mr.  Stone, 
if  it  were  metaphorically  true  (what  they  proverbially  said)  of  Beza,  that 
"he  had  no  gall,"  the  physicians  that  opened  him  after  his  death  found 
it  literally  true  in  this  worthy  man. 

§  9.  In  his  church-discipline,  he  was,  perhaps,  the  exactest  of  that  which 
we  call  Congregational,  and  being  asked  once  to  give  a  description  of  the 
Congregational  church-government,  he  replied,  "It  was  a  speaking  Aristo- 
cracy in  the  face  of  a  silent  Democracy.^' 

§  10.  He  was  an  extraordinary  person  at  an  argument;  and  as  clear 
and  smart  a  disputant  as  most  that  ever  lived  in  the  world.  Hence,  when 
any  scholar  came  to  him  with  any  question,  it  was  his  custom  to  bid  him 
take  which  part  the  querist  himself  pleased,  either  positive  or  negative, 
and  he  would  most  argumentatively  dispute  against  him ;  whereby  having 
disputed  one  another  into  the  narrota  of  the  case,  he  would  then  give  the 
enquirer  the  most  judicious  and  satisfying  determination  of  his  problem 
that  could  be  imagined.  Yea,  what  Cicero  says  of  one,  might  almost  be 
said  of  him,  Nullam  unquam  in  Disputationibus  rem  defendit,  quam  non 
probarit;  nullum  oppugnavit^  quern,  non  everterit.j- 

§  11.  The  world  has  not  been  entertained  with  many  of  his  composures. 
But  certain  strokes  of  Mr.  Hudson  and  Mr.  Cowdr}'-  fetched  one  spark  out 
of  this  well  compacted  Stone;  which  was,  "J.  Discourse  about  the  Logical 
Notion  of  a  Congregational  Church  ;^^  wherein  some  thought  that,  as  a  Stone 
from  the  sling  of  David,  he  has  mortally  wounded  the  head  of  that  Goliah, 
a  national  political  church.  At  least,  he  made  an  essay  to  do  what  was 
done  by  the  Stone  of  Bohan,  setting  the  bounds  between  church  and  church, 
as  that  between  tribe  and  tribe. 

Moreover,  I  find  in  a  book  which  a  late  author  hath  written  on  Free- 
grace,  this  passage:  "Might  the  world  be  so  happy  as  to  see  a  very  elab- 
orate confutation  of  the  Antinomians,  written  by  a  very  acute  and  solid 

•  Continual  droppings  wear  even  stones.  +  In  debate,  he  never  defended  any  position  which  be  did 

not  establish :  he  opposed  none  which  he  did  not  overthrow. 


^g  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

person,  a  great  disputant,  viz:  :Mr.  Stone  of  New-England,  a  Congrega- 
tional divine,  it  would  easily  appear  that  the  Congregational  are  not  Anii- 
nomian."  And  Mr.  Baxter,  in  one  of  his  last  works,  does  utter  his  dying 
wishes  for  the  resurrection  of  that  buried  manuscript. 

But  one  of  the  most  elaborate  things  written  by  Mr.  Stone,  or  indeed 
in  this  land,  is  his  '' Bodij  of  Divinity  f'  wherein  the  reader  has,  in  a  Eich- 
ardsoiiiaii  method,  curiously  drawn  up  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestant,  and 
Reformed,  and  New-English  churches;  and  the  marrow  of  all  that  had 
been  reached,  by  the  hard  and  long  studies  of  this  great  student  in  theology. 
This  rich  treasure  has  often  been  transcribed  by  the  vast  pains  of  our 
candidates  for  the  ministry;  and  it  has  made  some  of  our  most  considerable 
divines.     But  all  attempts  for  the  printing  of  it  hitherto  proved  abortive.* 

E  P  I  T  A  P  H  I  U  M. 

Quern  Nubila  Victa  Coronant* 


ijfiAiriiifii    vL  y  i  i  o 
THE    LIFE   OF    MR.    WILLIAM   THOMPSON. 

§  1.  There  is  no  experienced  minister  of  the  gospel  who  hath  not,  in 
the  cases  of  tempted  soids,  often  had  this  experience,  that  the  ill  cases  of 
their  distempered  bodies  are  the  frequent  occasion  and  original  of  their 
temptations.  There  are  many  men  who,  in  the  very  constitution  of  their 
bodies,  do  afford  a  bed  wherein  busy  and  bloody  devik  have  a  sort  of  a 
lodging  provided  for  them.  The  mass  of  blood  in  them,  is  disordered  with 
some  fiery  acid,  and  their  brains  or  boivels  have  some  juices  or  ferments  or 
vapours  about  them,  which  are  most  unhappy  engines  for  devils  to  work 
upon  their  souls  withal.  The  vitiated  humours,  in  many  persons,  yield 
the  steams  whereinto  Satan  does  insinuate  himself,  till  he  has  gained  a  sort 
of  possession  in  them,  or  at  least  an  opportunity  to  shoot  into  the  mind 
as  many /fry  darts  as  may  cause  a  sad  life  unto  them;  yea,  'tis  well  \^  self 
mnrdcr  be  not  the  sad  end  unto  which  these  hurried  people  are  thus  pre- 
cipitated. New-England,  a  country  where  splenetic  maladies  are  prevailing 
and  pernicious  perhaps  above  any  other,  hath  afforded  numberless  instances 
of  even  jnom  people  who  have  contracted  those  melancholy  indispositions, 
which  have  unhinged  them  from  all  service  or  comfort;  yea,  not  a  few 
persons  have  been  hurried  thereby  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  themselves 
at  the  last.     These  are  among  the  "unsearchable  judgments  of  God!" 

§  2.  Mr.  William  Thompson  was  a  reverend  minister  of  the  gospel,  who 
felt  in  himself  the  vexations  of  that  melancholy  which  persons  in  his  ofiice 

•  Crowned  by  the  clouds  through  which  ho  passed. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  439 

do  SO  often  see  in  others.  He  was  a  very  powerful  and  successful  preacher ; 
and  we  find  his  name  sometimes  joined  in  the  title-page  of  several  books 
with  his  countryman,  Mr.  Kichard  Mather,  as  a  writer.  Nor  was  New- 
England  the  only  part  of  America  where  he  zealously  published  the 
messages  and  mysteries  of  Heaven,  after  that  the  English  Hierarchy  had 
persecuted  him  from  the  like  labours  in  Lancashire  over  into  America ;  but 
upon  a  mission  from  the  churches  of  New-England,  he  carried  the  tidings 
of  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  into  Virginia:  where  he  saw  a  not- 
able fruit  of  his  labours,  until  that  faction  there,  which  called  it  self,  "the 
Church  of  England,"  persecuted  him  from  thence  also.  Satan,  who  had 
been  after  an  extraordinary  manner  irritated  by  the  evangelic  labours  of 
this  holy  man,  obtained  the  liberty  to  sift  him;  and  hence,  after  this  v/orthy 
man  had  served  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  church  of  our  New-English 
Braintree,  he  fell  into  that  Balneum  diaboli,  "a  black  melancholy, ^^  which  for 
divers  years  almost  wholly  disabled  him  for  the  exercise  of  his  ministry; 
but  the  end  of  this  melancholy  was  not  so  tragical  as  it  sometimes  is  with 
some,  whom  yet,  because  of  their  exemplary  lives  we  dare  not  censure  for 
their  prodigious  deaths.  It  is  an  observation  of  no  little  consequence,  in 
our  Christian  warfare,  that  for  all  the  fierce  temptations  of  the  devil  upon 
us,  there  is  a  time  limited — an  hour  of  temptation.  During  this  time,  the 
devil  may  grow  the  more  furious  upon  us,  the  more  we  do  resist  him.  We 
must  resist  until  the  time  which  is  prejixt  by  God,  but  unknown  to  us,  is 
expired;  and  then  we  shall  find  it  a  law  in  the  invisible  world  strictly 
kept  unto,  that  if  the  resistance  be  carried  on  to  such  a  period,  though 
perhaps  with  many  intervening  foyle,  the  devil  will  be  gone ;  yea,  whether 
he  will  or  no,  we  must  be  gone.  There  is  a  laio  for  it,  which  obliges  him 
to  a  fligJit,  and  a  flight  that  carries  a  fright  in  it;  a  fear  from  an  apprehen- 
sion that  God,  with  his  good  angels,  will  come  in,  with  terrible  chastise- 
ments upon  him,  if  he  presume  to  continue  his  temptations  one  moment 
longer  than  the  time  that  had  been  allowed  unto  him.  All  this  may  be 
implied  in  that  passage  of  the  apostle,  "Kesist  the  devil,  and  he  will  flee 
from  you."  And  as  our  Lord,  being  twice  more  furiously  tempted  by  the 
devil,  "drew  near  to  God,"  with  extraordinary  prayer;  but  when  the  time 
for  the  temptation  was  out,  God  by  his  angels  then  sensibly  drew  near 
unto  him,  with  fresh  consolations:  to  this,  no  doubt,  the  apostle  refers, 
when  he  adds,  "Draw  nigh  to  God,  and  he. shall  draw  nigh  to  you." 
Accordingly,  the  pastors  and  the  feithful  of  the  churches  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood kept  "resisting  of  the  devil,"  in  his  cruel  assaults  upon  Mr. 
Thompson,  by  continually  "  drawing  near  to  God,"  with  ardent  supplica- 
tions on  his  behalf:  and  by  praying  always,  without  fainting,  without 
ceasing,  they  saw  the  devil  at  length  flee  from  him,  and  God  himself 
draw  near  unto  him,  with  unutterable  joy.  The  end  of  that  man  is  peace  I 
§  3.  A  short  flight  of  our  poetry  shall  tell  the  rest: 


oo 


MAGNALIA    CREISTI    AMERICANA; 


REMARKS  ON  THE  BRIGHT  AND  THE  DARK  SIDE  OF  THATAMERICAN  PILLAR, 

THE  REVERB'D  MR.  WILLIM  THOMPSON, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  CHLRCH  AT  BRAlNTREE,  WHO  TRIUMPHED  ON  DEC.   10,  1666. 


Bit  mty  a  rural  pm  try  to  set  forth 
Such  n  RTCTt  fnihi'r's  ancient  Rfiicf  and  worth  t 
I  tuiilt-rtakf  n  no  Irs-'  Brduous  theme, 
Than  tho  ol<l  hik<>9  found  the  Chaldec  dream. 
Tl»  more  than  Tylhea  of  a  j)rofound  respect, 
That  muni  Ixi  i>aid  such  a  .Molchizedeck. 

dxford  this  li/rht,  with  ton^urs  and  /irt$  doth  trim; 
.Vnd  then  liia  nurthern  town  doth  challenge  him. 
Ilia  lime  and  Btrength  he  centered  there  in  this; 
To  do  good  works,  and  be  what  now  he  is. 
\l\i  fulgent  virtues  there,  and  learned  strains, 
Tail  comely  presenee,  life  unsoil'd  with  stains, 
Thing*  most  on  Worthies,  in  their  i^tories  writ, 
Did  him  to  moves  in  orbs  of  serviee  fit. 
Thlnpt  more  peculiar  yet,  my  muse,  intend. 
Say  Blnuger  things  than  these ;  so  weep  and  end. 

Wlien  he  forsook  flrst  his  Oxonian  cell, 
Some  scores  at  onco  from  popish  darkness  fell ; 
So  this  reformer  Studied!  ran'  first  fruits ! 
Shaking  a  erab-tree  thus  by  hot  disputes. 
The  acidjuicf  by  miracle  turn'd  wine. 
And  rais'd  the  spirits  of  our  young  divine. 
Hearers,  like  doves,  fl(x:k't  with  contentious  wing. 
Who  should  be  first,  feed  most,  most  homeward  bring. 
Laden  with  Aonry,  like  Iljblwan  bees. 
They  knead  it  into  combs  upon  their  knees. 

Why  lie  from  Europe's  pleasant  garden  fled, 
In  the  next  age,  will  bo  with  horrour  said. 
Braintree  was  of  this  jrirf/  then  possest, 
Until  himself,  he  laboured  into  rest. 
His  inventory  then,  with  Johns,  was  took; 
A  rough  coat,  girdlt  with  tho  sacred  book. 

When  reverend  Knowles  and  he  saii'd  hand  in  hand, 
To  Christ  espousing  the  Virginian  land. 
Upon  a  ledge  of  craggy  rocks  near  stav'd. 
His  Bible  in  his  bosom  thrusting  sav'd ; 

Deckmbkr  10,  1666. 


The  Bible,  the  best  of  cordial  of  his  heart,  [part !" 

"  Come  floods,  come  flames,"  cry'd  he,  "  we'll  never 
A  constellation  of  great  converts  there. 
Shone  round  him,  and  his  heavenly  glory  were. 
tiooKiNS  WES  one  of  these :  by  Thompson's  pains, 
CuRisT  and  Nkw-Enoland  a  dear  Gookins  gains. 

With  a  rare  skill  in  hearts,  this  doctor  cou'd 
Steal  into  them  words  that  should  do  them  good. 
His  balsams  from  the  tree  of  life  distill'd,  [flII'd, 

Hearts  cleans'd  and  heal'd,  and  with   rich   comforts 
But  here's  the  wo!  balsams  which  others  cur'd, 
Would  in  his  own  turn  hardly  be  endur'd. 

Apollyon,  owing  him  a  cursed  spleen. 
Who  an  Apollos  in  the  church  had  been, 
Dreading  his  traflick  here  would  be  undone 
By  num'rous  proselytes  he  daily  won, 
Accus'd  him  of  imaginary  faults. 
And  push'd  him  down  so  into  dismal  vaults : 
Faults,  where  he  kept  long  Ember-weeks  of  grief, 
Till  Heaven  alarm''d  sent  him  in  relief. 
Then  was  a  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den, 
A  man — oh,  how  belov''d  of  God  and  men! 
By  his  bed-side  an  Hebrew  sword  there  lay. 
With  which  at  last  he  drove  the  devil  away. 
Quakers  too  durst  not  bear  his  keen  replies, 
But /earing'  it  half  drawn,  the  trembler  flies. 
Like  Lazarus,  new  raised  from  death,  oppears 
The  saint  that  had  been  dead  for  many  years. 
Our  Nehemiah  said,  "  Shall  such  as  I 
Desert  my  flock,  and  like  a  coward  fly !" 
Long  had  the  churches  begg'd  the  saint's  release ; 
Releas'd  at  last,  he  dies  in  glorious  peace. 
The  night  is  not  so  long,  but  phosphor's  ray 
Approaching  glories  doth  on  high  display. 
Faith's  eye  in  him  discem'd  the  morning  star. 
His  heart  leap'd ;  sure  the  sun  cannot  be  far. 
In  extasies  of  joy,  he  ravish'd  cries, 
"Love,  love  the  Lamb,  the  Lamb!"  in  whom  he  dies. 


But  the  Churches  of  New-England  having  had  another  instance  of  afflic- 
tion like  that  which  exercised  our  Thompson,  I  shall  chuse  this  place  to 
introduce  it.  Lives  have  been  sometimes  best  written  in  the  way  of  par- 
allel. To  Mr.  William  Thompson  shall  now  therefore  be  paralleled  our 
Mr.  John  Warham. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  442 

THE    LIFE    OF    MR.   JOHN    WARHAM. 

When  the  time  of  reformation  was  come  on,  one  of  the  more  effectual 
things  done  towards  that  reformation  in  England,  about  the  middle  of  the 
former  century,  was  to  send  about  the  kingdom  certain  itinerant  preachers, 
with  a  license  to  preach  the  fundamentals  of  religion,  instead  of  the  stuff 
with  which  the  souls  of  the  people  had  been  formerly  famished.  Upon 
this  occasion,  it  is  a  passage  mentioned  by  the  famous  Dr.  Burnet:  "Many 
complaints  were  made  of  those  that  were  licensed  to  preach;  and  that 
they  might  be  able  to  justifie  themselves,  they  begin  generally  to  write 
and  read  their  sermons  :  and  thus  did  this  custom  begin;  in  which,  what 
is  wanting  in  the  heat  and  force  of  delivery,  is  much  made  up  by  the 
strength  and  solidity  of  the  matter:  and  it  has  produced  many  volumes 
of  as  excellent  sermons  as  have  been  preached  in  any  age." 

The  custom  of  preaching  with  notes^  thus  introduced,  has  been  decried 
by  many  good  men,  besides  fanatkks^  in  the  present  age,  and  many  poor 
and  weak  prejudices  against  it  have  been  pretended.  But  hear- the  words 
of  the  most  accomplished  Mr.  Baxter  unto  some  gainsayers:  "It  is  not 
the  want  of  our  abilities  that  makes  us  use  our  notes;  but  it  is  a  regard 
unto  our  work,  and  the  good  of  our  hearers.  I  use  notes  as  much  as  any 
man  when  I  take  pains;  and  as  little  as  any  man  when  I  am  lazy,  or  busie, 
and  have  not  leisure  to  prepare.  It  is  easier  unto  us  to  preach  three  ser- 
mons without  notes,  than  one  with  them.  He  is  a  simple  preacher  that 
is  not  able  to  preach  a  day,  without  preparation,  if  his  strength  would 
serve."  Indeed,  I  would  have  distinction  made  between  the  reading  of 
notes  and  the  using  of  notes.  It  is  pity  that  a  minister  should  so  read  his 
notes  as  to  take  away  the  vivacity  and  efficacy  of  his  delivery ;  but  if  he  so 
use  his  notes,  as  a  lawyer  does  the  minutes  whereupon  he  is  to  plead,  and 
carry  a  full  quiver  into  the  pulpit  with  him,  from  whence  he  may  with  one 
cast  of  his  eye,  after  the  lively  shooting  of  one  arrow^  fetch  out  the  next, 
it  might  be  a  thousand  ways  advantageous. 

I  suppose  the  first  preacher  that  ever  thus  preached  with  notes  in  our 
New-England  was  the  Reverend  Warham :  who,  though  he  were  some- 
times faulted  for  it,  by  some  judicious  men  who  had  never  heard  him,  yet 
when  once  they  came  to  hear  him,  they  could  not  but  admire  the  notable 
energy  of  his  ministry.  He  was  a  more  vigorous  preacher  than  the  most 
of  them  who  have  been  applauded  for  "never  looking  in  a  book  in  their 
lives."  His  latter  days  were  spent  in  the  pastoral  care  and  charge  of  the 
church  at  Windsor,  where  the  whole  colony  of  Connecticut  considered 
him  as  a  principal  pillar,  and  father  of  the  colony. 


4^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

But  I  have  one  thing  to  relate  concerning  him,  which  I  would  not  men- 
tion if  I  tlid  not,  by  the  mention  thereof,  propound  and  expect  the  advan- 
tage of  some  that  may  be  my  readers.  Know,  then,  that  thoftgh  our 
Worham  were  as  pious  a  man  as  most  that  were  out  of  heaven,  yet  Satan 
often  threw  him  into  those  deadly  pangs  of  melanclioly^  that  made  him 
desi)air  o{  ever  getting  thither.  Such  were  the  terrible  temptations  and 
horrible  bxiffetings  undergone  sometimes  by  the  soul  of  this  holy  man,  that 
when  he  has  administred  the  Lord's  Supper  to  his  flock,  whom  he  durst 
not  starve  by  omitting  to  administer  that  ordinance;  yet  he  has  forborn 
himself  to  partake  at  the  same  time  in  the  ordinance,  through  the  fearful 
dejections  of  his  mind,  which  perswaded  him  that  those  blessed  souls  did 
not  belong  unto  him.  The  dreadful  darkness  which  overwhelmed  this 
diild  of  U(jht  in  his  Z//e,  did  not  wholly  leave  him  till  his  death.  It  is 
reported  that  he  did  even  "set  in  a  cloud,"  when  he  retired  unto  the  glo- 
rified society  of  those  "righteous  ones  that  are  to  shine  forth  as  the  sun 
in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father,"  though  some  have  asserted,,  that  the  cloud 
was  dispelled  before  he  expired. 

What  was  desired  by  Joannes  Mathesius,  may  now  be  inscribed  on  our 
Wauiiam,  for  an 

EPITAPH. 

Securus  recubo  hie  mundi  perttesus  iniqui; 
Et  didici  et  docui  vulnera,  Christe,  tua.* 


THE    LIFE    OF    MR.   HENRY   FLINT. 

Altuough  there  is  a  most  sensible  and  glorious  demonstration  of  the 
Divine  Providence  over  human  affairs  in  the  stupend  variety  of  human 
facts,  that  among  so  many  millions  of  men,  their  countenances  are  distin- 
guishable enough  to  preserve  the  order  of  human  society,  and  conversa- 
tion thereon  depending;  yet  there  have  been  some  notable  instances  of 
resemUiNce  m  the  world.  They  are  not  only  twins  which  have  sometimes 
had  this  rr.semblance,  in  such  a  degree  as  to  occasion  more  diversion  than 
the  two  Sosia's  in  Plautus'  Amphytrio;  but  some  other  persons  have  been 
too  like  one  another  to  be  known  asunder  without  critical  observations  of 
neeidental  circumstances.  I  will  not  mention  the  several  examples  of  like- 
ness reporte.1  by  Pliny,  because  there  is  frequently  as  much  likeliness  between 
ft  Plinyism  and  a  fable.  But  Mersennus  gives  us  the  names  of  two  men 
80  extreamly  alike,  that  their  nearest  relations  were  thereby  most  notori- 

•  Bavioir!  wiih  life  oVrlaskcd,  oppressed,  forlorn, 
Thy  Cross  I  prfnclH-<l-Thy  Cross,  loo,  1  have  borne: 
Bui  now  I  rest. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  44g 

ously  imposed  upon.  Yea,  this  likeness  has  proceeded  so  far,  that  Poly- 
stratus  and  Hippoclides,  two  philosophers  much  alike,  were  both  born  in 
the  same  day;  they  were  school -fellows,  and  of  the  same  sect;  they  both 
died  in  a  great  age,  and  at  the  very  same  instant.  Further  yet,  the  two 
famous  brothers  at  Riez,  in  France,  perfectly  alike,  if  one  of  them  were 
sick,  or  sad,  or  sleepy,  the  other  would  immediately  be  so  too.  And  the 
story  of  the  three  Gordians,  the  one  exactly  like  Augustus,  the  second 
exactly  like  Pompey,  the  third  exactly  like  Scipio ;  he  that  has  read  Peze- 
lius,  doubtless  will  remember  it. 

I  know  not  whether  any  of  these  Uhenesses  are  greater  than  what  it  was 
the  desire  and  study,  and  in  a  lesser  measure  the  attainment  of  that  holy 
and  worthy  man,  Mr.  Henry  Flint,  the  teacher  of  Brain-tree,  to  have  unto 
Mr.  Cotton,  the  wxll-known  teacher  of  Boston.  Having  twins  once  born 
unto  him,  he  called  the  one  John,  the  other  Cotton,  and  his  honouring 
miitation  of  that  great  man  was  as  if  he  had  been  a  twin  to  John  Cotton 
himself  In  his  exemplary  life^  he  was  John  Cotton  to  the  life;  and  in  all 
the  circumstances  of  his  ministry,  he  propounded  John  Cotton  for  his  pat- 
tern; as  apprehending  that  "he  followed  Jesus  Christ." 

You  may  be  sure,  he  that  copied  after  such  an  excellent  person,  must 
write  fair,  though  he  should  happen  to  fall  any  thing  short  of  the  original. 

Wherefore,  having  already  written  the  life  of  John  Cotton,  I  need  say 
nothing  more  of  Henry  Flint;  but  they  are  now  both  of  them  gone  where 
the  harmony  is  become  yet  more  agreeable. 

He  that  was  a  solid  stone  in  the  foundations  of  New-England,  is  gone 
to  be  a  glorious  one  in  the  walls  of  the  New-Jerusalem. 

He  died  April  27,  1668,  and  at  his  death  deserved  the  epitaph  once 
allowed  unto  Mentzer: 

EPITAPHIUM, 
Flintaeus  semper  Meditatus  Gaudia  Cceli, 
Nunc  tandem  Cceli  Gaudia  LcRtus  habet.* 


THE    LIFE    OF    MR.    RICHARD    MATHER. 

Florente  vei'bo,  omnia  Florent  in  Ecclesiarum.i — Ltjther. 

§  1.  It  is  a  memorable  passage,  which  Doctor  Hall,  after  a  personal 
examination  of  it,  ventures  to  relate  as  most  credible,  [in  his  book  of 
angels,']  that  a  certain  cripple,  called  John  Trelille,  having  been  sixteen 
years  a  miserable  cripple,  did,  upon  three  monitions  in  a  dream  to  do  so, 

*  On  earth  he  pined  for  heavenly  joys ;  and  now  +  While  doctrine  flourishes,  every  thing  in  the  church 

The  crown  of  heavenly  joys  surrounds  his  brow.  flourishes  also. 


^^  MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

wash  himself  in  S.  Mathern's  well,  and  was  immediately  restored  unto  the  use 
of  his  limbs,  and  became  able  to  walk,  and  work,  and  maintain  himself. 

lit-ader,  if  thou  hast  sxny  feebleness  upon  thy  mind,  in  regard  either  of 
pieli/,  or  thy  pcrswasion  about  the  church-order  of  the  gospel,  I  will  carry 
thee  now  to  a  well  of  a  S.  Mathern;  which  name,  I  suppose  to  be  the 
Cornish  pronunciation  of  that  which  was  worn  by  the  good  man  whose 
history  is  now  going  to  be  offered. 

In  the  night  whereon  our  Lord  was  born,  there  was  a  glorious  light,  with 
an  host  of  awjels  gloriously  singing  over  Bethlehem;  and  the  birth  of  the 
"great  and  good  Shepherd"  was  thus  revealed  unto  the  shepherds  of  that 
country.  The  magicians  in  the  East,  whether  they  had  by  their  conver- 
sations with  the  invisible  world  a  readier  eye  to  discern  such  objects,  or 
whether  it  were  only  the  sovereign  and  gracious  providence  of  God  which 
thus  directed  them,  they  probably  saw  that  "glory  of  the  Lord."  Possibly 
to  them  at  a  distance,  it  might  seem  a  new  star  hanging  over  Judaea;  but 
after  two  years  of  wonder  and  suspense  about  it,  they  were  informed  by 
God  what  it  signified ;  and  when  they  came  near  the  place  of  the  Lord's 
nativitv,  it  is  likely  that  this  glory  once  again  appeared  for  their  fullest 
satisfaction.  TJiis,  till  I  see  a  better  account,  must  be  that  which  I  shall 
take  about  "the  star  of  the  wise  men  in  the  East."  But  I  am  now  to  add, 
that  in  all  ages  there  have  been  stars  to  lead  men  unto  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ:  angelical  men  employed  in  the  ministry  of  our  Lord  have  been 
those  happy  stars;  and  ice  in  the  West  have  been  so  happy  as  to  see  some 
of  the  first  magnitude;  among  which  one  was  Mr.  Eichard  Mather. 

§  2.  It  was  at  a  small  town,  called  Lowton,  in  the  county  of  Lancaster, 
Anno  1596,  that  so  great  a  man,  as  Mr.  Eichard  Mather  was  born,  of 
parents  that  were  of  credible  and  ancient  families.  And  these  his  parents, 
though  by  some  disasters  their  estate  was  not  a  little  sunk  below  the  means 
of  their  ancestors,  yet  were  willing  to  bestow  a  liberal  education  on  hi7n; 
upon  occasion  whereof  Mr.  Mather  afterwards  thus  expressed  himself: 

"  By  what  priiicipk'3  i\nd  motives  my  parents  were  chiefly  induced  to  keep  me  at  school, 
I  have  not  to  say,  nor  do  I  certainly  know:  but  this  I  must  needs  say,  that  this  was  the  sin- 
gular good  providence  of  (lod  towards  me,  (who  hath  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  his  hands,) 
tlius  to  incline  the  hearts  of  my  parents;  for  in  this  thing  the  Lord  of  heaven  shewed  me  such 
favour,  as  had  not  been  shewed  to  many  my  predecessors  and  contemporaries  in  that  place." 

They  sent  him  to  school  at  Winwick,  where  they  boarded  him  in  the 
winter;  but  in  the  summer^  so  tvarni  was  his  desire  of  learning,  that  he 
travelled  every  day  thither,  which  was  .four  miles  from  his  father's  house. 
Whilst  he  was  thus  at  school— Jfutot  tulit  fecitque  Peter*— he  met  with  an 
extremity  of  discouragement  from  the  Orbilian\  harshness  and  fierceness 
of  the  piedagoguc;  who,  though  he  had  bred  many  fine  scholars,  yet,  for 
the  severity  of  his  discipline,  came  not  much  behind  the  master  of  Junius, 
who  would  beat  him  eight  tinus  a  day,  whether  he  were  in  a  fault,  or  no 

•  For  in  boyhood  be  endurod  and  accomplished  much,      f  Orb.lu-s  was  the  name  of  IIorace-s  school-maatur. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  445 

fault.  Our  young  Mather,  tired  under  this  captivity,  at  last  frequently 
and  earnestly  importuned  of  his  father  that,  being  taken  from  the  school, 
he  might  be  disposed  unto  some  secular  calling;  but  when  he  had  waded 
through  his  difficulties,  he  wrote  this  reflection  thereupon: 

"  God  intended  better  for  me  than  I  would  have  chosen  for  my  self;  and  therefore  my 
father,  though  in  other  things  indulgent  enough,  yet  in  this  would  never  condescend  to  my 
request,  but  by  putting  me  in  hope  that,  by  his  speaking  to  the  master,  things  would  be 
amended,  would  still  over  rule  me  to  go  on  in  my  studies:  and  good  it  was  for  me  to  be 
over  ruled  by  him  and  his  discretion,  rather  than  to  be  left  to  my  own  affections  and  desire. 
But,  O  that  all  school-masters  would  learn  wisdom,  moderation,  and  equity,  towards  their 
scholars!  and  seek  rather  to  win  the  hearts  of  children  by  righteous  loving  and  courteous 
usage,  than  to  alienate  their  minds  by  partiality  and  undue  severity;  which  had  been  my 
utter  undoing,  had  not  the  good  providence  of  God  and  the  wisdom  and  authority  of  my 
father  prevented." 

§  3.  Yea,  and  here  Almighty  God  made  use  of  his  otherwise  cruel 
school-master  to  deliver  this  hopeful  young  man  from  an  apprenticeship 
unto  a  Popish  merchant,  when  he  was  very  near  falling  into  the  woful 
snares  of  such  a  condition ;  which  mercy  of  Heaven  unto  him  was  accom- 
panied with  the  further  mercy  of  living  under  the  ministry  of  one  Mr. 
Palin,  then  preacher  at  Leagh;  of  whom  he  would  long  after  say,  "That 
though  his  knowledge  of  that  good  man  was  only  in  his  childhood,  yet 
the  remembrance  of  him  was  even  in  his  old  age  comfortable  to  him; 
inasmuch  as  he  observed  such  a  penetrating  efficacy  in  the  ministry  of 
that  man,  as  was  not  in  the  common  sort  of  preachers." 

§  4.  There  were  at  this  time  in  Toxteth  Park  near  Liverpool  a  well- 
disposed  people,  who  were  desirous  to  erect  a  school  among  them  for  the 
good  education  of  their  posterity.  This  people,  sending  unto  the  school- 
master of  Winwiok,  to  know  whether  he  had  any  scholar  that  he  could 
recommend  for  a  master  of  their  new  school,  Eichard  Mather  was  by  him 
recommended  unto  that  service;  and  at  the  perswasion  of  his  friends  to 
attend  that  service,  he  laid  aside  his  desire  and  his  design  of  going  to  the 
university;  not  unsensible  of  what  hath  been  still  observed,  Scholas  esse 
Theologice  pedissequas^  ac  seminaria  Reipublicoe*  Now,  as  it  cannot  justly 
be  reckoned  any  blemish  unto  him,  that  at  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  a 
school-master,  who  carried  it  with  such  wisdom,  kindness,  and  grave  res- 
ervation, as  to  be  loved  and  feared  by  his  young  folks,  much  above  the 
most  that  ever  used  X\xq  ferula;  so  it  was  many  ways  advantageous  unto 
him  to  be  thus  employed.  Hereby  he  became  a  more  accurate  grammarian 
than  divines  too  often  are ;  and  at  his  leisure  hours  he  so  studied  as  to 
become  a  notable  proficient  in  the  other  liberal  arts. 

Moreover,  it  was  by  means  hereof  that  he  experinced  an  effectual  con- 
version of  soul  to  God,  in  his  tender  years,  even  before  his  going  to  Oxford; 
and  thus  he  was  preserved  from  the  temptations  and  corruptions  which 
undid  many  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  university.     That  more  thorough 

•  That  schoolg  of  Theology  are  the  handmaids  and  nurseries  of  the  State. 


446 


MAGNALIA    CHRI8TI    AMERICANA; 


ami  real  conversion  in  him  was  occasioned  by  observing  a  difference 
between  his  own  walk  and  the  most  exact,  watchful,  fruitful,  and  prayerful 
conversation  of  some  in  the  family  of  the  learned  and  pious  Mr.  Edward 
Asi.inwal,  of  Toxteth,  where  he  sojourned.  This  exemplary  walk  of  that 
holv  man  caused  many  sad  fears  to  arise  in  his  own  soul,  that  he  was 
himself  oMi  of  Ote  n-ay;  which  consideration,  with  his  hearing  of  Mr.  Har- 
rison, then  a  famous  minister  at  Ilyton,  preach  about  regeneration,  and 
his  reading  of  Mr.  Perkins'  book,  that  shows,  "how  far  a  reprobate  may 
go  in  religion;"  were  the  means  whereby  the  God  of  heaven  brought  him 
into  the  state  of  a  7ieio  creature.  The  troubles  of  soul  which  attended  his 
neu-  hirtli  were  so  exceeding  terrible,  that  he  would  often  retire  from  his 
appointed  meals  unto  secret  places,  to  lament  his  miseries;  but  after  some 
time,  and  about  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age,  the  good  Spirit  of  God 
healed  his  broken  heart,  by  pouring  thereinto  the  evangelical  consolations 
of  "His  great  and  precious  promises." 

§  5.  After  this,  he  became  a  more  eminent  blessing,  in  the  calling 
wherein  God  had  now  disposed  him;  and  such  notice  was  taken  of  him, 
that  many  persons  were  sent  unto  him,  even  from  remote  places,  for  their 
education;  whereof  not  a  few  went  well  accomplished  from  him  to  the 
university.  But  having  spent  some  years  in  this  employment,  he  judged 
it  many  ways  advantageous  for  him  to  go  unto  the  university  himself,  that 
he  might  there  converse  with  learned  men  and  books,  and  more  improve 
liimself  in  learning  than  he  could  have  done  at  home.  Accordingly  at 
Oxford,  and  particularly  at  Brazen-Nose-College  in  Oxford,  he  now  resided, 
where,  together  with  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  old  scholars,  who  had  by 
his  education  been  fitted  for  their  being  there,  he  had  the  opportunity  fur- 
ther to  enrich  himself  by  study,  by  conference,  by  disputation,  and  other 
academical  entertainment:  as  considering,  that  the  lamps  were  to  be  lighted, 
before  the  incense  was  to  be  burned  in  the  sanctuary.  And  here  he  was 
more  intimately  acquainted  with  famous  Dr.  Woral,  by  whose  advice  he 
read  the  works  of  Peter  Ramus  with  a  singular  attention  and  affection; 
which  advice  he  did  not  afterwards  repent  that  he  had  followed. 

§  6.  But  it  was  not  very  long  before  the  people  of  Toxteth  sent  afler 
him,  that  he  would  return  unto  them,  and  instruct,  not  their  children  as  a 
school-master,  but  themselves  as  a  minister:  with  which  invitation  he  at  last 
complied ;  and  at  Toxteth,  November  13,  1618,  he  preached  his^rs^  serinoji 
with  great  acceptance  in  a  vast  assembly  of  people:  but  such  was  the 
strength  of  his  memory,  that  what  he  had  prepared  for  oie,  contained,  no 
less  than  six  long  discourses.  He  was  after  this  ordained  with  many  others, 
by  Dr.  Morton,  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  who,  after  the  ordination  was  over, 
singled  out  Mr.  Mather  from  the  rest,  saying,  "I  have  something  to  say 
betwixt  you  and  me  alone."  Mr.  Mather  was  now  jealous  that  some 
informations  might  have  been  exhibited  against  him  for  his  Puritanism; 
instead  of  which,  when  the  Bishop  had  him  alone,  what  he  said  unto  him 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  447 

was,  "I  have  an  earnest  request  unto  you,  sir,  and  you  must  not  deny 
me:  'tis  that  you  would  pray  for  me;  for  I  know  (said  he)  the  prayers 
of  men  that  fear  God  will  avail  much,  and  you  I  believe  are  such  a  one." 
And  being  so  settled  in  Toxteth,  he  married  the  daughter  of  Edmund 
Holt,  Esq.  of  Bury,  in  Lancashire,  September  29,  1624,  which  vertuous 
gentlewoman  God  made  a  rich  blessing  to  him  for  thirty  years  together, 
and  a  mother  of  six  sons,  most  of  whom  afterwards  proved  famous  in  their 
generation. 

§  7.  He  preached  every  Lord's  day  twice  at  Toxteth,  and  every  fortnight 
he  held  a  Tuesday  lecture  at  Prescot :  besides  which,  he  often  preached 
upon  the  lioly-days,  not  as  thinking  that  any  day  was  now  holy,  except  the 
Christian  weekly  Sabbath,  but  because  there  was  then  an  opportunity  to 
cast  the  net  of  the  gospel  among  much  fish  in  great  assemblies,  which  then 
were  convened,  and  would  otherwise  have  been  worse  employed.  In  this, 
he  followed  the  examples  of  the  apostles,  who  preached  most  in  populous 
places,  and  this  also  on  the  Jewish  Sabbaths,  which  yet  were  so  far  abro- 
gated, that  they  charged  the  faithful  to  "let  no  man  judge  them"  in  im- 
posing the  observation  thereof  upon  them. 

He  preached  likewise  very  frequently  at  funerals,  as  knowing  that  though 
funeral  sermons  are  wholly  disused  in  some  reformed  churches,  and  have 
been  condemned  by  some  decrees  of  councils,  yet  this  was  chiefly  because 
of  the  common  error  committed  in  the  lavish  "praises  of  the  dead"  on 
such  occasions,  which  therefore  he  avoided;  instead  thereof,  only  giving 
"counsels  to  the  living."  Indeed,  the  custom  of  preaching  at  funerals 
may  seem  ethnical  in  its  original ;  for  Publicola  made  an  excellent  oration 
in  the  praise  of  Brutus,  with  which  the  people  were  so  taken,  that  it 
became  a  custom  for  famous  men,  after  this,  at  their  death,  to  be  so  cele- 
brated ;  and  when  the  women  among  the  Romans  parted  with  their  orna- 
ments, for  the  public  weal,  the  senate  made  it  lawful  for  women  also  to 
be  in  the  like  manner  celebrated.  Hinc  lyiortuos  Lauclancli  Mos  fluxit,  quern 
nos  hodie  servamus,^  if  Polydore  Yirgil  may,  as  he  sometimes  may,  be 
believed.  But  the  Madgeburgensian  centuriators  tell  us  that  this  rite  was 
not  practised  in  the  church' before  the  beginning  of  the  apostacy.  However, 
this  watchful  minister  of  our  Lord  made  his  funeral  speeches  to  be  but  a 
faithful  discharge  of  his  ministry  in  admonitions  concerning  the  last  things 
whereby  the  living  might  be  edified.  But  thus  in  his  publick  ministry, 
he  went  over  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  in  the  second  of  Samuel ;  the  first 
chapter  of  Proverbs;  the  first  and  sixth  chapters  of  Isaiah;  the  twenty- 
second  and  twenty-third  chapters  of  Luke;  the  eighth  chapter  of  the 
Romans;  the  second  Epistle  to  Timothy;  the  second  Epistle  of  John,  and 
the  Epistle  of  Jude. 

§  8.  Having  spent  about  fifteen  years,  thus,  in  the  labours  of  his  minis- 
try, his  lecture  at  Prescot  in  fine,  gave  him  to  find  the  truth  of  Quintilian's 

•  Hence  arose  the  fashion,  still  observed,  of  pronouncing  eulogies  over  the  dead. 


448  MAGNALIA    CHBISTI    AMERICANA; 

obBCTvation,  Mngnam  Famam  et  Magnam  Quwtem,  eodem  Tempore,  Nemo 
jnyUM  Aaiuirvre.*  Througli  the  malice  of  Satan,  and  the  envy  of  the 
BuUit.ical,  there  were  now  brought  against  him  those  complaints  for  his 
nm-conformity  to  the  ceremonies,  which  in  August,  1633,  procured  him  to 
be  su-sptudcd.  The  suspension  continued  upon  him" till  the  November 
following,  but  then,  by  the  intercession  of  some  gentlemen  in  Lancashire, 
and  the  influence  of  Simon  Biby,  a  near  alliance  of  the  Bishop's  visitor, 
he  w:is  restored.  After  his  restoration,  he  more  exactly  than  ever  studied 
the  jx)ints  of  church-discipline;  and  the  effect  of  his  most  careful  studies 
was,  that  the  Congregational  way,  asserted  by  Cartwright,  Parker,  Baines 
and  Ames,  was  the  pitch  of  Eeformation  which  he  judged  the  Scriptures 
directed  the  servants  of  the  Lord  humbly  to  endeavour.  But  this  liberty 
was  not  longer  lived  than  the  year  1634,  for  the  Arch-Bishop  of  York 
now  was  that  gentleman  whom  King  James  pleasantly  admonished  of  his 
preaching  Popery,  because  of  some  unacceptable  things  in  his  conduct, 
which  taught  the  people  "to  pray  for  a  blessing  on  his  dead  predecessor;" 
and  he  now  sending  his  visitors,  among  whom  the  famous  Dr.  Cousins  was 
one,  into  Lancashire,  where  they  kept  their  court  at  Wigan,  among  other 
hard  tilings,  they  passed  a  sentence  of  suspension  upon  Mr.  Mather,  meerly 
for  his  non-conformity.  His  judges  were  not  willing  that  he  should  offer 
the  reasons  which  made  him  conscientiously  so  disposed,  as  then  he  was, 
but  the  "glorious  Spirit  of  God"  enabled  him,  with  much  wisdom,  to 
encounter  what  they  put  upon  him;  insomuch,  that  in  his  private  manu- 
scripts, he  entred  this  memorial  of  it : 

"  In  the  passMgcs  of  that  day,  I  have  this  to  bless  the  name  of  God  for,  that  the  terrour 
of  tfii'ir  threati'iiiiig  words,  of  their  pursevants,  and  of  the  rest  of  their  pomp,  did  not  ter- 
rific my  mind,  l)ut  tliat  I  could  stand  before  them  without  being  daunted  in  the  least  mea- 
sure,  but  uiiswurrd  for  my  self  such  words  of  truth  and  soberness  as  the  Lord  put  into  my 
,  mouth,  ni)t  being  afraid  of  their  faces  at  all:  which  supporting  and  comforting  presence  of 
the  I-ord,  1  count  not  much  less  mercy,  than  if  I  had  been  altogether  preserved  out  of 
their  hands." 

But  all  means  used  afterwards  to  get  off  this  unhappy  smpension  were 
inelVcctual ;  for  when  the  visitors  had  been  informed  that  he  had  been  a 
minister  y?/teen  years,  and  all  that  while  never  wore  a  surpliss,  one  of  them 
swore,  "  It  had  been  better  for  him  that  he  had  gotten  seven  bastards." 

§  9.  lie  now  betook  himself  to  a  private  life,  without  hope  of  again 
enjoying  the  liberty  of  doing  any  more  publick  works  in  his  native  land; 
but  hcrcwithal  foreseeing  a  storm  of  calamities  like  to  be  hastened  on  the 
land,  by  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  incensed  particularly  at  the  injustice  used 
in  (h'priviiig  the  truly  conscientious  of  their  liberty,  his  wishes  became 
like  those  of  the  deprived  psalmist,  "0,  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove!  lo 
then  would  I  wander  far  otV,  and  remain  in  the  wilderness;  I  would  has- 
ten my  escape  from  the  windy  storm  and  tempest." 

•  Nobody  can  achieve  great  fume  and  greal  IranquiUity  at  the  same  moment. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  449 

New-England  was  the  retreat  which  now  offered  it  self  unto  him:  and 
accordingly,  he  drew  up  some  arguments  for  his  removal  thither,  which 
arguments  were,  indeed,  the  very  reasons  that  moved  the  first  fathers  of 
New-England  unto  thatf  unparalleled  undertaking  of  transporting  their 
families  with  themselves,  over  the  Atlantic  ocean: 

I.  A  removal  from  a  corrupt  church  to  a  purer.  [of  more  quiei  and  safety. 

II.  A  removal  from  a  place  where  the  truth  and  professors  of  it  are  persecuted,  unto  a  place 

III.  A  removal  from  a  place  where  all  the  ordinances  of  God  cannot  be  enjoyed,  unto  a 
place  where  they  may. 

IV.  A  removal  from  a  church  where  the  discipline  of  tlie  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  wanting, 
unto  a  church  where  it  may  be  practised. 

V.  A  removal  from  a  place,  where  the  ministers  of  God  are  unjustly  inhibited  from  the 
execution  of  their  functions,  to  a  place  where  they  may  more  freely  execute  the  same. 

VI.  A  removal  from  a  place,  where  there  are  fearful  signs  of  desolation,  to  a  place  where 
one  may  have  well  grounded  hope  of  God's  protection. 

Such  a  removal  he  judged  that  unto  New-England  now  before  him. 

These  considerations  were  presented  unto  many  ministers  and  Chris- 
tians of  Lancashire,  at  several  meetings,  whereby  they  were  pers waded, 
and  even  his  own  people  of  Toxteth,  who  dearly  loved  him  and  prized 
him,  could  not  gain-say  it,  that  by  removing  to  New-England,  he  would 
not  go  out  of  his  vcay.  And  hereunto  he  was  the  more  inclined  by  the 
letters  of  some  great  persons,  who  had  already  settled  in  the  country; 
among  whom  the  renowned  Hooker  was  one,  who  in  his  letters  thus 
expressed  himself:  "In  a  word,  if  I  may  speak  my  own  thoughts  freely 
and  fully,  though  there  are  very  many  places  where  men  may  receive  and 
expect  more  earthly  commodities,  yet  do  I  believe  there  is  no  place  this 
day  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  where  a  gracious  heart  and  a  judicious 
head  ma}'-  receive  more  spiritual  good  to  himself,  and  do  more  temporal 
and  spiritual  good  to  others."  Wherefore,  being  satisfied  in  his  design 
for  New-England,  after  extraordinary  supplication  for  the  smiles  of  Heaven 
upon  him  in  it,  he  took  his  leave  of  his  friends  in  Lancashire,  with  affec- 
tions on  both  sides  like  those  wherewith  Paul  bid  farewell  to  his  in  Ephe- 
sus;  and  in  April,  1635,  he  made  his  journey  unto  Bristol,  to  take  ship 
there ;  being  forced,  as  once  Brentius  was,  to  change  his  apparel,  that  he 
might  escape  the  pursevants,  who  were  endeavouring  to  apprehend  him. 

§  10.  On  May  23,  1635,  he  set  sail  from  Bristol  for  New-England:  but 
when  he  came  upon  the  coasts  of  New-England,  there  arose  an  horrible 
hurricane,  from  the  dangers  whereof  his  deliverance  was  remarkable,  and 
well  nigh  miraculous.  The  best  account  of  it  will  be  from  his  journal, 
where  the  relation  runs  in  these  words: 

"August  15,  1635. — The  Lord  had  not  yet  done  with  us,  nor  had  he  let  us  see  all  his 
power  and  goodness,  which  he  would  have  us  take  the  knowledge  of.  And  therefore  about 
break  of  day  he  sent  a  most  terrible  storm  of  rain  and  easterly  wind,  whereby  we  were,  I 
think,  in  as  much  danger  as  ever  people  were.  When  we  came  to  land,  we  found  many 
mighty  trees  rent  in  pieces  in  the  midst  of  the  bole,  and  others  turned  up  by  the  roots,  by 

Vol.  L— 29 


^,-0  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

fiercpnosB  thereof.  Wc  lost  in  that  morning  three  anchors  and  cables;  one  having  never 
Ihoii  in  till'  watiT  Wf..rf;  two  wi-re  broken  by  the  violence  of  the  storm,  and  a  third  cut 
by  llie  wiumon  in  extromitv  of  distress,  to  save  the  ship  and  their  and  our  lives.  And 
wluMi  otir  ."il.l.-s  :uid  andiors  were  all  lost,  we  had  no  outward  means  of  deliverance,  but 
by  hoLsling  nail,  if  so  be  wo  mif,rht  get  to  sea,  from  among  the  islands  and  rocks  where  we 
were  anchored.  But  the  Lord  let  us  see  that  our  sails  could  not  help  us  neither,  no  more 
than  tlie  cables  and  anchors;  for  by  the  force  of  the  wind  and  storm,  the  sails  were  rent 
naunder,  and  split  in  pieces,  as  if  they  had  been  but  rotten  rags;  so  that  of  divers  of  thera 
there  was  scarce  left  so  much  as  an  hand's-breadth  tiiat  was  not  rent  in  pieces  or  blown 
away  into  the  sea;  so  that  at  that  time  all  hope  that  we  should  be  saved,  in  regard  of  any 
outward  !ii>pciirimce,  was  utterly  taken  away;  and  the  rather,  because  we  seemed  to  drive 
with  full  force  of  wind  directly  upon  a  mighty  rock,  standing  out  in  sight  above  water;  so 
tliat  we  did  but  continually  wait,  when  we  should  hear  and  feel  the  doleful  crushing  of  the 
ship  uiKin  the  rock.  In  this  extremity  and  appearance  of  death,  as  distress  and  distraction 
would  sulfer  us,  we  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  was  pleased  to  have  compassion  upon  us; 
for  by  his  over-ruling  providence,  and  his  own  immediate  good  hand,  he  guided  the  ship 
past  the  rock,  asswaged  the  .violence  of  the  sea  and  of  the  wind.  It  was  a  day  much  to  be 
reniembered,  because  on  that  day  the  Lord  granted  us  as  wonderful  a  deliverance  as,  I 
think,  ever  any  people  had  felt.  The  sea-men  confessed  they  never  knew  the  like.  The 
Lord  so  imprint  the  memory  of  it  in  our  hearts,  that  we  may  be  the  better  for  it,  and  be 
careful  to  plcjise  him,  and  to  walk  uprightly  before  him  as  long  as  we  live!  and  I  hope  we 
shall  not  forget  the  passages  of  that  morning  until  our  dying  day.  In  all  this  grievous 
storm,  my  fear  was  the  less,  when  I  considered  the  clearness  of  my  calling  from  God  this 
vay.  And  in  some  measure  (the  Lord's  holy  name  be  blessed  for  it!)  he  gave  us  hearts 
contented  and  willing  that  he  should  do  with  us  and  ours  what  he  pleased,  and  what  might 
be  most  for  the  glory  of  his  name;  and  in  that  we  rested  ourselves.  But  when  news  was 
brought  us  into  the  gun-room  that  the  danger  was  past,  Oh!  how  our  hearts  did  then  relent 
and  melt  within  us!  We  burst  out  into  tears  of  joy  among  ourselves,  in  love  unto  the 
gracious  God,  and  admiration  of  his  kindness,  in  granting  to  his  poor  servants  such  an 
extraordinary  and  miraculous  deliverance,  his  holy  name  be  blessed  for  evermore." 

The  storm  being  thus  allayed,  they  came  to  an  anchor  before  Boston, 
August  17,  1635,  where  Mr.  Mather  abode  for  a  little  while,  and,  with 
his  vertuous  consort,  joined  unto  the  church  in  that  place. 

§  11.  lie  quickly  had  invitations  from  several  towns,  to  bestow  himself 
upon  them,  and  was  in  a  great  strait  which  of  those  invitations  to  accept. 
But  applying  himself  unto  counsel^  as  an  ordinance  of  Qod^  for  his  direc- 
tion, Dorchester  was  the  place,  whereto  a  council,  wherein  Mr.  Cotton  and 
Mr.  Hooker  were  the  principal,  did  advise  him.  Accordingly  to  Dorches- 
ter he  repaired ;  and  the  church  formerly  j3Zanfe(i  there  being  transplanted 
with  Mr.  Warham  to  Connecticut,  another  church  was  now  gathered  here, 
August  23,  1036,  by  whose  choice  Mr.  Mather  was  now  become  their 
teacher.  Here  he  continued  a  blessing  unto  all  the  churches  in  this  wild- 
erness until  his  dying  day,  even  for  near  upon  four  and  thirty  years 
together.  He  underwent  not  now  so  many  changes  as  he  did  before  his 
coming  hither ;  and  he  never  changed  his  habitation  after  this  till  he  went 
unto  tiic  "hou.se  eternal  in  the  heavens;"  albeit  his  old  people  of  Toxteth 
vehemently  solicited  his  return  unto  them  when  the  troublesome  Hier- 
archy in  England  was  deposed. 


/ 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  45]^ 

§  12.  Nevertheless,  if  Luther's  three  tutors  for  an  able  divine — study, 
and  prayer^  and  temptation — as  Mr  Mather  could  not  leave  the  two  first,  so 
the  last  would  not  leave  him;  the  wilderness  whereinto  he  was  come,  he 
found  not  without  its  temptations.  He  was  for  some  years  exercised  with 
spiritual  distresses,  and  internal  desertions,  and  uncertainties  about  his 
everlasting  happiness;  which  troubles  of  his  mind  he  revealed  unto  that 
eminent  person  Mr.  Norton,  whose  well-adapted  words  comforted  his 
weary  soul.  It  was  in  these  dark  hours  that  a  glorious  light  rose  unto  him, 
with  a  certain  disposition  of  soul,  which  I  find  in  his  private  papers  thus 
expressed:  "My  heart  relented  with  tears  at  this  prayer,  that  God  would 
not  deny  me  an  heart  to  bless  him,  and  not  blaspheme  him,  that  is  so  holy, 
just,  and  good;  though  I  should  be  excluded  from  his  presence,  and  go 
down  into  everlasting  darkness  and  discomfort."  But  when  these  terrible 
temptations  from  tvithin  were  over,  there  were  several  and  successive  afflic- 
tions, which  he  did  from  abroad  meet  withal:  of  all  which  afflictions,  the 
most  calamitous  was  the  death  of  his  dear,  good,  and  wise  consort,  by 
whose  discreet  management  of  his  affairs  he  had  been  so  released  from 
all  secular  incumbrances,  as  to  be  wholly  at  liberty  for  the  sacred  employ- 
ment of  his  ministry.  However,  after  he  had  continued  in  his  widow- 
hood a  year  and  a  half,  the  state  of  his  family  made  it  necessary  for  him 
to  apply  himself  unto  a  second  marriage;  which  he  made  with  the  pious 
widow  of  the  most  famous  Mr.  John  Cotton;  and  her  did  God  make  a 
blessing  unto  him  the  rest  of  his  days. 

§  13.  My  describing  his  general  manner  of  life,  after  he  came  to  New- 
England,  shall  be  only  a  transcribing  of  those  vows  which,  though  he 
made  before  his  coming  thither,  yet  he  then  renewed.  In  his  private 
papers,  wherein  he  left  some  records  of  the  days  which  he  spent  some- 
times in  secret  humiliations  and  supplications  before  the  God  of  heaven, 
and  of  the  assurances  which  with  the  tears  of  a  melted  soul  in  those  days 
he  received  of  blessings  obtained  for  himself,  his  children,  his  people,  and 
the  whole  country,  I  find  recording  the  ensuing  instrument : 

"  Promissiones  Deo  factce,  per  me,  "^  Fsal.  ixvi.  13,  14. 
"Richardum  Matherum.*  >  p*^^'  Jl^'^^jg 

"21  D.     6  M.  1633.  J   Neh.  ix.  33,  with  x.  29,  30,  31,  &c. 

"I.    TOUCHING  THE  MIJ^ISTRY. 

"1.  To  be  more  painful  and  dilligent  in  private  preparations  for  preaching,  by  reading, 
meditation,  and  prayer;  and  not  slightly  and  superficially — Jer.  xlviii.  10;  Eccles.  ix.  10; 
1  Tim.  iv.  13.  15. 

"  2.  In  and  after  preaching,  to  strive  seriously  against  inward  pride  and  vain-glory. 

"  3.  Before  and  after  preaching,  to  beg  by  prayer  the  Lord's  blessing  on  his  word,  for  the 
good  of  souls,  more  carefully  than  in  time  past. — 1  Cor.  iii.  6;  Acts  xvi.  14. 

•  Promises  made  to  God  by  me,  Richard  Mather. 


^_2  MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"II.    TOUCHING  THE  FJIMILY. 

"  1    To  W  more  frequent  in  reli{ri..u3  discourse  and  tjilk,  Deut.  vi.  7.  ^  ^     . 

"3  To  U  more  earoful  in  catecliisi.i{r  i-hildren.— Gen.  xvili.  19;  Prov.  xxu.  6;  Eph.  vi.  4. 
And  tluTt-for.-  tu  lu-sl..w  some  pains  this  way,  etery  week  once;  and  if  by  urgent  occasions 
it  be  so.n.lin.es  omitted,  to  do  it  twice  as  mucii  another  week. 

"III.    TOUCHING   MYSELF. 

- 1  To  .strive  more  ajruinst  worldly  cares  and  fears,  and  against  the  inordinate  love  of 
carth'lv  thinps.-Mat.  vi.ljS,  &c.;  Psal.  Iv.  22;  1  Pet.  v.  7;  Phil.  iv.  6. 

"2. To  be  more  frequent  and  constant  in  private  prayer.— Mat.  vi.  6,  and  xiv.  23;  Psal. 

Iv.  17;  Dan.  vi.  10. 

"3.  To  pr-ictise  more  carefully,  and  seriously,  and  frequently,  the  duty  of  self-examina- 
tion.—I-im.  iii.  40;  Psal.  iv.  4;  Psiil.  c.\ix.  59;  especially  before  the  receiving  of  the  Lord's 
Supper;  1  Cor.  xi.  28.  [^^-  ^^^ 

"4.  To  strive  against  carnal  security,  and  excessive  sleeping.— Prov.  vi.  9,  10;  and  Prov. 

"5.  To  strive  against  vain  jangling,  and  mispending  precious  time.— Eph.  v.  16. 

"IV.    TOUCHING  OTHERS. 

"  1.  To  be  more  careful  and  zealous,  to  do  good  unto  their  souls,  by  private  exhortations, 
reproofs,  instructions,  conferences  of  God's  word.- Prov.  x.  21,  and  xv.  17;  Lev.  xix.  17; 
Psal.  xxxvii.  30. 

"2.  To  be  re.idy  to  do  offices  of  love  and  kindness,  not  only  or  principally  for  the  praise 
of  men,  to  purchase  commendation  for  a  good  neighbour,  but  rather  out  of  conscience  to 
the  commandment  of  God.— Phil.  ii.  4;  1  Cor.  x.  24;  Heb.  xiii.  16. 

"Renewed  with  a  profession  of  disabilities  in  my  self,  for  performance,  and  of  desire  to 
fetch  power  from  Christ,  thereunto  to  live  upon  him,  and  act  from  him,  in  all  spiritual 
duties.- 15.  D.  6.  M.  1636.  Richard  Mather." 

§  14.  His  way  of  preaching  was  very  plain,  studiously  avoiding  obscure 
and  foreign  terms,  and  unnecessary  citation  of  Latin  sentences;  and  aim- 
ing to  shoot  his  arrows,  not  over  the  heads^  but  into  the  hearts  of  his  hear- 
ers. Yet  so  scripturally  and  so  powerfully  did  he  preach  his  plain  sermons, 
that  ^fr.  Hooker  would  say,  "My  brother  Mather  is  a  mighty  man;"  and 
indeed  he  saw  a  great  success  of  his  labours,  in  both  Englands,  converting 
many  souls  unto  God.  His  voice  was  loud  and  bjg,  and  uttered  with  a 
deliberate  vehemency,  it  procured  unto  his  ministry  an  awful  and  very 
taking  majesty;  nevertheless,  the  substantial  and  rational  matter  delivered 
by  him,  caused  his  ministry  to  take  yet  more  Avhere-ever  he  came. 
Whence,  even  while  he  was  a  young  man,  Mr.  Gellibrand,  a  famous  min- 
ister in  Lanctushirc,  hearing  him,  enquired  what  his  name  was?  when 
answer  was  made,  that  his  name  was  Mather;  he  replied,  "Nay,  his  name 
shall  be  Matter;  for,  believe  it,  this  man  hath  good  substance  in  him." 
He  was  indeed  a  person  eminently  judicious,  in  the  opinion  of  such  as 
were  not  in  controversies  then  managed  of  his  own  opinion;  by  the  same 
token,  that  when  Ur.  Parr,  then  Bishop  in  the  Isle  of  Man,  heard  of  Mr. 
Mather's  being  silenced,  he  lamented  it,  saying,  "If  Mr.  Mather  be  silenced, 
I  am  .sorry  for  it;  for  he  was  a  solid  man,  and  the  Church  of  God  hath  a 
groat  lo.ss  f)f  him."  And  it  was  because  of  his  being  esteemed  so  judicious 
a  person,  that  among  the  ministers  of  New-England,  he  was  improved 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  453 

more  tlian  tlie  most,  in  explaining  and  maintaining  the  points  of  Church- 
Government  then  debated.  The  discourse  about  the  Church- Covenant,  and 
the  answer  to  the  thirty  tivo  questions,  both  written  in  the  year  1639,  though 
they  pass  under  the  name  of  the  ministers  of  New-England,  Mr.  Mather 
was  the  sole  author  of  them.  And  when  the  "Platform  of  Church-Disci- 
pline" was  agreed  by  a  Synod  of  these  churches,  in  the  year  1647,  Mr. 
Mather's  model  was  that  out  of  which  it  was  chiefly  taken. 

And  being  thereto  desired,  he  also  prepared  for  the  press  a  very 
elaborate  composure,  which  he  entituled,  "J.  Plea  for  the  Churches  of 
New-England^'' 

Moreover,  to  defend  the  Congregational,  in  those  lesser  punctilio's, 
wherein  it  seems  to  differ  from  the  "Presbyterian  way  of  Church-Govern- 
ment," he  printed  one  little  book  in  answer  to  Mr.  Herl,  and  another  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Eutherford ;  and  yet  was  he  so  little  Brownistically  affected, 
that  besides  his  apprehension  of  so  vicious  and  infamous  a  man  as  Brown's 
not  being  likely  to  be  the  discoverer  of  any  momentous  truth  in  religion, 
he  wrote  a  treatise  to  prove,  that  whatever  priviledge  and  liberty  may  belong 
to  the  fraternity,  the  rule  of  the  church  belongs  only  to  its  preshjtery. 
Furthermore,  when  the  propositions  of  the  Synod,  in  1662,  were  opposed 
by  Mr,  Davenport,  Mr.  Mather  was  called  upon  to  answer  him ;  whicli  he 
did,  and  therein,  as  in  his  former  answers,  he  gave  such  instances  of  a 
close  regard  unto  the  truth  and  the  cause,  without  the  least  expression  or 
disrespect  unto  the  persons  answered,  that,  as  my  reverend  friend  Mr. 
Higginson  hath  said  sometimes  to  me,  "He  was  a  pattern  for  all  answers 
to  the  end  of  the  world," 

But  as  he  judged  that  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  shoidd  be,  he  ivas  a  very 
hard  student:  yea,  so  intent  was  he  upon  his  beloved  studies,  that  the 
morning  before  he  died,  he  importuned  the  friends  that  watched  with 
him  to  help  him  into  the  room,  where  he  thought  his  usual  works  and 
hoolcs  expected  him;  to  satisfie  his  importunity,  they  began  to  lead  him 
thither;  but  finding  himself  unable  to  get  out  of  his  lodging- room,  he 
said,  "I  see  I  am  not  able;  I  have  not  been  in  my  study  several  days; 
and  is  it  not  a  lamentable  thing,  that  I  should  lose  so  much  time?"  He 
was  tridy  "abundant  in  his  labours;"  for  though  he  was  very  frequent  in 
hearing  the  word  from  others,  riding  to  the  lectures  in  the  neighbouring 
towns  till  his  disease  disabled  him,  and  even  to  old  age  writing  notes  at 
those  lectures,  as  the  renowned  Hildersham  likewise  did  before  him;  yet 
he  preached  for  the  most  part  of  every  Lord's  day  twice;  and  a  lecture 
once  a  fortnight,  besides  many  occasional  sermons  both  in  publick  and 
private;  and  many  "cases  of  conscience,"  which  were  brought  unto  him 
to  be  discussed.  Thus  his  ministry  in  Dorchester,  besides  innumerable 
other  texts  of  scripture,  went  over  the  book  of  Genesis,  to  chap,  xxxviii, ; 
the  sixteenth  Psalm ;  the  whole  book  of  the  Prophet  Zachariah;  Matthew's 
gospel  to  chap,  xv, ;  the  fifth  chapter  in.  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Thessa- 


4^  MAQNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

lonians;  and  the  whole  second  Epistle  of  Peter;  his  notes  whereon  he 
reviewed  and  renewed,  and  fitted  for  the  press  before  his  death. 

Ho  also  puMished  a  treatise  of  justification^  whereof  Mr.  Cotton  and 
Mr.  Wilson  "-avc  this  testimony:  "Thou  shalt  find  this  little  treatise  to  he 
like  Mary's  box  of  spikenard,  which,  washing  the  paths  of  Christ  towaixls 
us,  (as  that  did  his  feet)  will  be  fit  to  perfume  not  only  the  whole  house  of 
God  with  the  odour  of  his  grace,  but  also  thy  soul  with  the  oyl  of  gladness, 
above  what  creature  comforts  can  afford.  The  manner  of  handling  thou 
shult  find  to  be  solid,  judicious,  succinct,  and  pithy,  fit  (by  the  blessing  of 
Christ)  to  make  wise  unto  salvation."  And  besides  these  things,  he  pub- 
lished cati'cliisms^  a  lesser  and  a  larger,  so  well  formed,  that  a  Luther  him- 
self would  not  have  been  ashamed  of  being  a  learner  from  them. 

Nevertheless,  after  all  these  works,  he  was,  as  Nazianzen  saith  of  Atha- 
nasius,  ''i:\-r\KTog  <ro7g  spyoiff,  Tairsivoff  h  roTg  cp^ovy\ii.a(Si  : — "As  loiv  in  his  thoughts^ 
as  he  was  high  in  his  tvorks."  He  never  became  "twice  a  child"  through 
infirmittj,  but  was  always  one,  as  our  Saviour  hath  commanded  us,  in 
hwniliti/. 

§  15.  A  Jerom  would  weep  at  the  death  of  such  a  man,  as  portending 
evil  to  the  place  of  his  former,  useful,  holy  life:  but  such  an  occasion  of 
tears,  the  death  of  Mr.  Mather  must  at  last  give  to  his  bereaved  people. 

Some  years  before  his  death,  [having  sent  over  unto  his  old  flock  in 
Lancashire,  a  like  testimony  of  his  concernment  for  them]  he  composed 
and  published,  "J.  Farewel  Exhortation  to  the  Church  and  People  of  Dor- 
che^tur"  consisting  of  sevoi  directions^  wherein  his  flock  might  read  the 
design  and  spirit  of  his  whole  ministry  among  them;  on  a  certain  Lord's 
day  he  did,  by  the  hands  of  his  deacons,  put  these  little  books  into  the 
hands  of  his  congregation,  that  so  whenever  he  should  by  death  take  his 
farewel  of  them,  they  might  still  remember  how  they  had  been  exhorted. 
But  old  age  came  now  upon  him,  wherein,  though  his  hearing  was  decayed. 
and  (as  with  great  Zanchy)  the  sight  of  one  of  his  eyes,  yet  upon  all  other 
accounts  he  enjoyed  an  health,  both  of  hody  and  spirit,  which  was  very 
wonderful,  and  agreeable  as  well  to  his  hardy  constitution,  as  to  the  simple 
and  icholsome  diet  whereto  he  still  accustomed  himself.  He  never  made 
use  of  any  physician  all  his  days;  nor  was  he  ever  sick  of  any  acute  disease, 
nor  in  fifty  years  together  by  any  sickness  detained  so  much  as  one  Lord's 
day  from  his  publick  labours.  Only  the  two  last  years  of  his  life,  he  felt 
that  which  has  been  called  Flagellum  Studiosorum,*  namely,  the  stone,  which 
proved  the  tombstone,  whereby  all  his  labours  and  sorrows  were  in  fine 
brought  unto  a  period. 

§  1().  A  council  of  neighbouring  churches  being  assembled  at  Boston, 
April  13,  1669,  to  advise  about  some  diftl^rences  arisen  there,  Mr.  Mather, 
for  iii.s  age,  grace,  and  wisdom,  was  chosen  the  Moderator  of  that  reverend 
assembly.     For  divers  days,  whilst  he  was  attending  this  consultation,  he 

•  The  Nourge  of  the  sedentary. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  455 

enjoyed  his  health  better,  than  of  some  later  months;  but  as  Luther  was 
at  a  Synod  surprised  with  a  violent  fit  of  the  stone,  which  caused  him  to 
return  home,  with  little  hope  of  life,  so  it  was  with  this  holy  man.  On 
April  16,  lodging  at  the  house  of  his  worthy  son,  a  minister  in  Boston, 
he  was  taken  very  ill  with  a  total  stoppage  of  urine,  wherein,  according  to 
Solomon's  expression  of  it,  "The  wheel  was  broken  at  the  cistern."  So 
his  Lord  found  him  about  the  blessed  work  of  a  peace-maker ;  and  with 
an  allusion  to  the  note  of  the  German  Phoenix^  Mr.  Shepard,  of  Charles- 
town,  put  that  stroke  afterwards  into  his  Epitaph : 

Vixerat  in  Synodis,  Moritur  Moderator  in  Illis.* 

Returning  by  coach,  thus  ill,  unto  his  house  in  Dorchester,  he  lay 
patiently  expecting  of  his  change;  and,  indeed,  was  a  "pattern  of  patience 
to  all  spectators,  for  all  survivors.  Though  he  lay  in  a  mortal  extremity 
of  pain,  he  never  shrieked,  he  rarely  groaned,  with  it;  and  when  he  was 
able,  he  took  delight  in  reading  Dr.  Goodwin's  discourse  about  patience, 
in  which  book  he  read  until  the  very  day  of  his  death.  When  they  asked 
"how  he  did?"  his  usual  answer  was,  "Far  from  well,  yet  far  better  than 
mine  iniquities  deserve."  And  when  his  son  said  unto  him,  "Sir,  God 
hath  shewed  his  great  faithfulness  unto  you,  having  upheld  you  now  for 
the  space  of  more  than  fifty  years  in  his  service,  and  employed  you  therein 
without  ceasing,  which  can  be  said  of  very  few  men  on  the  face  of  the 
earth;"  he  replied,  "You  say  true;  I  must  acknowledge  the  mercy  of 
God  hath  been  great  towards  me  all  my  days;  but  I  must  also  acknowl- 
edge that  I  have  had  many  failings,  and  the  thoughts  of  them  abaseth  me, 
and  worketh  patience  in  me."  So  did  he,  like  Austin,  having  the  "Peni- 
tential Psalms"  before  him  until  he  died,  keep  up  a  "spirit  of  repentance" 
as  long  as  he  lived.  Indeed,  this  excellent  man  did  not  speak  much  in 
his  last  sickness  to  those  that  were  about  him,  having  spoken  so  much 
before.  Only  his  son  perceiving  the  symptoms  of  death  upon  him,  said, 
"Sir,  if  there  be  any  special  thing  which  you  would  recommend  unto  me 
to  do,  in  case  the  Lord  should  spare  me  on  earth  after  you  are  in  heaven, 
I  would  intreat  you  to  express  it;"  at  which,  after  a  little  pause,  with  lifted 
eyes  and  hands,  he  returned,  "A  special  thing  which  I  would  commend 
to  you  is,  care  concerning  the  rising  generation  in  this  country,  that  they 
be  brought  under  the  government  of  Christ  in  his  church,  and  that  when 
grown  up,  and  qualified,  they  have  baptism  for  their  children.  I  must 
confess  I  have  been  defective  as  to  practice;  yet  I  have  publickly  declared 
my  judgment,  and  manifested  my  desires  to  practice  that  which  I  think 
ought  to  be  attended ;  but  the  dissenting  of  some  in  our  church  discouraged 
me.  I  have  thought  that  persons  might  have  right  to  baptism,  and  yet 
not  to  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  I  see  no  cause  to  alter  my  judgment,  as  to 
that  particular.     And  I  still  think,  that  persons  qualified,  according  to  the 

•  In  Synods  he  had  lived;  he  died  their  Moderator. 


^-^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

9 
fifth  proposition  of  the  late  Synod-Book,  have  right  to  baptism  for  their 
children."  His  dolours  continued  on  him  till  April  22,  at  night;  when 
he  quietly  breathed  forth  his  last;  after  he  had  been  about  seventy-three 
years  ft  eitizen  of  the  icorld,  and  fifty  years  a  minister  in  the  church  of  God. 
§17.  The  presage  which  he  had  upon  his  mind  of  his  own  approaching 
dissolution,  was  like  that  in  Ambrose  among  the  ancients,  and  in  Gesner, 
Mclancthon,  and  Sandford,  among  the  modern  divines;  whence  the  last 
of  the  text-^,  whereon  he  insisted,  in  his  public  ministry,  was  that  in  2  Tim. 
iv.  0,  7,  b:  "The  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand — I  have  finished  my 
course."  And  the  last  before  that,  was  that  in  Job  xiv.  14:  "All  the 
days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait,  till  my  change  come."  And  for  a 
private  conference,  he  had  prepared  a  sermon  on  those  words,  in  2  Cor.  v. 
1:  "For  we  know,  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dis- 
solved, we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens-^"  but  by  his  removal  from  this  house  to  that,  he  was  pre- 
vented in  the  preaching  of  the  sermon.  How  ready  he  was  for  the  last 
end  of  his  days  thus  expected,  is  a  little  expressed  in  certain  passages  of 
his  last  will ;  the  whole  of  which,  if  I  should  here  transcribe  it,  after  the 
example  of  Bcza,  writing  the  life  of  Calvin,  and  Bannosius,  writing  the 
life  of  lliimus,  and  other  such  examples,  it  would  be  no  ungrateful  enter- 
tainment, but  I  shall  only  offer  that  one  paragraph,  wherein  his  words  were: 

"Concerning  death,  as  I  do  believe,  it  is  appointed  for  all  men" once  to  die;  so  because  I 
•eo  a  great  dvul  of  unprofitableness  in  my  own  life,  and  because  Gud  hath  also  let  me  see 
such  vanity  and  emptiness  even  in  the  best  of  those  comforts  wliicii  this  life  can  afford,  that 
I  think  I  may  truly  sjiy,  that  'I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  pt'rfection:  therefore,  if  it  were  the 
will  of  (Jod,  I  should  be  plad  to  be  removed  hence,  where  the  best  that  is  to  be  had  doth 
yield  such  little  s.-itisfaction  to  my  soul,  and  to  be  brought  into  his  presence  in  glory,  that 
there  I  mi>,'ht  find  (for  there  I  know  it  is  to  be  had)  that  satisfying  and  all-sufficient  content, 
mcnl  in  him,  which  under  the  sun  is  not  to  be  enjoyed;  in  the  mean  time,  I  desire  to  stay 
the  Lord's  leisure.     But  thou,  O  Lord,  how  long!" 

Thus  lived  and  thus  died  Richard  Mather;  able  to  make  his  appeal  unto 
an  evil  world,  at  his  leaving  of  it: 

Nullum   Turbati;  Discordes  Paeificavi: 
Ltrsna  sustinui;  nee  mihi  Complacui.* 

§  18.  The  special  favour  of  God  which  was  granted  unto  some  of  the 
ancient**,  that  their  som  after  them  succeeded  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
—and  which  was  particularly  granted  unto  the  happy  fathers  of  Gregory 
Naziaijzcn,  Gregory  Nyssen,  Bxsil  and  Uillary— ^/iw  was  enjoyed  by  many 
of  those  good  men  that  planted  our  New-English  churches,  but  by  none 
more  comfortably  than  by  Mr.  Mather.  It  is  mentioned  as  the  felicity  of 
the  ble.^scd  Vt'tt.Tiis,  a  Buhenuan  pastor  in  the  former  century,  that  he 

*  I  neVr  raUM  diiconi,  but  hnve  qucnch'd  iu  flame; 
.Ml  wrongs  I  «uff«!n'<l  in  my  Muster's  nnmo; 
Niir  hu  selfHieeking  bcou  my  life's  great  aim. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  457 

gave  the  church  no  less  than  four  sons  to  be  worthy  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel. Such  was  the  felicity  of  our  Mather.  Many  years  before  he  died, 
he  had  the  comfort  of  seeing  four  sons  that  were  preachers  of  no  mean 
consideration  among  the  people  of  God;  it  was  counted  the  singular  hap- 
piness of  the  great  Eoman  Metellus,  that  he  expired  in  the  arms  of  his 
four  sons,  who  were  all  of  them  eminent  persons ;  as  happy  was  our  Mather ; 
and,  in  a  Christian  account,  much  more  happy.  And  since  his  death,  our 
common  Lord  has  been  served  by  Mr.  Samuel  Mather,  pastor  of  a  church 
in  Dublin;  Mr.  Nathanael  Mather,  pastor  after  him  of  the  same  church, 
but,  before  that,  of  Barnstable,  and  then  of  Eotterdam,  and  since  that  of 
a  church  in  London ;  Mr.  Eleazer  Mather,  pastor  of  a  church  at  our  North- 
ampton; and  Mr.  Increase  Mather,  teacher  of  a  church  in  Boston,  and 
president  of  Harvard  CoUedge.  Now,  because  this  mighty  man^  and  the 
youngest  but  one  of  these  "arrows  in  his  hand,"  were  not  only  "lovely 
and  useful  in  their  lives,"  but  also  "in  their  deaths  not  divided,"  (for  he 
died  about  three  months  after  his  father,)  it  will  be  pity  to  divide  them,  in 
the  history  of  their  lives;  and  therefore  of  this  Mr.  Eleazer  Mather  we 
will  here  subjoin  some  small  account. 

§  19.  Mr.  Eleazer  Mather,  (born  May  13,  1637,)  having  passed  through 
his  education  in  Harvard-Colledge,  and  having  by  the  living  and  lively 
proofs  of  a  renewed  hearty  as  well  as  a  well-instructed  Aeac?,  recommended 
himself  unto  the  service  of  the  churches,  the  church  of  Northampton 
became  the  happy  owner  of  his  talents.  Here  he  laboured  for  eleven  years 
in  the  vineyard  of  our  Lord;  and  then  the  twelve  hours  of  his  day^s 
labour  did  expire,  not  without  the  deepest  lamentations  of  all  the  churches, 
as  well  as  his  own;  then  sitting  along  the  river  of  Connecticut.  As  he 
was  a  very  zealous  preacher,  and  accordingly  saw  many  seals  of  his  min- 
istry, so  he  was  a  very  pious  walker ;  and  as  he  drew  towards  the  end  of 
his  days,  he  grew  so  remarkably  rij^e  for  heaven,  in  an  holy,  watchful, 
fruitful  disposition,  that  many  observing  persons  did  prognosticate  his 
being  not  far  from  his  end.  He  kept  a  diary  of  his  experiences ;  wherein 
the  last  words  that  ever  he  wrote  were  these: 

"July  10,  1669. — This  evening,  if  my  heart  deceive  me  not,  I  had  some  sweet  workings 
of  soul  after  God  in  Christ,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  The  general 
;^nd  indefinite  expression  of  the  promise,  was  an  encouragement  unto  me  to  look  unto  Christ, 
that  he  would  do  that  for  me  which  he  has  promised  to  do  for  some,  nor  dare  I  exclude  my 
self;  but  if  the  Lord  will  help  me,  I  desire  to  lie  at  his  feet,  and  accept  of  grace  in  his  own 
way,  and  with  his  own  time,  through  his  power  enabling  of  me.  Though  I  am  dead,  with- 
out strength,  help  or  hope  in  my  self,  yet  the  Lord  requireth  nothing  at  my  hands  in  my  own 
strength;  but  that  by  his  power  I  should  look  to  him,  'to  work  all  his  works  in  me  and  for 
me.'  When  I  find  a  dead  heart,  the  thoughts  of  this  are  exceeding  sweet  and  reviving, 
being  full  of  grace,  and  discovering  the  very  heart  and  love  of  Jesus." 

He  died  July  24,  1669,  aged  years  about  thirty-two. 


468 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTl    AMERICANA; 

Sic  KoM,  tie   Violte,  prima  Moriuntur  in  Herha, 
Candida,  nfc  Tiilo,  Lilia,  Mense  nitcnt* 


§  20.  The  (lying  words  of  his  fatlier  unto  his  brother,  about  the  rising 
gnteraliou,  aiused  him,  in  the  few  Sabbaths  now  left  before  his  own  death, 
to  preach  several  sonnous  upon  the  methods  that  should  be  taken  for  the 
conveying  and  securing  of  religion,  with  the  good  presence  of  God  unto 
that  generation  [on  1  Kings  viii.  57].  The  notes  which  he  left  written 
of  tliose  pungent  sermons  were  afterwards  printed,  and  reprinted,  with  a 
jjreface  of  his  brotlier's:  and  when  unto  the  other  sigiis  of  churches  left 
by  God,  therein  mentioned — namely,  the  people's  being  abandoned  unto 
a  flighty  spirit;  and  an  ill  use  made  of  temporal  prosperity;  a  spirit  of 
divi.sion  and  contention,  turning  religion  it  self  into  faction ;  the  efficacious 
and  victorious  operations  of  the  Iloly  Spirit,  withdrawn  from  ordinances 
— he  added,  the  death  of  such  men  as  are  chief  means  of  continuing  the 
presence  of  God  unto  a  people,  he  therein  gave  unto  us  too  true  an  i^iter- 
prttation  of  the  sad  providence  which  was  just  going  by  death  to  remove 
him  from  this  people  unto  a  better  world. 


EPITAPHIUM. 


RiriiARPVS  hie  dormit  Mathercs 
Latalus  Genuisse  Fares. 


Incerlum  est,  Utrum  Doctior,  an  Melior. 
Anima  et  Gloria,  von  queunt  humari.i 


But  that  nothing  may  be  wanting  to  his  epitaph,  I  will  transcribe  the 
epitajih  wliich  tlie  Hevcrend  old  Mr.  John  Bishop,  the  pastor  of  Stamford, 
provided  for  him: 

Jn  Pium,  Doetum,  et  Prteclarum,  Dorcestrensem  Matherum.t 


Sincrrut  Trrrif,  noster  jacet  eere  Matiikrus; 

Httigionit  J/utiot,  i/ui  tulit  ejus  onus, 
QuiCfkiii  crat  Syii(i<li8  Sticris  de  rebvs  agendum, 

III'  [  />fi  adjutu]  fitpius  .ictor  erat, 
MagDMn  htc  in  mairniiiy  non  parvnm  rebus  iisdem 

Trmporibui  f'artit  contribiifbal  opem  : 
GinsiJiit  Sohdis,  Doetrina^  iJeitcritatc, 

Juditio  Clara,  cumque  laborc  graiii. 


J^Tam  Doclus,  Prudens,  Pius,  Impiger,  atque  peritus. 
In  Sacris,  nee  non  promtus  ad  omne  Konum, 

Omnia  per  Christum  potuit,  credensque  prccansque 
Tanta  fuit  Fides,  Vis  quoque  tanta  preciim. 

Uinc  mihi  Sublato  Charv  vi  Mortis  .imico, 
Hac  Jlmor  atjuc  Dolor,  composuere  meus. 

J.  EPISCOPIUS. 


•  So  dies  the  early  violet  and  the  rose ; 
So  lilies  wither  ere  the  evening's  close. 

t  Hen-  ricrp*  RicnARD  Mather,  whose  fortune  it  was  to  have  children  equal  to  their  sire.    It  is  questionable 
Id  which  he  wbh  BU|>erior— learning  or  virtue.    Jlis  genius  and  his  fume  cannot  be  buried. 

X  To  the  Pious,  Learned  and  Renowned  Mather,  of  Dorchester. 


Here  III-*  KTcnt  Mather,  who  so  nobly  wore 
RrllKinn'a  lioniitirii,  anil  its  burdens  bore: 
Who  In  the  Hyn<Kl,  Klnycd  by  C.ixi  aU)ne, 
It*  coiinwln  l<-<l,  and  made  iu  nets  his  own ; 
AimI  rU'where  nld<>d— Kront  umouK  the  great— 
TJio  Chiirrli'ii  wrirnre  and  Ihc  civil  slule. 
Ilia  luilid  JiKlKtiicnl,  Inirniiiij,  ri-n-vin,  skill, 
lie  made  init.vTviriit  to  his  Master's  will. 


Prudent,  cfllcient,  bent  on  human  weal. 
For  all  cood  works  he  kept  a  ready  zeal ; 
Resolving,  through  the  power  of  faith  and  prayer, 
In  Christ  all  things  to  do— all  things  to  dare. 

In  thoughts  like  these  my  spirit  seeks  relief, 
This  tribute  rendering  of  its  love  and  grief. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  459 

rnApTTD     TYT 

THE    LIFE    OF    MR.    ZACHARIAH    SYMMES. 

§  1.  The  Emperour  Probus  having  an  honour  for  the  memory  of  his 
friend  Aradion,  honoured  him  with  a  tomb  two  hundred  foot  hroad.  But 
our  value  for  the  memory  of  the  divines  that  formerly  served  our  churches, 
must  not  be  measured  by  the  breadth  of  our  history  concerning  them. 
We  cannot  give  much  breadth  to  the  room  which  we  dedicate  iu  this 
our  history  unto  the  memory  of  our  S^^mmes,  because  we  have  not 
received  very  large  informations  concerning  him.  Nevertheless,  accord- 
ing to  the  French  proverb,  Un  ministre  ne  doit  Scavoir  que  sa  Bible — "A 
minister  should  know  nothing  but  his  Bible" — here  was  one  worthy  the 
name  of  a  minister;  for  he  knew  his  Bible  well,  and  he  was  a  preacher  of 
what  he  knew,  and  a  sufferer  for  what  he  preached. 

§  2.  Eeader,  we  shall  not  confound  ourselves  with  fables  and  endless 
genealogies,  but  we  shall  truly  edify  our  selves,  if  we  enquire  so  far  into 
the  genealogy  of  Mr.  Zachariah  Symmes,  as  to  recite  a  passage  written  by 
Mr.  William  Symmes,  the  father  of  our  Zachariah,  in  a  book  which  was 
made  by  a  godly  preacher,  that  was  hid  in  the  house  of  Mr.  William 
Symmes,  the  father  of  William,  from  the  rage  of  the  Marian  persecution: 

"I  note  it  as  a  special  mercy  of  God,  (writes  he,  in  a  leaf  of  that  book)  that  both  my 
father  and  mother  were  favourers  of  the  Gospel,  and  hated  idolatry,  under  Queen  Mary's 
persecution.  I  came  to  this  book  by  this  means:  going  to  Sandwich  in  Kent  to  preach,  the 
J'.rst  or  second  year  after  I  was  ordained  minister,  Anno  1587  or  88,  and  preaching  in  Saint 
Mary's,  where  Mr.  Pawson,  an  ancient  godly  preacher,  was  minister,  who  knew  my  parents 
well,  and  me  too  at  school ;  he,  after  I  had  finished  my  sermons,  came  and  brought  me  this 
book  for  a  present,  acquainting  me  with  the  above-mentioned  circumstances.  And  then  he 
adds,  I  charge  my  sons  Zachariah  and  William,  before  Him  that  shall  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead,  that  you  never  defile  your  selves  with  any  idolatry  or  superstition  whatsoever,  but 
learn  your  religion  out  of  God's  holy  word,  and  worship  God  as  he  him  self  hath  prescribed, 
and  not  after  the  devices  and  traditions  of  men. — Scripsi,  Dec.  6,  1602." 

§  3.  Descended  from  such  ancestors,  our  Zachariah  was  born  April  5, 
1599,  at  Canterbury,  and  the  savoury  expressions  in  the  letters  yet  extant, 
which  he  wrote  while  he  was  a  youth  in  the  university  of  Cambridge, 
intimate  that  he  was  new-born  while  yet  a  child. 

After  his  leaving  the  university,  he  was  employed  for  a  while  in  the  houses 
of  several  persons  of  quality  as  a  tutor  to  their  children,  but  not  without 
molestation  from  the  Prelates  for  his  conscientious  non-conformity  to  cer- 
tain rites  in  the  worship  of  God,  then  imposed  on  the  consciences  of  the 
faithful.  When  he  had  passed  through  these  changes,  he  was  chosen  in 
the  year  1621,  to  be  a  lecturer  at  Atholines,  in  the  city  of  London:  and 
after  many  troubles  from  the  Bishops-Courts,  for  his  dissent  from  things, 


460 


ilAGNALlA    CIIKISTI    AMEBIC  AN  A; 


whereto  his  conseiit  had  never  been  required  by  the  great  "Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  our  souls,"  he  removed  from  thence  in  the  year  1625  to  Dun- 
stable, where  his  troubles  from  the  Bishops-Courts  continuing,  he  at  length 
transported  himself  with  his  family  into  an  American  wilderness.  New- 
Kngland,  and  Charles-town  in  New-England,  enjoyed  him  all  the  rest  of 
his  days,  even  until  February  4,  1670;  when  he  retired  into  a  better  world. 
§  4.  His  epitaph  at  Charles-town,  where  he  was  honourably  interred, 
mentions  his  having  lived  forty-nine  years  and  seven  months  with  his 
vertuous  consort,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children,  five  sons  and  eight 
daughters,  and  annexes  this  distich : 

A  prophet  li<^9  under  this  stone: 

His  words  shall  live,  though  he  be  gone. 

But  as  that  eminent  person  ordered  this  clause  for  his  own  epitaph, 
instead  of  other  glories  and  memoirs  which  used  to  adorn  a  monument, 
"Here  lies  the  friend  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,"  thus  the  epitaph  of  this  emi- 
nent person  might  have  mentioned  one  thing  more,  which  might  have 
gone  in  the  room  of  many  other  testimonies  to  the  ability,  and  integrity, 
and  zeal,  that  signalized  him:  "Here  lies  the  friend  of  Mr.  Jeremiah  Bur- 
roughs." For  we  have  still  to  show  the  letters  which  that  great  man  sent 
unto  our  Symmcs,  after  his  coming  to  New-England;  letters  wherein  he 
compares  the  love  between  them,  unto  that  between  David  and  Jonathan : 
as  having  been  a  sort  of  sworn  brothers  to  each  other  ever  since  their 
living  together  at  the  University. 


VJ    did)    JLii    iL        di      lLJ    Jib         tZoi    cC\j    Jb     X  a 

THE   LIFE   OF   MR.   JOHN   ALLIN. 

Sequitur  quern   Vita  perennis; 


Vivus  etiim  Semper,  qui  bene  vixit,  erit.* 

§  1.  AVuY  is  the  dead  relation  of  fother  Abraham  called  "his  dead,"  no 
less  than  eight  several  times  in  one  short  chapter?  It  seems,  though 
death  has  dissolved  our  old  relation  to  our  dead  friends,  yet  it  has  not 
released  us  from  all  our  duty  to  them ;  they  are  still  so  far  ours,  that  we 
owe  something  unto  their  memory.  Reader,  we  are  entertaining  ourselves 
with  our  diad;  but  if  we  do  nothing  to  keep  alive  their  memory  with  us, 
we  may  blush  to  call  them  ours. 

Among  these,  one  is  Mr.  John  Allin.  But  if  there  were  such  an  officer 
in  use  among  us,  as  once  was  among  the  Greeks,  to  measure  the  monu- 
ments of  dead  persons  according  to  their  vertues,  he  w^ould  greatly  com- 

•  (;.k1  fur  hif  portion  cndU-M  life  shall  give,     |      For  ho  who  hath  lived  well,  shaU  always  live. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  4gj_ 

plain  of  it,  that  I  have  been  able  to  recover  no  more  memoirs  of  a  person 
whose  vertues  and  merits  were  far  from  the  smallest  size  among  those 
who  "did  worthily  in  Israel." 

§  2.  He  was  born  in  the  year  1596. 

Having  passed  his  cursus,  in  the  tongues  and  arts,  until  he  was,  as  Theo- 
dorit  says  of  Innocent,  'A^j^ivoia  xai  tfuvscai  xoCfj-sixsvoj — Ingenii  et  prudentioe 
ornamentis  egregie  Instmctus:^  he  became  a  faithful  preacher  of  Christ, 
choosing  rather  to  dig  in  that  rock  of  Zion  than  in  a  rock  of  diamonds. 

It  is  an  ancient  observation,  that  there  were  three  things  done  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  on  and  for  the  prophets  which  were  employed  in 
publick  service  for  him:  one  was  to  give  them  courage  against  the  rage 
of  adversaries.  Another  was,  to  give  them  wisdom  for  to  regulate  their 
conduct.  A  third  was,  to  give  them  vertue  and  holiness,  that  their  own 
consciences  might  not  sting  them,  when  they  were  to  bestow  aculeate 
rebukes  upon  the  vices  of  other  men. 

This  observation,  which  is  as  use/id  as  ancient,  was  made  by  them  that 
considered  those  words  of  the  prophet  Micah:  "I  am  full  of  (1)  power, 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  And  of  (2)  judgment.  And  of  (8)  vertue." 
With  all  of  these  excellencies  did  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  in  a  gracious 
measure,  adorn  our  Allin.  But  when  the  evil  Spirit  raised  a  storm  of 
persecution  upon  the  Puritans,  in  the  English  nation,  these  excellencies 
could  not  shelter  this  worthy  man  from  the  injuries  of  it;  but  rather 
exposed  him  thereunto.  Leaving  of  England,  whereof  he  might  have 
taken  that  farewel, 

Non  carco  Patrid,  me  caret  ilia  7nagis,f 

he  chose  an  American  wilderness  for  his  country:  and  cheerfully  con- 
formed his  genteel  spirit  unto  the  difficulties  of  such  a  wilderness:  being 
only  of  Austin's  mind  about  the  banished  Christians,  Miserrimum  esset,  si 
alicubi  dud  poterant,  ubi  Deuni  swum  non  invenisserd.\ 

§  3.  He  was  a  sufficient  scholar,  and  (which  is  the  way  to  become  so) 
a  diligent  student;  but  yet  his  experimental  acquaintance  with  Christian- 
ity taught  him  to  be  of  the  mind  which  the  learned  Suarez  expressed, 
when  he  did  use  to  say,  "That  he  esteemed  more  that  little  pittance  of 
time  which  he  constantly  set  apart  every  day  for  the  private  examination 
of  his  own  heart,  than  all  the  other  part  of  the  day  which  he  spent  in 
'  voluminous  controversies."  His  accomplishments  were  considerable ;  and 
being  a  very  humble  man,  he  found  that  sanctified  knowledge  grows 
most  luxuriant  in  the  fat  valleys  of  humility:  being  a  very  patient  man, 
Ije  found  the  dew  of  Heaven,  which  falls  not  in  a  stormy  or  cloudy  night, 
was  always  falling  on  a  soul  ever  serene,  with  the  meekest  patience.  He 
was  none  of  those  low-built  thatched  cottages,  that  are  apt  to  catch  fire: 

•  Fully  equipped  in  the  graces  of  geniug  and  understanding. 

f  I  love,  but  need  thee  not,  aweet  native  shore;      |     Thou  needest  me,  and  yet  shalt  need  me  more. 

\  It  would  be  the  depthof  wretchedness  if  they  could  bo  banishedtoaplace  where  they  could  not  find  their  God. 


^g2  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

but,  like  an  liigh-built  castle  or  palace,  free  from  the  combustions  of  pas- 
sion, lie  was  "indeed  cue  of  so  sweet  a  temper,  that  his  friends  anagram- 
matiscd  JouN  Allin  into  this: 

IN  HON  I  ALL. 
§  4.  His  polemical  abilities  were  discovered  in  a  treatise  called,  "J. 
Defence  of  the  Nine  Positions;"  wherein  (being  of  Calvin's  mind,  "ink  is 
too  dear  and  costly  with  us,  if  we  doubt  to  spend  ink  in  writing,  to  testifie 
those  things  which  martyrs  of  old  sealed  with  their  blood:")  he,  with  Mr. 
Shcpurd  of  Cambridge,  handle  the  points  of  church-reformation ;  at  what 
rate,  not  my  pen,  but  our  famous  old  Mr.  Cotton's  in  his  preface  to  a  book 
of  Mr,  Norton's  may  describe  unto  us: 

"Shopanlus,  una  cum  Allinio  Fratre,  [Fralrum  dulce  par,)  uti  eximia  pietaie 
fionnt  umbo,  ct  Eruditione  non  mediocri,  alque  etiam  Mysteriorum  Pietaiis  prcedi. 
catione  {per  Christi  Gratiain)  ejicaci  ad?nodtim,  ita  egregiam  novarunt  Operam  in 
abslrusissimis  Disciplincz  nodis  foeliciier  enodandis.  Verba  horum  Fratrum,  uti 
suaviter  spirant  Pietatem,  Veritatem,  Charitatem  Christi ;  ita  speramus  fore  [per 
Christi  Gratiam)  ut  mulli,  qui  a  Disciplina  Christi  alienores  erant,  odore  horum 
unguentorum  Christi  effusorum  delibati  atque  deUncti,  ad  amoreni  ejus  et  pellecti 
etperlracli,  earn  avidius  arripiunt  atque  amplcxentur."* 

Moreover,  another  judicious  discourse  of  bis,  in  defence  of  the  Synod 
held  at  Boston,  in  the  year  1662,  has  declared  his  principles  about  churcb- 
discipline,  as  well  as  his  abilities  to  maintain  his  principles.  The  person 
against  whom  he  wrote  this  defence,  was  that  very  person  whose  hfe  shall 
be  the  very  next  in  our  history ;  for, 

Hi  Motus  Animorum  atque  hcec  certamina  tanta,  • 

Pulveris  exigui  Jactu  compressa,  quiescunt.i 

§  5.  When  the  holy  church  of  Dedham  was  gatbered,  in  the  year  1638, 
he  became  their  pastor;  and  in  the  pastoral  care  of  that  church  he  con- 
tinued until  August  26,  1671;  when,  after  ten  days  of  easie  sickness,  he 
died,  as  Myconius  well  expresses  it,  Vitaliter  mori;X  in  the  seventy-fifth 
year  of  his  age. 

Now,  according  to  that  of  Jerom,  Lacrymce  Auditorum  Tim  sintLaudes;% 
behold,  reader,  the  praises  of  this  excellent  man.  His  flock  published 
the  two  last  sermons  that  ever  he  preached ;  one  whereof  was  on  Cant, 
viii.  5:  "Who  is  this  that  comes  up  from  the  wilderness,  leaning  on  her 

•  SinpARn,  loRclher  with  his  brother  Allin,  (a  charming  brotherhood,)  not  only  exhibit  extraordinary  piety 
and  l.'ari.ing,  an.l  even  ..fflcipncy  (through  tho  grace  of  Christ)  in  preaching  the  mysteries  of  godliness,  but  also 
have  ...ccc-d..!  m„n  happily  in  elucidating,  with  true  originality,  some  of  the  most  abstruse  questions  of  Church 
(.ovrnment.  To  such  an  extent  .loth  the  language  of  these  brc'thren  breathe  the  spirit  of  piety,  truth,  and  Chris- 
(.an  chanly.  that  w.,  hope  It.nt  (through  the  same  grace  of  Christ)  many  who  are  now  averse  to  His  discipline, 
may.  wlH.n  tnuclu-d  and  anoinled  with  the  true  Christian  perfumes  diffused  through  these  pages,  aiid  so  allured  to 
Uio  lovo  of  Christ,  oinbraco  him  with  the  greater  eagerness. 

t  These  heated  conflicts,  which  so  fiercely  rage, 
A  handful  of  light  dust  shall  soon  assuage— Viroil.  Oeor.  It. 

X  A  death  most  like  to  life.  g  The  tears  of  thy  hearers  should  be  thy  praises. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  453 

beloved?"  The  other  on  John  xiv.  22:  "Peace  I  leave  with  you."  But 
they  write  their  preface  with  tears ;  and  with  fearful  praises  they  celebrate 
bim,  as  one  altogether  above  their  praises:  and  a  "constant,  faithful,  dili- 
gent steward  in  the  house  of  God;  a  man  of  peace  and  truth,  and  a  burn- 
ing and  a  shining  light."  Adding,  "The  crown  is  fallen  from  our  heads: 
Oh !  that  it  were  with  us  as  in  times  past ! "  which  desire  of  theirs  has 
been  happily  answered  in  two  most  worthy  successors. 

The  character  once  given  to  Philippus  Gallus  may  very  justly  be  now 
made  the  epitaph  of  our  John  Allin : 

EPITAPHIUM. 

JOHANNES  ALLINIUS. 

Vtr  Sincerus,  Amans  pads,  patiensque  Laborum, 
Perspicuus,  Simplex,  Doctrina  purus  Amator.* 


CADMUS   AMERICANUS.t   THE   LIFE   OF  MR.  CHARLES   CHANCEY. 

Suadet  Lingua,  Juhet  Vita.X 

§  1.  There  was  a  famous  person  in  times,  by  chronological  computa- 
tion, as  ancient  as  the  days  of  Joshua,  known  by  the  name  of  Cadmus; 
who  carried  not  only  people,  but  letters  also,  from  Phoenitia  into  Boeotia. 
The  Grecian  fable  of  a  serpent,  in  the  story  of  Cadmus,  was  only  derived 
from  the  name  of  an  Hivite,  -which  by  his  nation  belonged  unto  him ;  for 
an  Hivite  signifies  a  serpent  in  the  language  of  Syria.  This  renowned  Cad- 
mus was  indeed  a  Gibeonite,  who  having  been  well  treated  by  Joshua,  and 
by  Joshua  not  only  continued  in  the  comforts  of  life,  but  also  instructed 
and  employed  in  the  service  of  the  true  God,  he  retained  ever  after  most 
honourable  sentiments  of  that  great  commander.  Yea,  when  after  ages, 
in  their  songs,  praised  Apollo  for  his  victory  over  the  dragon  Pytho,  they 
uttered  but  the  disguised  songs  of  Canaan,  wherein  this  Cadmus  had  cel- 
ebrated the  praises  of  Joshua  for  his  victory  over  Og  the  King  of  Bashan. 
Cadmus  having  been  (as  one  of  the  Greek  poets  writes  of  him)  educated 
in  Hebron  or  Debir,  the  universities  of  Palestine,  was  fitted  thereby  to  be 
a  leader  in  a  great  undertaking;  and  when  the  oppression  of  Cushanrish- 
athaim  caused  a  number  of  people  to  seek  out  new  seats,  there  were  many 
who,  under  the  conduct  of  Cadmus,  transported  themselves  into  Greece, 
where  the  notions  and  customs  of  an  Israelitish  original  were  therefore  a 
long  while  preserved,  until  they  were  confounded  with  Pagan  degenera- 

•  Sincere,  peace-loving,  ready  to  endure ;  I  +  The  American  Cadmus. 

In  language  simple,  and  in  doctrine  pure.  X  His  tongue  advises,  and  his  life  persuades. 


46-4 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


cics.  There  is  reiison  to  tliink  that  a  colony  of  Hebrews  themselves  did 
now  swarm  out  into  Pelojwnnesus,  where  tlie  book  of  Maccabees  will  help 
us  to  find  Lacedemonians  (or  Cadmonians,  that  is,  the  followers  of  Cadmus, 
in  their  true  etymology)  "of  the  stock  of  Moraham;"  and  we  know  that 
Stralx)  tells  us  that  Cadmus  had  Arabians  (and  the  Israelites  were  by  such 
heathen  writers  accounted  so)  in  his  company.  Accordingly,  when  we 
read  tliat  a  colk'je  among  the  old  Grecians  was  called  academia,  we  may 
soon  inform  our  selves  that  it  was  at  first  called  Cadmia  or  Cadmea,  in 
commoinoration  of  Cadmus  the  Pha3nician;  to  whom  those  parts  of  the 
world  were  first  beholden  for  such  nurseries  of  good  literature  and  religion. 

Tliese  researches  into  antiquity  had  not  in  this  place  been  laid  before 
niv  reader,  if  they  might  not  have  served  as  an  introduction  unto  this 
jiiecc  of  New-English  history;  that  when  some  ecclesiastical  oppressions 
drove  a  colony  of  the  truest  Israelites  into  the  remoter  parts  of  the  world, 
there  was  an  academy  quickly  founded  in  that  colony:  and  our  Chancey 
was  the  Cadmus  of  that  academy ;  by  whose  vast  labour  and  learning  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  served  by  all  the  human  sciences, 
liath  been  convc3'ed  unto  posterity. 

It  is  now  fit  that  a  few  memoirs  of  that  reverend  man  should  fill  our 
pages. 

§  2.  Mr.  Charles  Chancey  was  an  Ilartfordshire  man ;  born  in  the  year 
1589,  of  j)arcnts  that  were  both  honourable  and  religious.  Being  sent 
from  thence  to  Westminster'School,  his  hopeful  proficiency  in  good  liter- 
ature, within  a  short  Avhile,  ripened  him  for  the  university.  And  it  was 
one  thing  which  caused  him  to  have  the  more  feeling  resentments  of  the 
famous  Powder-Plot,  the  rejoort  whereof  will  make  a  noise  as  long  as  the 
fifth  of  November  is  in  our  kalendar;  that  at  the  time  when  that  plot 
should  have  taken  its  horrid  effect,  he  was  at  that  school,  which  must  also 
have  been  blown  up,  if  the  Parliament-house  had  perished.  The  university 
of  Cambridge  was  that  which  afterward  instructed  and  nourished  this 
eminent  person,  and  fitted  him  for  the  service  wherein  he  had  opportunity 
afterwards  to  demonstrate  that  he  was  indeed  such  a  person.  The  partic- 
ular college  whereof  he  was  here  a  member,  was  Trinity  College;  by  the 
same  token,  that  in  the  Laclirymce  Cmitabrigienses,*  published  by  the  Can- 
tabrigians, on  the  death  of  Queen  Ann,  I  find  him  in  that  style  composing 
and  subscribing  one  of  the  most  witty  Latin  poems  in  that  whole  collec- 
tion. Here  he  proceeded  Batehelour  of  Divinity:  and  having  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  that  great  man  Dr.  Usher,  whom  all  men  have  confessed 
worthy  of  the  character  wherewith  Yoetus  mentions  him,  Vastce  Ledionis 
d  cruditiom's  Thcologns,  inque  Antiquilate  Fcchsiastica  Versatissivius,-^  he  had 
hereby  an  opportunity  farther  to  advantage  himself  with  the  ancient  raon- 
ument:^  in  King  James'  library. 

•  Tlio  lcnr»  of  Cambridge. 

t  A  th....loKinn  ofgrfat  rt-n.ling  onU  acq.iircmenU,  ndmirnbly  versed  in  the  antiquities  of  the  church. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


465 


§  3.  By  tlie  head  of  the  houses  he  was  chosen  Eebrew-ipTofessoT;  but  the 
Vice-Chancellour,  Dr.  WiHiams,  preferring  a  kinsman  of  his  own  to  that 
place,  at  the  same  time  h'e  put  our  Mr.  Chancey  into  the  place  of  Greek- 
professor ;  and  as  one  well  known  to  be  an  accurate  Grecian,  it  was  he  that 
afterwards  was  the  C.  C.  the  Vir  Doctissimus  et  Piissimus^^  whose  s'^jxpicrifff 
you  have  at  the  beginning  of  Leigh's  "  Grilica  Sacra^^  upon  the  New-Tes- 
tament. He  was  indeed  a  person  incomparably  well  skilled  in  all  the 
learned  languages,  especially  in  the  Oriental,  and  eminently  in  the  Hebrew, 
in  his  obtaining  whereof  his  conversation  with  a  Jew  for  the  space  of  a 
year  was  no  little  advantage  to  him.  I  know  that  the  Hebrew  tongue,  as 
an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  Difficilia  quce  PulcIira^X  is  more  easily 
attained  than  any  that  I  have  yet  observed;  and  hence  we  see  even  our 
English  women,  sometimes  in  a  little  while,  and  with  a  little  pains,  grown  as 
expert  at  it  as  the  ladies  Pausa  or  Blasilla,  by  Jerom  therefore  celebrated ; 
and  I  have  wished  that  many  in  the  world  were  more  moved  by  those 
words  of  a  worthy  author,  Ausim  spondere,  illos  qui  Studiis  Hebraicis  tantum 
Temporis  rinpend.erent,  quantum  Tuhulo  Nicotianoe  imbibendo,  {quo  nunc  pars 
bona  Studiosorum  pro  Hydragogo  uti  consuevit)  turn  Mane,  turn  Vesperi,  im- 
pendi  solet,  p>rogressus  in  hujusce  Linguce  Gognitione  hand  Yidgares  brevi  esse 
fdcturos,  adeo  ut  mirentur,  se  esse  turn  doctos,  antequam  Didicerint.%  Never- 
theless, this  tongue  is  as  easily  forgotten.  But  being  once  attained,  and 
therewithal  preserved  and  iviproved,  good  men  will  find  as  our  Mr.  Chancey 
did  that  the  conjunct  j:)rq/z^  and  pleasure  of  it  were  inexpressible;  and  that 
the  talents  wherewith  it  would  furnish  them  to  do  so  many  services  for  the 
Church  of  God,  were  such  as  to  make  them  join  with  Luther  in  his  pro- 
testation, "That  he  would  not  part  with  his  knoweldge  of  the  Hebrew  for 
many  thousands  of  pounds;"  or  to  approve  the  (usual)  modest  words  of 
Melancthon,  '^  Scio  me  vix  primis  Labris  degustasse  Hebraicas  Literas;  sed 
tamen  hoc  Ip)sutn,  quod  didici  quantidumcunque  est,  propter  Judicium  de  Reli' 
gione.  Omnibus  Mundi  Regnis  omniumque  opibus  Longe  Antepono.\ 

§  -i.  When  he  left  the  university,  he  became  a  diligent  and  eminent 
preacher  of  the  gospel  at  Marston ;  but  after  some  time  he  removed  him- 
self to  Ware,  where  the  "hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  many 
believed,  and  turned  unto  the  Lord."  Here  it  was  that  the  successes  of 
his  faithful  ministry,  in  the  instruction  of  the  ignorant  and  the  conversion 
of  the  ungodly,  became  a  matter  of  much  observation. 

But  when  Satan  wanted  a  Shibboleth  for  the  discovering  and  extinguish- 
ing such  an  holy  ministry  throughout  the  nation,  the  miserable  Arch-Bishop 
Laud  served  him  with  a  license  for  sports  on  the  LorcVs  day ;  whereby  the 

•  Most  learned  and  pious  man.         t  Critical  estimate.         %  The  most  beautiful  studies  are  the  most  difficult. 

§  I  would  dare  to  promise,  that  if  students  will  devote  to  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  as  much  time  at 
morning  and  evening  as  some  persons  spend  in  smoking  their  tobacco-pipes,  (which,  by  the  way,  a  good  share  of 
our  students  now-a-days  use  for  an  absorbent,)  they  will  make  such  uncommon  progress  in  the  mastery  of  the  lan- 
guage, that  they  will  be  surprised  at  the  proficiency  which  they  have  unconsciously  attained. 

[  I  know  I  have  scarcely  touched  Hebrew  Literature  with  my  lips ;  but  nevertheless  I  prefer  my  veiy  trifling 
acquaintance  with  it,  as  a  key  to  religious  knowledge,  to  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  riches  cf  the  universe. 

Vol.  I.— 30 


^gg  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

people  were  after  an  horrid  manner  invited  unto  the  profanation  of  that 
sacred  rest;  and  indeed  of  every  thing  sacred  with  it.  Then  it  was  that 
our  Mr.  Chancey,  hearing  the  drums  beat  for  dances  and  froliclcs  on  the 
Lord's  (hiv,  was,  like  other  good  men,  afraid  that  God  would  break  the 
n-st  of  the"  king<lom,  and  cause  drums  to  be  beaten  up  for  marches  and  hat- 
Uls  on  that  very  dav.  But  when  he  was  inhibited  from  attending  of  other 
exercises,  on  the  afternoons  of  the  Lord's  day  he  set  himself  to  catechise 
as  many  as  he  could,  both  old  and  young;  which,  as  the  hisho^y  in  sheeps' 
chxiOiiwj  sai.i,  wjis  "as  bad  as  preaching."  And  by  such  methods  he  still 
continued  serving  the  interests  of  the  gospel. 

§  5.  Put  about  this  time  there  arose  a  storm  of  most  unreasonable,  but 
irresistible  2)ersect(tion  upon  those  ministers  who  were  well-wishers  to  the 
progress  of  the  Protestant  reformation  in  the  kingdom;  and  Mr.  Chancey 
was  one  of  those  who  sullered  in  it.  In  Mr.  Eush worth's  collections  for 
the  year  1629,  I  find  this  passage: 

**  Mr.  Charles  Chancey,  minister  of  Ware,  using  some  expressions  in  his  sermon,  that 
•Idolatry  was  admitted  into  the  church;'  that  'the  preaching  of  the  gospel  would  be  sup- 
pressi-d;'  that 'there  is  much  Atheism,  Popery,  Arminiunism  and  Heresy,  crept  into  the  church:' 
and  tliis  being  looked  upon  to  raise  a  fear  among  the  people  that  some  alteration  of  religion 
would  ensue;  he  was  questioned  in  the  High  Commission;  and  by  order  of  that  court  the 
cause  was  rctVrrcd  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  being  his  ordinary;  who  ordered  liim  to  make 
a  sitbmifsion  in  I^itin." 

This  worthy  man  being,  by  the  terrors  and  censures  of  that  iiiflimous 
court,  suddenly  surprised  unto  a  sort  of  submission,  which  gave  too  good 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  constitution,  whereinto  the  Laudian  faction 
was  then  precii)itating  the  Church  of  England,  he  no  sooner  got  a  little 
out  of  the  temptation,  but  he  signalized  his  repentance  of  that  submission, 
with  a  zeal  not  unlike  that  of  the  blessed  Cranmer  against  his  own  right 
hand  for  subscribing  his  recantation.  Although  he  was  not  long  without 
the  faith  of  his  having  this  his  too  sudden  compliance  with  the  demands 
of  his  persecutors  "forgiven  in  heaven,"  3'et  he  never  forgave  himself  as 
long  as  he  lived  on  earth;  he  would  on  all  occasions  express  himself 
extrcamly  dissatisfied,  as  well  at  the  ill  things  then  advanced  in  the 
Chureli  of  England,  as  at  himself  also  for  ever  in  the  least,  consenting  to 
those  things.  Those  memorable  Puritans  which  were  driven  into  Amer- 
ica, all  of  them  had  a  dislike  of  the  deformities  which  they  saw  yet  cleav- 
ing to  the  Church  of  England ;  but  I  question  whether  any  disliked  them 
with  such  fervent  expressions  of  indignation  as  our  Mr.  Chancey,  who 
thus  took  the  revenges  of  a  deep  repentance  upon  his  own  conformity  to 
them.  And  few  suftered  for  non-conformity  more  than  he,  hy  fines,  by 
gaols,  by  necessities  to  ahscond,  and  at  last  by  an  exile  from  his  native  coun- 
try. Yea,  though  he  had  lived  a  very  exact  life,  yet  when  he  came  to 
die,  more  than  forty  years  after  this,  he  left  these  words  in  his  last  will 
and  testament: 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


467 


"In  regard  of  corrupt  nature,  I  do  acknowledge  my  self  to  be  a  child  of  wrath,  and  sold 
nnder  sin,  and  one  that  hath  been  polluted  with  innumerable  transgressions  and  mighty  sins, 
which,  as  far  as  I  know  and  can  call  to  remembrance,  I  keep  still  fresh  before  me,  and  desire 
with  mourning  and  self  abhorring  still  to  do,  as  long  as  life  shall  last;  and  especially  my 
so  many  sinful  compliances  with  and  conformity  unto  vile  human  inventions,  and  will-wor- 
ship, and  hell-bred  superstition,  and  pnteheries  sticht  into  the  service  of  the  Lord,  (which 
the  English  Mass  book,  I  mean,  the  'Book  of  Common  Prayer,'  and  the  'Ordination  of 
Priests,'  &lc.,  are  fully  fraught  withal.)" 

§  6.  There  was  once  a  Parliament  in  England,  whereto  a  speech  of  no 
less  a  man  than  the  Lord  Digby  made  a  complaint,  "that  men  of  the  best 
conscience  were  then  ready  to  fly  into  the  wilderness  for  religion:"  and 
it  was  complained  in  an  elegant  speech  of  Sir  Benjamin  Rudyard's,  "A 
great  multitude  of  the  King's  subjects,  striving  to  hold  communion  with 
us,  but  seeing  how  far  we  were  gone,  and  fearing  how  much  farther  we 
would  go,  were  forced  to  fly  the  land,  very  many  into  salvage  wilder- 
nesses, because  the  land  would  not  bear  them:  do  not  they  that  cause 
these  things  cast  a  reproach  upon  the  government?"  And  in  a  notable 
speech  of  Mr,  Fiennes,  "a  certain  numbe.r  of  ceremonies,  in  the  judgment 
of  some  men  unlawful,  and  to  be  rejected  of  all  churches,  in  the  judgment 
of  all  other  reformed  churches,  and  in  the  judgment  of  our  own  church, 
but  indifferent,  yet  what  difference — yea,  what  distraction  have  these  indif- 
ferent ceremonies  raised  among  us?  What  hath  deprived  us  of  so  many 
thousands  of  Christians,  which  desired,  and  in  all  other  respects  deserved 
to  hold  communion  with  us ;  I  say,  what  hath  deprived  us  of  them,  and 
scattered  them  into  I  know  not  what  places  and  corners  of  the  world, 
but  these  indifferent  ceremonies  V  It  was  then  that  Mr.  Pym,  in  the  name 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  impeaching  A.  B.  Laud,  before  the  House  of 
Lords  had  these  expressions:  "You  have  the  King's  loyal  subjects  ban- 
ished out  of  the  kingdom,  not  as  Elimelech,  to  seek  for  bread  in  foreign 
countries,  by  reason  of  the  great  scarcity  which  was  in  Israel ;  but  travel- 
ling abroad  for  the  bread  of  life,  because  they  could  not  have  it  at  home, 
by  reason  of  the  spiritual  famine  of  Cod's  word,  canned  by  this  man  and 
his  partakers:  and  by  this  means  you  have  the  industry  of  many  thou- 
sands of  his  majesty's  subjects  carried  out  of  the  land."  And  at  last  the 
whole  House  of  Commons  put  this  article  in  the  remonstrance,  which 
they  then  made  unto  the  King:  "The  Bishops  and  their  Courts  did 
impoverish  many  thousand;  and  so  afflict  and  trouble  others,  that  great 
numbers,  to  avoid  their  miseries,  departed  out  of  the  kingdom,  some  into 
New-England  and  other  parts  of  America." 

But  it  is  now  time  to  tell  my  reader  that,  in  the  transportations  thus 
reasonably  and  parliamentarily  complained  of,  one  of  the  most  consider- 
able persons  removing  into  America  was  Air.  Charles  Chancey,  who 
arrived  at  Plymouth  in  New-England  a  few  days  before  the  great  earth- 
quake which  happened  January  1,  1638. 

§  7.  After  he  had  spent  some  time  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  with 


^gg  MAGNALIA    ClIKISTI    AMEKICANA; 

Mr.  Reyner  of  Plymouth,  he  removed  unto  a  town  a  little  northward  of 
it,  called  Scitunte,  where  he  remained  for  Ihree  and  three  times  three  years, 
cultivating;  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  in  that  place.  Of  this  his  ministry 
at  Sc-ituatc  lot  me  preserve  at  least  this  one  remembrance:  having  his  ordi- 
nation renewed  at  his  entrance  upon  this  new  relation,  he  did  at  that 
solemnity  preach  upon  those  words,  in  Prov.  ix.  3,  *'  Wisdom  hath  sent 
forth  her  maidens:"  and  in  his  discourse,  making  a  most  affectionate 
reflection  upon  his  former  compliances  with  the  temptations  of  the  High 
Commission  Court,  he  said,  with  tears  "Alas,  Christians!  I  am  no  maiden; 
my  soul  hath  been  defiled  with  false  worship;  how  wondrous  is  the  free- 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  I  should  still  be  employed  among  the 
maidens  of  wisdom!" 

Afterwards,  upon  an  invitation  from  his  old  people  at  Ware  to  return 
unto  them,  he  purposed  a  removal  with  his  family  back  to  England ;  but 
when  he  came  to  Boston  in  order  thereunto,  the  overseers  of  Harvard- 
CoUedge  at  Cambridge,  which  now  w^anted  a  President,  by  their  vehement 
importunity,  prevailed  with  him  to  accept  the  government  of  that  society ; 
wherein  worthily  "ch using  their  way,  and  sitting  chief,  and  dwelling 
as  a  King  in  the  midst  of  his  army,"  he  continued  unto  the  day  of  his 
death.  From  this  time  I  behold  him  as  another  Elijah,  shedding  his 
benign  influences  on  the  "school  of  the  prophets;"  and  with  immense 
labours  instructing,  directing,  and  feeding  the  "hope  of  the  flock  in  the 
wilderness."  At  his  instalment,  he  concluded  his  excellent  oration,  made 
unto  a  venerable  assembly,  then  filling  the  Colledge-Hall,  with  such  a 
passage  as  this,  unto  the  students  there:  Doctiorem  certe  Prcesidem,  et  huic 
Oneri  ac  Skitioni  multis  Modis  Ajitiorem,  vobis  facile  licet  Invenire,  sed  Aman- 
ti(/rem^  et  vcstri  Boni  Studiosiorem^  non  Invenietis.^  And  certainly  he  was 
as  good  as  his  word.  How  learnedly  he  now  conveyed  all  the  liberal  arts 
unto  those  that  "sat  at  his  feet;"  how  ivittily  he  moderated  their  disputa- 
tious and  other  exercises;  how  constantly  he  expounded  the  Scriptures  to 
the  Colledge-nall;  how  fluently  he  expressed  himself  unto  them,  with 
Latin  of  a  Terentian  phrase,  in  all  his  discourses;  and  how  carefully  he 
inspeeU'd  their  manners]  and  was  above  all  things  concerned  for  them, 
that  they  might  answer  a  note  which  he  gave  them— ["When  you  are 
your  selves  interested  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  righteousness,  you 
will  be  fit  to  be  teachers  of  others:  Isaiah  cries,  N'ow  send  me!  when  his 
sins  were  pardoned:  but  without  this,  you  are  fit  for  nothing:"]— will 
never  be  forgotten  by  many  of  our  most  worthy  men,  who  were  made 
sHcli  men  by  their  education  under  him:  for  we  shall  find  as  many  of  his 
disciples  in  our  catalogue  of  graduates,  as  there  were  in  that  colledge  of 
bdievcrs  at  Jerusalem,  whereof  we  read  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.     lUit  if  there  were  any  disadvantages  of  an  hmty  temper 

furth.,^;i!;:.'riMirvor?:..ldl  »  r^/^-^"'-^  '•'-'"-"  "-  n'>-'f--<l  better  qualincd  in  mnny  respect, 
11...  .l,.tj  nn.l  Mn.ion,  J..U  could  not  have  found  one  more  atr.ctionate  toward,  jou  or  more  zealous  for  your  good. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


469 


sometimes  in  his  conduct,  tliey  still  were  presently  so  corrected  with  his 
holy  temper,  that  this  did  but  invite  persons  to  think  the  more  of  that 
Elias  to  whom  we  have  compared  him;  and  therefore,  as  they  were  for- 
gotten by  every  one  in  the  very  day  of  them,  they  are  at  this  day  much 
more  to  be  so :  Mr.  Urian  Oakes,  that  preached  his  funeral  sermon,  well 
said,  "The  mention  thereof  was  to  be  wrapped  up  in  Elijah's  mantle." 
But  if  the  whole  country  were  sensible  of  the  blessing  which  all  New- 
England  enjoyed  in  our  Chancey  now  at  Cambridge,  the  church  of  Cam- 
bridge, to  whom  he  now  joined  and  preached,  had  a  very  particular  cause 
to  be  so.  And  50  indeed  they  were;  by  the  same  token,  that  when  he  had 
been  above  a  year  or  two  in  the  town,  the  church  kept  a  whole  day  of 
THANKSGIVING  to  God,  for  the  mercy  which  they  enjoyed  in  his  being  there. 
§  8.  He  was  a  most  indefatigable  student,  which  with  the  blessing  of 
God  rendered  him  a  most  incomparable  scholar.  He  rose  very  early,  about 
four  a  clock,  both  winter  and  summer;  and  he  set  the  scholars  an  example 
of  diligence  hardly  to  be  followed.  But  Bene  Orasse,  est  Bene  Studuisse:* 
by  interweaving  of  constant  prayers  into  his  holy  studies,  he  made  them 
indeed  holy ;  and  my  reader  shall  count,  if  he  pleases,  how  oft  in  a  day 
he  addressed  Heaven  with  solemn  devotions,  and  judge  whether  it  might 
not  be  said  of  our  Charles,  as  it  was  of  Charles  the  Great,  (which  is  indeed 
the  way  to  become  great,)  Carolus  plus  cum  Deo,  quam  cum  Honiinihus 
loquitur ;j-  when  I  have  told  that  at  his  first  getting  up  in  a  morning,  he 
commonly  spent  near  an  hour  in  secret  prayer,  before  his  minding  any 
other  matter;  then  visiting  the  colledge-hall,  he  expounded  a  chapter 
(which  was  first  read  from  the  Hebrew)  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  a  short 
prayer  before,  and  a  long  one  after  his  exposition:  he  then  did  the  like 
upon  another  chapter,  with  a  prayer  before  and  after,  in  his  family:  about 
eleven  a  clock  in  the  forenoon,  he  retired  again  about  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  for  secret  prayer.  At  four  a  clock  in  the  afternoon  he  again  did  the 
like.  In  the  evening  he  expounded  a  chapter  (which  was  first  read  into 
the  Greek)  of  the  New-Testament,  in  the  colledge-hall,  with  a  pra^yer  in 
like  manner  before  and  after;  the  like  he  did  also  in  his  family;  and  when 
the  bell  rang  for  nine  at  night,  he  retired  for  another  hour  of  secret  prayer 
before  the  Lord.  But  on  the  Lord's  day's  morning,  instead  of  his  accus- 
tomed exposition,  he  preached  a  sermon  upon  a  text,  for  about  three-quar- 
ters of  an  hour,  in  the  colledge  hall.  Besides  all  this,  he  often  set  apart 
whole  days  for  prayer  with  fasting  alone  by  himself;  yea,  and  sometimes 
he  spent  whole  nights  in  prayer,  before  the  "Heavenly  Father  who  sees  in 
secret."  Man}?-  days  of  prayer  with  fasting  he  also  kept  with  his  religious 
consort:  and  many  such  days  he  also  kept  with  his  family,  calling  in  the 
company  and  assistance  of  three  or  four  godly  neighbours:  besides  what 
he  did  more  publickly  among  the  people  of  God.  Behold,  how  near  this 
good  man  approached  unto  the  strictest  and  highest  sense  oi praying  always. 

*  To  pray  well,  is  to  study  well.  t  Charles  converses  more  with  God  than  with  men. 


^-^  MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Chrysostom  tells  us  that  Christ  and  Paul  commanded  us  to  make  our 
ivraycrs,  llpaxsia,  xai  •K^.xyag,  xat  s^  0X17WV  (5iaX£(i.xarwv—" short  and  frequent, 
and'  with  little  distances  between  them."  And  Cassianus  mentions  it,  as 
the  universal  consent  of  ancients,  UliUus  censent  Breves  Omtiones,  sed  cre- 
berrimaji  fieri  *  The  prayers  of  our  Chancey  were  such  for  then  frequeyicy, 
whatever  they  might  be  sometimes  for  their  brevity.  Moreover,  'twas  his 
onstant  i)racticc,  not  only  on  the  Lord's  days  in  the  evenings,  but  every 
day,  morning  and  evening,  after  he  had  expounded  a  chapter,  to  examine 
his  children  and  servants  with  some  fit  questions  thereupon.  On  the  Lord's 
(lavs,  once  a  fortnight,  he  preached  publickly  in  the  forenoons:  but  when 
he  did  not  so,  he  had  the  morning  sermon  repeated  at  noon,  and  the  after- 
noon sermon  repeated  at  night,  and  both  the  sermons  repeated  once  more 
in  the  evening,  before  the  next  Lord's  day:  at  which  times  he  still  took 
occasion  to  reinforce  the  more  notable  truths  occurring  in  the  sermons, 
with  pertinent  applications  of  his  own. 

At  this  rate  this  eminent  person  "ran  the  race  that  was  set  before  him:" 
and  though  one  would  have  thought  that  so  laborious  a  race  must  have 
been  quickly  run,  yet,  if  that  may  be  an  encouragement  unto  diligent  fol- 
lowers, let  them  know  that  fourscore  years  of  age  dispatched  it  not;  he 
continued  a  "green  olive  tree"  in  the  "house  of  God,"  long  after  he  was 
gray  headed  for  age;  and  in  his  old  age  he  did  not  leave  off  to  bring  forth 
fruit  unto  the  praise  of  God,  I  find  that  the  law  of  redenq^tion,  in  the  last 
chapter  of  Leviticus,  (in  Hos,  iii.  2,  alluded  unto)  valued  a  man  above 
sixty  but  at  fifteen  shekels;  whereas  a  man  between  twenty  and  sixty  was 
valued  at  (an  homer  of  barley,  or)  no  less  than  fifty  shekels.  But  the 
worth  of  our  Chancey  at  eighty,  continued  much  what  as  it  was  when  he 
was  under  sixty;  and  he  was  a  person  of  great  ivorih  and  use  unto  the  last. 
Lideed,  it  was  his  laudable  ambition  to  be  so.  Whence,  after  age  had 
enfeebled  him,  the  fellows  of  the  colledge  once  leading  this  venerable  old 
man  to  preach  a  sermon  in  a  winter-day,  they,  out  of  affection  unto  him, 
to  discourage  him  from  so  difficult  an  undertaking,  told  him,  "Sir,  you'll 
certainly  die  in  the  pulpit."  But  he  laying  hold  on  what  they  said,  as  if 
they  had  offered  him  the  greatest  encouragement  in  the  world,  pressed  the 
more  vigorously  through  the  snow-drift,  and  said,  "How  glad  should  I 
be,  if  what  you  say  might  prove  true !" 

§  9.  lie  kept  a  diary,  the  loss  of  which  I  cannot  but  mention  with  regret; 
nevertheless,  1  can  report  thus  much  of  it,  that  it  was  methodized  under  the 
heads  of  sins  and  inercies.  Under  the  head  of  sins,  he  took  notice  of  his 
failings,  as  if  he  had  spoken  a  passionate  word,  or  been  dull  and  cold  in 
his  duties,  and  the  like.  Under  the  head  of  mercies,  he  took  notice  of  the 
special  and  more  signal  favours  which  Heaven  bestowed  upon  him.  He 
wa.s  also  very  much  in  meditation,  and  in  that  one  important  kind  and 
part  of  it,  self-examination,  especially  in  his  i^reparations  for  the  Lord's 

•  That  they  ihoiiglil  It  inoet  salulary  to  make  short  prayers,  and  to  make  them  often. 


OE,    THE    niSTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  471 

table.  From  his  diarj  we  have  recovered  a  little  relating  thereunto;  and 
for  a  specimen^  the  reader  shall  here  have  a  few  of  his  notes,  which  he 
entitled, 

SELF-TRIALS  BEFORE  THE   SACRAMENT. 
TRIAL  OF  MY  PART  IJ\r  CHRIST. 

1.  I  am  subject  to  the  commandment  of  believing  on  his  person. 

2.  I  rest  and  rely  upon  hhn  only  for  salvation. 

3.  I  resolve,  by  God's  help,  to  leave  all  for  him. 

4.  All  ray  hopes  are  in  him,  and  he  is  my  peace. 

5.  By  his  spirit  given  me. 

6.  That  I  walk  "  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  spirit." 

7.  By  many  tokens  of  his  love  to  me. 

TRIALS  OF  MY  FAITH. 

1.  By  the  growth  of  it. 

2.  By  theZi/eofit. 

3.  By  the/nn'/s  of  it. 

TRIAL  OF  MY  REPEJ\rTAJVCE. 

By  the  nature  of  it:  that  is,  change  of  mind,  and  my  purpose  to  turn  from  all  sin  to  God; 

"dying  daily  to  sin." 

TRIAL  OF  MY  UPHIOHTJVESS  TOWARDS  GOD. 

1.  My  care  to  keep  his  commandments. 

2.  That  his  "commandments  are  not  grievous  to  me." 

3.  Desire  of  union  with  him,  and  "cleaving  to  him  with  full  purpose  of  heart." 

TRIAL  OF  MY  BROTHERLY  LOVE. 

1.  Not  to  suffer  sin  upon  any  one. 

2.  To  love  all  the  saints  for  truth's  sake. 

3.  Love  of  the  Godly  dead. 

By  reciting  those  qualifications  of  a  Christian,  by  which  this  exem- 
plary Christian  would  examine  himself,  I  have  described  how  exemplarily 
he  himself  was  qualified. 

§  10.  His  conduct  of  himself  in  his  ministry  (wherein  he  preached 
over  the  whole  Gospel  of  John,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  three  Epis- 
tles of  John,  and  largely  handled  the  doctrine  of  Self-denial,  Faith,  Jus- 
tification, Adoption,  Sanctification,  and  many  other  occasional  subjects) 
will  be  most  exactly  apprehended  from  the  council  which  I  find  him  writ- 
ing to  another  minister,  in  a  letter  dated  December  20,  1665. 

"In  your  ministerial  work  (saith  he)  let  me  give  you  a  few  directions: 

"1.  Be  much  in  prayer  to  God:  thereby  you  shall  find  more  succour  and  success  in  your 
ministry,  than  by  all  your  study. 

"  2.  Preach  much  about  the  misery  of  the  state  of  nature,  the  preparatives  to  conversion ; 
the  nature  of  conversion,  or  effectual  calling;  the  necessity  of  union  and  communion  with 
Clirist;  the  nature  of  saving  and  justifying  faith,  and  the  fruits  thereof — love  and  good 
works,  and  sanctification. 

"3.  Explain  the  words  of  your  text  clearly;  bring  clear  proof  of  parallel  scriptures;  let 
your  reasons  be  Scripture-reasons;  but  be  most  in  application;  which  is  spent  in  five  uses, 
refutntion  of  error,  information  of  the  truth,  correction  of  manners,  exhortation  and  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness.  All  which  you  find  in  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17.  And  there  is  a  fifth  use, 
viz :  of  comfort,  1  Cor.  xiv.  3. 


,-0  MAQNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"4  Preach  not  hitrh  n.-tions.  Read  Amos'  Medulla;  and  the  explication  of  1  Cor.  ii.  1  2. 
^■.•itl.^r  u^u-  any  dark  Latin  irords,  or  (iny  drrivcd  thence,  which  poor  people  can't  understand, 
without  explaining  of  them,  so  that  the  poorest  and  simplest  people  may  understand  all. 

"5.  I  advise  you  being  once  in  office  to  catechise  every  Lord's  day  in  the  afternoon,  so  as 
to  go  thn.ugli  the  catechise  once  in  a  year. 

-Finaliv,  be  very  careful  of  scriptural   rules  to  God's   ministers,  'Op^o/xsn/  rov  Xoyov, 

op^ofraiJtrv  xai  5v  wpo^TtffJX^'S  ^poCxaprEpStv."* 

Thus  did  he  advise,  without  occasion  to  make  confession  of  the  poet, 
which  of  all  is  the  most  unhappy  for  the  preacher. 

Monitis  sum  minor  ipse  meiisA 

Ho  was,  indeed,  an  exceeding  plain  preacher,  frequently  saying,  Artis 
est  Celare  Artem;-};.  and  yet  a  more  learned  and  a  more  Ziw??/ preacher  has 
rarely  been  heard.  He  would  therefore  mention  it,  as  a  pious  and  pru- 
dent complaint  of  Reverend  Mr.  Dod,  "That  too  many  ministers  deal  like 
unskilful  archers;  they  shoot  over  the  heads,  and  much  more  over  the 
hearts  of  their  hearers,  and  miss  their  mark,  while  they  soar  so  high  by 
liandling  deep  points;  or  by  using  of  obscure  and  dark  expressions  or 
phrases  in  their  preaching."  But  for  the  preaching  of  our  Chancey,  the 
same  account  may  be  given  of  it  that  Photius  gives  about  the  preaching 
of  Atliana-sius:  la  Sermonibus  uhique  in  Locutione  Clarus  est,  et  JSrevis,  et 
Simplex,  Acidus  tamen  et  Altus,  et  Argumentationibics,  omnio  vehemens,  et  in 
his  Tanta  Libertas,  ut  Admirabilis  sit.% 

§  11.  In  the  eolledge  whereof  he  was  president,  he  did  the  part,  Tx 
9iXav<'pw'n's  xai  (piXo()eji  flfai^suTs — '■^  An  instructor  inspired  with  the  love  of  God 
ami  the  love  of  souls."  But  if  the  reader  expect  any  further  account  of 
this  reverend  man — what  he  loas,  what  he  thought,  and  what  he  preached — ■ 
let  him  give  himself  the  edifying  pleasure  of  reading  what  he  printed. 
But  of  his  printed  composures,  the  more  considerable  were  his  twenty- 
six  sermons  wpon  justification,  published  in  the  year  1659.  On  the  motive 
which  he  mentioned  in  the  preface  thereunto — "  My  particular  employ- 
ment," saith  he,  "wherein  I  hope  that  my  desire  is  to  serve  the  Lord  in 
trutli,  and  to  seek  the  great  benefit  of  youth  and  students,  who  are  to  be 
trained  up,  'Ev  vadsaia  t2  Kupi^i — that  is,  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord — that  may 
})Ut  a  right  understanding  into  them,  hath  moved  me  to  represent  this 
doctrine  (/justification  as  a  standard  of  truth  and  salvation  to  them ;  which 
they  should  hold  fast,  and  as  the  Lord  shall  call  them  thereunto  hold  forth 
in  their  generations."  It  had  been  an  usual  thing  with  him  solemnly  to 
caution  scholars  against  those  doctrines  which  exalt  man  and  debase  Christ: 
and  he  thought  particularly  with  Luther,  Amisso  articulo  justificationis  et 
amissa  est  simul  totci  Doctrina  Christiana.\ 

*  To  divide  riKhlly  Uio  wonl,  to  walk  uprightly,  and  bo  instant  in  prayer. 

+  I  cannot  roach  th..  Mandar.!  of  my  own  admonitions.  %  H  is  the  glory  of  art  to  conceal  the  art. 

J  In  hi-  di«-o..nM-R,  hiH  dlctl..n  is  p,.n.pic s,  trrs...  and  simple:  yet  is  his  reasoning  ingenious,  profound,  and 

powerful,  and  at  Iho  samo  time  conduclinl  with  marvollous  ease. 

I  U-t  the  BiDgle  article  of  Justification  by  Faith  be  loe^  and  the  whole  system  of  Christian  doctrine  is  lost  with  it 


I 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  473 

And  agreeably  to  tliat  caution,  we  have  him,  in  this  his  most  judicious 
treatise,  maintaining — 

"That  justification  is  a  judicial  proceeding,  wherein  the  sentence  of  God  absolves  and 
acquits  the  sinner  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  accepts  him  as  a  just  person  unto  eternal  life. 

"That  the  justification  of  a  sinner  before  God,  in  the  decree  of  it,  in  the  purchase  of  it, 
and  in  the  application  of  it,  is  to  be  ascribed  unto  the  free  grace  of  God,  and  yet  there  is 
also  a  glorious  concurrence  of  strict  justice  thereunto. 

"  That  the  Son  of  God,  condescending  to  be  the  surety  of  his  chosen,  took  their  debt  upon 
himself,  and  by  suffering  the  full  punishment  which  was  due  for  their  sins,  made  that  satis- 
faction unto  the  justice  of  God,  whereupon  we  receive  the  remission  of  sins,  which,  without 
such  a  satisfaction,  had  been  impossible. 

"That  none  of  the  afflictions  which  befal  the  faithful  are  proper  punishments  for  sin,  but 
the  corrective  dispensions  of  a  careful  father,  and  the  sanative  dispensations  of  a  prudent  healer. 

"That  yet  many  Godly  men  smart  for  their  boldness  in  sin:  and  when  Paul  writing  to 
saints,  tells  them,  'If  you  live  after  the  flesh,  you  shall  die,'  he  speaks  not  only  of  tem- 
poral, but  of  eternal  death:  for  though 'tis  not  possible  for  saints  to  die  eternally, 'tis  as 
possible  for  them  to  die  eternally  as  to  sm  eternally. 

"That  we  are  not  justified  by  faith,  as  it  is  a  work  in  us,  nor  is  our  act  of  believing  any 
part  of  the  matter  of  that  righteousness  wherein  we  st.and  righteous  before  God.  But 
faith  does  only  justifie  us  relatively,  or  as  it  has  reference  to  its  object,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  righteousness,  or  as  it  receives  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  or  as 
the  beggar's  hand  receiving  a  bag  of  gold  enricheth  him:  it  is  but  a  passive  instrument; 
and  the  words  of  James, '  That  a  man  is  justified  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  alone,'  do  not 
oppose  the  other  words  of  Paul,  but  only  assert  that  a  justifying  faith  is  in  this  opposed 
unto  a  false  and  dead  faith,  it  will  certainly  be  effectual  to  produce  good  works  in  the  believer. 

"That  believers,  notwithstanding  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  ought  often  to  renew  all 
the  expressions  of  repentance  for  their  sins,  and  still  to  be  fervent  and  instant  in  prayer  for 
pardon;  inasmuch  as  we  have  need  of  having  remission  afresh  applied  unto  us;  and  we  also 
need  the  joys  and  fruits  of  our  pardon,  and  the  grace  to  make  a  right  use  thereof. 

"That  the  whole  obedience  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  active  and  passive,  belongs  to 
that  perfect  righteousness  which  is  required  in  order  to  justification ;  and  this  righteousness 
of  God  is  conveyed  unto  believers  by  way  of  imputation:  it  is  reckoned  and  accounted 
theirs,  upon  their  apprehending  of  it;  which  imputation  is  a  gracious  act  of  God  the  Father, 
whereby  as  a  judge  he  accounts  the  sins  of  the  believer  unto  the  surety,  as  if  he  had 
committed  the  same,  and  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  believer, 
as  if  he  had  performed  that  obedience. 

"That  still  it  follows  not  that  every  believer  is  a  Redeemer  and  a  Saviour  of  others,  as  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  is ;  it  is  the  righteousness  of  the  surety,  and  not  the  suretiship  it 
self, that  is  imputed  unto  the  believer:  the  suretiship  is  proper  unto  our  Lord,  and  because  the 
vertue  which  is  in  the  head  is  communicated  unto  the  members,  'tis  frivolous  thence  to  argue, 
that  every  member  is  thereby  made  an  head,  and  has  the  influence  of  our  head  upon  the  rest. 

"  That  as  Adam  was  the  common  root  of  all  mankind,  and  so  his  first  sin  is  imputed  unto 
all  his  posterity ;  thus  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  common  root  of  all  the  faithful,  and  his 
obedience  is  imputed  unto  them  all." 

This  was  the  old  faith  of  New-England  about  that  most  important 
article  of  jnstijication;  an  article  wherein  all  the  duties  and  comforts  of 
our  holy  religion  are  more  than  a  little  concerned.  And  I  thought  I  could 
not  make  a  fitter  present  unto  the  "sons  of  my  mother,"  than  by  thus 
laying  before  the  scholars  of  Harvard-Colledge  an  abstract  of  what  the 
venerable  old  President  of  that  colledge  left  as  a  legacy  unto  them. 


,-,  MAGNALIA    CIIIUSTI    AMERICANA; 

All  that  I  shall  add  upon  it  is,  that  as  'tis  the  observation  of  our  Dr. 
Owen,  in  hia  most  judicious  book  of  justification: 

•I  am  n.it  satlsfu-d  that  nny  of  those  who  at  present  oppose  this  doctrine,  do  in  holiness 
and  rifrhtoou^ncHH,  and  the  exercise  of  nil  Christian  graces,  surpass  those  who  in  the  last 
tpr»,  both  in  tliis  and  other  nations,  firmly  adherred  unto  it,  and  who  constantly  testified 
unto  thnt  elTwtual  influence  which  it  had  into  their  walking  before  God;  nor  do  I  know 
that  any  can  bo  named  amongst  us  in  the  former  ages,  who  were  eminent  in  holiness,  and 
many  such  then-  were,  who  did  not  cordially  assent  unto  that  which  we  plead  for.  And 
it  dolh  not  }vi  appear  in  general  that  an  attempt  to  introduce  a  doctrine  contrary  unto  it, 
has  had  any  preat  success  in  the  reformation  of  the  lives  of  men." 

So  our  holy  Chancey  was  an  eminent  instance  to  confirm  something  of 
this  observation.  Albeit  he  were  so  elaborately  solicitous  to  exclude  good 
works  from  any  share  in  the  "antecedent  condition  of  our  justification;" 
yet  there  were  few  men  in  the  world  who  more  practically  and  accurately 
acknowledged  the  necessity  of  good  works  in  all  the  justified:  and  so 
afraid  was  he  of  defiling  his  own  soul,  and  of  disturbing  his  own  peace, 
by  the  admission  of  any  known  sin,  that  though  he  made  so  many  stated 
supplications  every  day,  yet,  if  he  had  fallen  into  any  misbecoming  pas- 
sion, or  any  sensible  distemper  or  disorder  of  heart  in  the  day,  it  occa- 
sioned his  immediate  retirement  for  another  prayer  extraordinary  before 
the  I^ord. 

§  11.  I  remember  that  upon  the  article  in  the  praises  of  a  good  man, 
[Psal.  i.  3,]  "lie  brings  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season,"  there  is  a  notable 
gloss  of  Abcn  Ezra,  to  this  purpose:  Anima  Jiationalis, 2^^^na  Saju'eyitice,  in 
Temjwre  Sciicctutis  opportuno,  separatur  a  Corpore,  sicut  Fructus  ah  Arhore, 
d  non  mon'fur  ante  Diem*  Such  a  tree  was  our  Chancey,  and  such  was 
bis  fate.  This  eminent  soldier  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  he  was  come 
to  be  fourscore  years  of  age,  continued  still  to  "endure  hardness  as  a  good 
soldier  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and  still  professed,  with  the  aged  Poly- 
carp,  That  he  "was  not  willing  to  leave  the  service  of  the  Lord,  that  had 
more  than  fourscore  years  been  a  good  master  to  him."  When  his  friends 
presided  him  to  remit  and  abate  his  vast  labours,  he  would  reply,  Oportet 
Imprralnrem  .SVanfcm  7nori;-[  according  he  stood  beyond  expectation,  direct- 
ing in  the  learned  camjy,  where  he  had  been  a  commander.  At  length,  on 
the  commencement  in  the  year  1671,  he  made  a  farewel  oration,  wherein 
be  took  a  solemn  farewel  of  his  friends,  and  then  sent  for  his  children, 
upon  whom  he  bestowed  a  solemn  blessing,  with  fervent  prayers,  com- 
mending  thom  to  the  grace  of  God.  So  like  aged  R.  Simeon,  once  ('tis 
by  .Home  thouglit)  the  president  of  a  college  at  Jerusalem,  he  kept  icaiting 
and  longing  for  his  call,  "to  depart  in  peace!"  Accordinglv  the  end  of 
this  year  proved  the  oiri  of  his  days:  when  illness  growing  upon  him, 
tbc  reverend  ^U.  l>ian  Oakcs,  after  his  requested  supplications,  asked 

•  T>».  rn„nn«l  ..,.1  rl,M.  In  wM-.m.  I,  d.tachod  from  the  body  in  the  fulness  of  years,  like  fruit  from  a  tree, 
and  dm-*  not  prrmaliiiriT  ikt  nli.  .  »  ...  , 

'  T  An  emperor  ought  to  die  standing. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  475 

him  to  give  a  sign  of  his  hopeful  and  joyful  assurances,  if  he  yet  had 
them,  of  his  entering  into  eternal  glory ;  whereat  the  speechless  old  man 
lifted  up  his  hands,  as  high  towards  heaven  as  he  could  lift  them,  and  so 
his  renewed  and  ripened  soul  flew  thither,  February  19,  1671,  in  the 
eighty-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  president- 
ship over  Harvard-Colledge.  He  left  behind  him  no  less  than  six  sons: 
every  of  which  had  received  the  laurels  of  degrees  in  the  colledge ;  and 
some  of  them  from  the  hands  of  their  aged  father.  Their  names  were 
Isaac,  Ichabod,  Barnabas,  Nathanael  and  Elnathan,  (which  two  were  twins) 
and  Israel.  All  of  these  did,  while  they  had  opportunity,  preach  the  gos- 
pel ;  and  most^  if  not  all  of  them,  like  their  excellent  father  before  them, 
had  an  eminent  skill  in  physicJc  added  unto  their  other  accomplishments; 
which,  like  him,  they  used  for  the  good  of  many ;  as  indeed  it  is  well 
known  that,  until  two  hundred  years  ago,  physick  in  England  was  no  pro- 
fession distinct  from  divinity ;  and  accordingly  princes  had  the  same  per- 
sons to  be  their  physicians  and  their  confessors.  But  only  two  of  them  are 
now  living;  the^ir^^  and  the  last:  the  one  in  England,  the  other  in  New- 
England  ;  Isaac,  now  a  pastor  of  a  church  in  London,  and  an  author  of 
several  well  known  treatises;  Israel,  now  a  pastor  of  a  church  in  our 
Stratford,  where  he  is  at  this  day  a  rich  blessing  to  the  colony  of  Connec- 
ticut. The  happy  mother  of  these  worthy  sons  was  Catharine,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Eobert  Eyre,  Esq.,  who,  dying  a  little  before  her  consort,  had  her 
holy  life  quickly  after  published;  namely,  by  the  publication  of  the 
directions  for  an  holy  life^  which  her  pious  father  left  as  a  legacy  for  his 
children :  directions  whereof  I  shall  say  but  this,  that  as.  they  express  the 
true  spirit  of  Puritanism,  so  they  comprise  the  wisest,  the  fruitfullest, 
the  exactest,  and  the  holiest  rules  of  living  that  ever  I  saw  together  in  any 
short  human  composure;  and  the  reprinting  of  them  would  not  only  give 
a  description  of  the  heavenly  conversation  endeavoured  by  our  great 
Charles  Chancey,  whom  we  have  hitherto  been  considering,  but  also  pro- 
cure the  admiration,  if  not  imitation,  of  them  that  read  it. 

§  12.  New-England  having  enjoyed  such  a  privilege,  and  such  a  presi- 
dent as  our  Chancey,  governing  a  college,  I  will  conclude  this  account 
thereof  with  certain  passages  which  this  reverend  man  published  in  a  ser- 
mon, on  Amos  ii.  11 — "I  raised  up  of  your  sons  for  prophets,  and  of  your 
young  men  for  Nazarites," — preached  at  Cambridge  the  day  after  one  of 
the  commencements: 

"God  hath  wonderfully  erected  schools  of  learning,  and  means  of  education  for  our  chil- 
dren, that  there  might  be  continually  some  comfortable  supply  and  succession  in  the  ministry. 
Is  it  not  so,  O  ye  people  of  God  in  New-England!  But  then  let  me  testify  against  you  in 
the  Lord's  name,  for  great  unthankfulness  to  the  Lord  for  so  great  a  mercy.  The  great 
blessing  of  a  painful  ministry  is  not  regarded  by  covetous  earth  worms;  neither  do  the 
schools  of  learning,  that  afford  oyl  to  the  lamps,  come  into  their  thoughts,  to  praise  the  Lord 
for  them.  Or,  some  little  good  they  apprehend  in  it,  to  have  a  minister  to  spend  the  Sabbath, 
and  to  baptize  their  children,  and  keep  them  out  of  harm's  way,  or  teach  them  to  write  and 


_j-^  MAONALIA    CIIRISTl    AMERICANA; 

Ktul,  nnd  i-n-Ht  nccunta;  but  Ihey  despise  tlie  angeTs  bread,  and  count  it  light  shif  in  com- 
pamun  of  ollu-r  tliintps  ve.-i,  tliere  be  many  in  the  eountry  that  account  it  their  happiness  to 
live  in  the  viuit  howlin-;  wilderness,  witiiout  any  ministry  or  schools,  and  means  of  education 
for  llioir  poHterity;  they  have  much  liberty,  they  think,  by  this  want.  Surely  their  practice 
about  Uu'ir  children  is  little  better  than  the  merciless  and  unnatural  profaneness  of  the  Israel- 
iU's  'tliat  wu-rificed  their  sons  and  their  daughters  unto  devils!'  And  many  make  wicked 
rvlunis  of  thesk'  blessinjfs,  and  fearfully  abuse  them,  and  seek  what  they  can  to  weary  out 
n»ini«tem,  and  pull  down  schools  of  learning,  or,  which  is  all  one,  deny  or  withhold  mainte- 
nance fri.in  them;  as  (fi.ud  as  to  8;iy  'Rase  them,  rase  them  to  the  foundations!'  But  how 
exoeedinj,'  hateful  unto  the  Lord  is  this  unthankfuhiess!  Do  you  thus  requite  the  Lord,  ye 
foolish  jM'ople  and  unwise? 

"  Hut  then  let  scholars  mainly  intend,  labour,  and  study  for  this;  to  be  prophets  and  Naz- 
«rites:  ami  therefore  let  sjieaking  to  edilication,  exhortation,  and  comfort  be  aimed  at  in  all 
your  studies;  and  behave  your  selves  as  being  set  apart  in  peculiar  manner  for  the  Lord. 
To  use  the  'vessels  of  the  temple'  to  quaff  and  carouse  in,  was  a  Babylonish  practice.  You 
should  have  less  to  do  with  the  world  and  worldly  delights,  and  be  less  cumbred  than  others 
wiUi  the  affairs  of  this  life." 

All  that  we  will  add  of  this  good  old  man,  shall  be  the  epitaph,  which 
is  now  to  be  read  on  his  tomb-stone  in  Cambridge : 

Conditum  hie  est  Corpus, 

CAROLI    CHAUNCiEI, 

S.  S.   Theologim  Baccalaur. 

ET 

Collegii  Harvardini  Nov-Angl.  Per  XVII.  Annorum  Spacium  Prtcsidis   Vigilantissimi, 

Viri  Plane  lutegerrimi,  Concioriatoris  Eximii,  Pietate 

Pariter  ac  Libcrali  Eriditionc  Ornatissimi. 

Qui  Obiit  in  Domino,  Feb.  XIX.  An.  Dom.  M.DC.LXX.I. 

Et  ^tatis  sua,  LXXX.II.* 


CHAPTER  III?. 

lUCAS;t  THE  LIFE  OF  MR.  JOHN  FISK. 

'laT^off  ya^  av>]p  coXXuv  dvra^ioff  aXXcov4 

§  1.  Among  the  most  famous  preachers  and  writers  of  the  gospel  with 
which  the  primitive  church  was  blessed,  there  was  "Luke,  the  beloved 
physician ;"  of  whom  Jerom  elegantly  says,  Quomodo  ApostoU  cle  Piscatori- 
huspxscium,  Piscatores  Ilomimim  fadi  sunt,  ita  de  Medico  Corporum  in  Med- 
icnm  Vcrsis  est  Animarum;  cnjus  Liber  quotiescunque  legitur  in  JEcclesiis, 
toues  Mcihcmn  non  cessat:^  that  blessed  scholar  and  collegue  of  the  Apostle 

f  A  piiysician  is  worth  many  common  men. 
I  Ai  «p<i«lJr«  W(«re>c<invprtr«l  fW)m  flj-licrmi'M  Inldllslirnii.f  m...,  o„  I    i      ,•  .      . 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  477 

Paul,  who  (as  Jerom  also  tells  us)  according  to  tlie  opinion  of  some,  intends 
the  volume  which  had  been  penned  by  this  Luke,  as  often  as  he  uses  that 
expression  in  his  epistles,  "according  to  my  gospel." 

And  among  the  first  preachers  and  writers  which  rendered  the  primi- 
tive times  of  New-England  happy,  there  was  one  who  might  likewise  be 
called  "a  beloved  physician;"  one  to  whom  there  might  also  be  given  the 
eulogy  which  the  ancients  think  was  given  to  Luke,  "  a  brother  whose  praise 
was  in  the  gospel  throughout  all  churches." 

This  was  Mr.  John  Fisk. 

§  2.  Mr.  John  Fisk  was  born  in  the  parish  of  St.  James  (called  for  dis- 
tinction "one  of  the  nine  parishes")  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  about  the 
year  1601,  of  pious  and  worthy  parents,  yea,  of  grand-parents  and  great- 
grand-parents  eminent  for  zeal  in  the  true  religion.  There  were  six 
brothers  in  the  infamous  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  whereof  three  were  Papists 
and  three  were  Protestants — I  may  say  Puritans;  and  of  the  latter  (whereof 
none  were  owned  by  the  former)  two  were  sorely  persecuted.  For  one  of 
these  brethren,  the  pursevant  having  a  kindness,  gave  him  a  private  and 
previous  notice  of  his  coming  with  an  order  to  seize  him;  whereupon  the 
good  man  first  called  his  family  to  prayer,  hastned  away  to  hide  himself 
in  a  ditch,  with  his  godly  wife,  which  had  a  sucking  child  at  her  breast. 
The  pursevant  being  near  at  hand,  a  thorn  in  the  hedge  gave  such  a  marh 
to  the  child's  face,  as  never  went  out;  whereat  the  child  beginning  to  roar, 
the  mother  presently  clapt  it  to  the  breast,  whereby  it  was  quieted  at  once, 
and  there  was  no  discovery  then  or  after  made  of  these  confessors.  An- 
other of  these  brethren,  from  whom  our  Fisk  was  descended,  was  then  (to 
avoid  burning)  hid  many  months  in  a  wood-pile;  and  afterwards,  for  half 
a  year  in  a  cellar,  where  he  diligently  employed  himself  in  profitable  man- 
ufactures; by  candle  light,  after  such  a  manner  as  to  remain  likewise  undis- 
covered ;  but  his  many  hardships  brought  that  excessive  bleeding  upon  him, 
tliat  shortned  his  days,  and  added  unto  the  cry  of  the  "  souls  under  the  altar." 

§  3.  Our  John  was  the  eldest  of  four  children,  all  of  whom  afterwards 
came  to  New-Englaftd  with  him,  and  left  a  posterity  with  whom  God 
established  his  holy  covenant.  His  parents  having  devoted  him  unto  the 
service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  sent  him  first  unto  a  grammar- 
school,  two  miles  from  the  place  of  their  abode,  whither  his  diligent  sold 
was,  instead  of  ivings,  every  day  to  carry  him.  His  education  at  the 
school  having  fitted  him  for  the  university,  he  went  unto  Cambridge, 
where  he  was  admitted  into  (as  I  think)  Immanuel  College,  in  which  he 
resided  until  he  became  a  graduate.  Some  time  after  this,  being  both  by 
art  and  by  heart  well  prepared  for  it,  he  applied  himself  unto  the  work  to 
which  he  had  been  devoted;  namely,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel;  but 
the  silencers  grew  so  hard  upon  him  for  his  non-conformity,  that  upon  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  he  set  himself  to  study  jphysich,  and  upon  a  thor- 
ou'i^h  examination,  he  obtained  a  licence  for  publick  practice.     When  he 


.^Q  m\(;nalia  ciiiusTi   am  eric  an  A; 

waa  about  eight  and  twenty  years  of  age,  lie  married  a  vertuous  young 
gcnllcwoinun ;  several  hundreds  of  pounds  of  whose  patrimony  were  denied 
bcr  upon  the  displca^^ure  of  her  father,  at  her  coming  to  New-England. 

But  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  who  had  committed  unto  him  the 
care  of  his  mother  and  his  two  sisters,  and  his  youngest  brother,  he 
thought  it  his  duly  to  remove  into  New-England^  where  he  saw  an  oppor- 
tunity of  returning  unto  the  quiet  exercise  of  his  ministry.  lie  and  that 
excellent  man  ^[r.  John  Allin  came  aboard  in  a  disguise,  to  avoid  the  fury 
of  their  iKTseeutors;  but  after  they  were  past  the  Land's-end,  they  enter- 
tained the  passengers  with  two  sermons  every  day,  besides  other  agreeable 
devotions,  which  tilled  the  voyage  with  so  much  of  religion,  that  one  of 
tiie  passengers  being  examined  about  his  going  to  divert  himself  with  an 
hook  and  line,  on  the  Lord's  day,  he  protested,  "that  he  did  not  know 
when  the  Lord's  day  was;  he  thought  every  day  was  a  Sabbath  day; 
for,"  he  said,  "they  did  nothing  but  pray  and  preach  all  the  week  long." 

§  4.  Mr.  Fisk  arrived  in  Nt^w-England  in  the  year  1637,  having  had 
nothing  to  render  the  voyage  uncomfortable,  but  only  that  his  aged  mother 
died  quickly  after  he  came  aboard,  and  his  only  infant  quickly  after  he 
came  ashore.  lie  came  well  stocked  with  servants,  and  all  sorts  of  tools 
for  husbandry  and  carpentry,  and  with  provisions  to  support  his  family 
in  a  wilderness  for  three  years  together;  out  of  which  he  charitably  lent 
a  considerable  quantity  to  the  country,  which  he  then  found  in  the  dis- 
tresses of  a  war  with  the  Pequot  Indians.  He  now  sojourned  about  three 
years  at  Salem,  where  he  was  both  a  preacher  to  the  church,  and  a  tutor 
unto  divers  young  scholars  (whereof  the  well-known  Sir  George  Downing 
was  one)  as  he  was  afterwards  unto  his  own  children,  when  the  want  of 
grammar-schools  at  hand  made  it  necessary.  From  thence  he  removed 
unto  a  place  adjoining  thereunto,  which  is  now  called  Wenham :  where 
on  October  8,  1644,  a  church  was  gathered,  of  which  he  continued  the 
pastor  in  that  place  for  more  than  twice  seven  years:  contented  with  a 
very  mean  salary,  and  consuming  his  own  fair  estate  for  the  welfare  of 
the  new  plantation. 

§  o.  About  the  year  1656  he  removed  with  the  major  part  of  his 
church  to  anotiier  new  town,  called  Chelmsford;  and  there  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  days.  Of  the  afllictions  which  now  disciplined  him,  one 
of  the  saddest  was  the  loss  of  his  concordance;  I  mean,  of  his  godly  and 
worthy  consort,  who  by  her  incomparable  expertness  in  the  Scriptures  had 
rendred  any  other  concordance  of  the  Bible  useless  unto  his  library. 
Tins  vertuous  woman  lost  her  sight  for  some  years  before  she  died;  under 
which  dis;uster  a  most  exemplary  patience  was  produced  in  her,  by  her 
view  of  "the  things  which  are  not  seen  and  arc  eternal:"  and  at  length, 
after  many  admonitions  unto  her  friends  to  improve  their  sight  well  whilst 
they  had  it,  she  had  on  February  14,  1671,  her  eyes  opened,  by  their  being 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  479 

dosed;  and  was  by  death  carried  from  faith  unto  immediate  and  everlast- 
ing sight:  after  which  he  married  again. 

§  6.  Twenty  years  did  he  shine  in  the  "golden  candlestick"  of  Chelms- 
ford; a  plain,  but  an  able,  painful,  and  useful  preacher  of  the  gospel; 
rarely,  if  ever,  by  sickness  hindred  from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 
As  Marcilius  Ficinus  having  written  one  book,  "i)e  Sanitate  Tuenda,^'^  and 
another  book,  "i>e  Valetudine  Restituenda,^'' \  concluded  his  course  with 
writing  his  book,  "i)e  Vita  Ccelitus  Comparande :'" X  thus  our  Mr.  Fisk, 
now  superseded  his  care  and  skill  of  dispensing  medicines  for  the  body, 
by  doing  it  for  the  soul.  But  although  he  did  in  his  ministry  go  through 
an  exposition  of  almost  all  the  Scripture  in  both  Testaments,  and  unto 
his  Lord's  day  sermons  added  a  monthly  lecture  on  the  week-day,  besides 
his  discourses  at  the  private  meetings  of  the  faithful,  and  his  exact  and 
faithful  cares  to  keep  up  church-discipline,  yet  none  of  his  labours  were 
more  considerable  than  his  catechetical.  It  is  by  the  excellent  Owen 
excellently  well  observed,  "That  unless  a  man  has  some  good  satisfaction 
concerning  the  spiritual  condition  of  those  that  are  committed  unto  his 
charge,  he  can  never  approve  himself  among  them  a  loorhnan  that  need^eth 
not  to  he  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth:  and  the  work  of  the 
ministry  is  not  by  any  means  more  evacuated,  and  rendered  ineffectual, 
than  when  men  have  not  a  certain  design  to  deal  with  their  hearers 
J'acording  to  what  they  are  perswaded  that  their  spiritual  estate  doth 
require."  Our  Fisk  therefore  did,  by  most  laborious  catechising,  endeav- 
our to  know  the  state  of  his  flock,  and  make  it  good:  and  hence,  although 
he  did  himself  compose  and  publish  a  most  useful  catechism,  which  he 
entituled,  "TAe  Olive  Plant  Watered,^^  yet  he  chose  the  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism for  his  publick  expositions,  wherewith  he  twice  went  over  it,  in 
discourses  before  his  afternoon-sermons  on  the  Sabbath. 

§  7.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  he  hegari  to  labour  especially  under 
two  maladies,  either  of  which  were  enough  to  try  the  most  consummate 
patience  of  any  man  living;  these  were,  first,  the  stone,  and  then  the  gout; 
which  at  last  were  followed  with  convulsions,  that  brought  his  laborious 
life  unto  an  end;  and  gave  him  the  experience  of  Streitbergerus'  motto 
Qui  non  est  Crucianv^  non  est  Christianus.  §  Yea,  for  a  complication  of 
maladies,  his  condition  became  not  unlike  the  blessed  Calvin's,  of  whom 
the  historian  relates,  "That  he  was  troubled  with  as  many  infirmities  as 
in  dift'erent  subjects  might  have  supplied  an  hospital." 

On  the  second  Lord's  day  of  his  confinement  by  illness,  after  he  had 
been  many  Lord's  days  carried  unto  the  church  in  a  chair,  and  preached, 
as  in  the  primitive  times  they  still  treated,  sitting,  he  was  taken  with  con- 
vulsions, which  renewed  so  fast  upon  him,  that  within  a  few  days  he  did, 
on  January  14,  1676,  see  a  "rest  from  his  labours:"  having  first  after  this 

•  On  the  preservation  of  health.  +  On  the  receiving  of  health. 

X  On  the  attainment  of  life  eternal.  §  He  who  is  not  crucified,  is  no  Christian. 


^^  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

manner  blessed  his  four  cliildren,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  who  were 
by  his  K-d-sidc  waiting  for  his  blessing:  "You  are  as  a  shock  of  corn 
bound  uj^  or  as  twins  made  beautiful  by  the  covenant  of  grace.  You 
have  nn  interest  in  the  sure  mercies  of  David;  those  you  have  to  live 
upon.  Study  to  emulate  one  another;  but  in  the  best,  in  the  best.  Pro- 
voke one  another  to  love.  The  God  of  your  forefathers  bless  you  all." 
And  added  unto  his  younger  son,  the  present  worthy  pastor  of  Braintree. 
concerning  his  wife  and  his  two  children,  then  absent,  "The  God  of  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob,  bless  you,  and  your  posterity  after  you." 
\\\-  w  ill  now  leave  him,  uttering  the  words  of  Weinrichius,  in  his 

EPITAPH. 

Vixi,  et  qnetn  dederas  cursum  mihi,  Christe,  peregi: 
Fertccsus   Vila,  suaviter  opto  mori.* 


8  C 11  0  L  A  S  T  1  C  U  S:t    THE    LIFE    OF    MR.   THOMAS    PARKER. 

§  1.  It  inuy  without  any  ungrateful  comparisons  be  asserted,  that  one 
of  the  greatest  scholars  in  the  English  nation  was  that  renowned  Robert 
Parker  who  was  driven  out  of  the  nation  for  his  non-conformity  to  its 
unhapjiy  ceremonies  in  the  worship  of  God.  It  was  the  honour  of  that 
great  man  to  be  i\\e  father  of  such  learned  books  as  that  of  his  "i)e  Poli- 
tia  Ecdesiaslica,^''  X  and  that  "  Of  the  Cross f^  as  well  as  foster  father  to  that 
of  Sand  ford's  "i>c'  Descensu  Christi  ad  Inferos  ;''^%  yea,  to  be  in  some  sort 
the  falJier  of  all  the  non-conformists  in  our  age,  who  yet  would  not  call 
any  man  ihcW  father.  But  let  it  not  be  counted  any  dishonour  unto  him 
that  he  was  also  the  natural /ai^er  of  our  Thomas  Parker. 

§  2.  This  Mr.  Thomas  Parker  was  the  only  son  of  his  father,  who  being 
very  desirous  to  have  him  a  scholar,  committed  him  unto  perhaps  a  godly, 
but  a  very  severe  master.  Under  this  hard  master,  though  he  was  well 
nigh  discouraged  by  the  dulness  which  he  apprehended  in  his  own  capa- 
city, yet  the  consideration  of  his  fiither's  desire  made  him,  with  an  early 
piety,  to  join  his  prayers  unto  his  pains,  that  he  might  have  his  education 
prospered ;  and  God  so  prospered  him,  that  he  arrived  unto  a  desirable 
degree  of  knowledge,  both  in  the  tongues  and  in  the  arts. 

§3.  He  had  been  admitted  into  Magdalen  Colledge  in  Oxford;  but 
after  the  e.xile  of  his  father,  he  removed  unto  Dublin  in  Ireland,  where 
he  found  from  Dr.  Usher  the  same  fovourable  aspect  which  that  eminent 
person  did  use  to  cast  upon  young  students  that  were  ingenious:    and 

*  fl'Iror'^l".". "h*"^. T'  "^r  » T"  "  ''""" '■  +  '^'"^  Scl'ool-mnn.  t  On  Ecclesiastic!  Polity. 

I  .iKt.  for  roM :  oh !  I.ko  me  to  thi..u  own.  j  Ou  the  Descent  of  Christ  into  Hell. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


481 


from  thence  lie  went  after  his  father  into  Holland,  where  Dr.  Ames 
favoured  him  with  his  encouragements  and  assistances  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  honest  studies  now  at  Leyden. 

§  4.  As  his  diligence  was  indefatigable,  so  his  proficiency  was  propor- 
tionable :  and  he  was  particularly  considerable  there  for  his  disputations 
upon  the  points  then  most  considerably  controverted.  It  was  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  that  he  drew  up  his  most  judicious  and  approved  theses, 
"X)e  Tradxidione  Peccatoris  :''*  which  were  bound  up  with  Dr.  Ames,  his 
^^  Opu.scula,"^  in  some  editions  of  his  answer  to  Grevinchovius.  Those 
most  accurate  Theses  being  thus  published  as  the  composure  of  another, 
our  humble  Parker,  though  instigated  thereunto,  did  yet  refuse  to  do  him- 
self the  justice  of  publishing  himself  some  other  way  to  be  the  author  of 
them.  This  neglect  of  his,  he  said,  was  to  chastise  the  "vanity  of  his 
own  young  mind,  which  had  been  too  much  pleased  with  the  accuracy  of 
his  own  early  performance  in  those  theses."  But  the  author  of  the  theses 
afterwards  came  to  be  well  known,  by  the  providence  of  God,  when  whole 
books  came  to  be  written  by  learned  men  upon  them ;  whereof  one  was 
entituled,  ^^  Parkerus  lllustratus.''''^. 

But  before  this  age  of  twenty-two,  he  proceeded  master,  with  the  gen- 
eral applause  of  all,  and  the  special  esteem  of  Maccovius,  a  man  renowned 
in  the  Belgick  universities.  In  the  diploma  then  given  him,  they  testifie. 
Ilium  non  sine  magna  Admiratione  audiverimus^ — and  Se  Philosophice 
Artiumque  liber alium  peritissimum  declaraverit.^ 

§  5.  Maccovius  would  hereupon  have  had  Sibrandus  Lubbertus,  the 
moderator  of  the  Classis  there,  to  have  ordained  our  Parker  a  Presbyter, 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  his  exceeding  worth;  but  though  Lubbertus 
could  not  but  acknowledge  it,  yet,  out  of  a  secret  grudge,  he  would  not 
allow  of  the  ordination.  Whereupon  Maccovius  rode  unto  the  states  at 
Leodin,  with  complaints  of  Lubbertus  for  so  ill  a  thing  as  letting  such  a 
person  as  this  Parker  go  away  under  any  cloud  of  disrespect;  and  the 
states  thereupon  wrote  unto  Lubbertus  to  admit  him:  but  the  haste  of 
his  return  into  England  prevented  it. 

§  6.  Residing  at  Newberry  in  England,  he  applied  himself  with  an 
invincible  industry  unto  the  study  of  "school  divinity:"  in  whi-ah  pro- 
found and  knotty  study  he  found  such  "ensnaring  temptations,"  that  he 
afterwards  laid  it  all  aside,  for  the  "knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  crucified." 
The  wise  Bullinger  would  with  too  much  reason  say,  Unus  Seneca  i^lus  sin- 
ceriora  Theologice  posteritati  reliqidt,  quam  omnes  fer  omnium  Scholasticorum 
Lihri.  \  The  great  Chamier  would  with  a  like  reason  say,  Solere  se  Scho- 
lasticos  co7isulere,  non  aliter  quain  si  quis  aliqnando  palatium  invisens,  post 
Aidaruni,  ciibiculorum  et  ccenaculorum  magnificentiatn  etiani  Latrinas  non 

*  On  the  Conversion  of  the  Sinner.  +  His  smaller  works.  %  Parker  Illustraled.  [arts. 

§  We  have  listened  to  him  with  no  little  admiration,  and  he  has  proved  himself  most  proficient  in  the  liberal 
I  One  Seneca  has  left  more  pure  theologic  maxims  to  posterity  than  can  be  found  in  the  great  mass  of  all 
the  writings  of  the  scholastics. 

Vol.  L— 31 


^g2  MAGN'ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

d^ign^tur  ins^icere,  sed  paucis,  obMorem.*  The  learned  Whitaker  would 
sav  of  the  ^cl.o<.l•Tnen,  Plus  habcnt  Argutiarum  quam  ^Scienhce,  plus  bcienti(B 
m'uim  Ihctriwr,  ph,s  Dncfrhia-  quam  usks,  plii^  nsus  quam  sapientice  ad  salu- 
temf  Our  Parker  conversed  indeed  with  the  school-men,  until  he  almost 
becnmo  one  of  them  himself:  but  not  such  an  one  as  Luther  meant,  when  he 
said  Qui  rhei>ln']um  Schola^stwnm  v{de\  videt  Septein peccata  Tnortalia.i  for  he 
CTCW  sick  of  all"  the  learning  that  he  had  got  from  the  school-men;  and 
would  often  say,  "AH  the  use  I  now  make  of  all  my  school-learning  is 
this:  I  have  so  much  to  deny  for  the  sake  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Nor  was  he  insensible  of  what  Sir  Walter  Rawleigh  observed  concerning 
the  school-men,  that  they  taught  their  followers  rather  to  shift,  than  to 
resolve  by  their  distinctions. 

8  7.  From  thence  removing  with  several  devout  Christians  out  of  Wilt- 
shire into  New-England,  lie  was  ordained  their  pastor  at  a  town  (on  his 
and  their  account)  called  Newberry;  where  he  lived  many  years,  by  the 
holiness,  the  humbleness,  the  charity  of  his  life,  giving  his  people  a  per- 
petual and  most  lively  commentary  upon  his  doctrine. 

§  8.  The  strains  which  his  immoderate  studies  gave  unto  his  organs  of 
sight,  brought  a  miserable  defluxion  of  rheum  upon  his  eyes;  which  pro- 
ceeded so  far,  that  one  of  them  swelled  until  it  came  out  of  his  head,  and 
the  other  grew  altogether  dim  some  years  before  his  death.  Under  this 
extreme  loss  he  would,  after  a  Christian  and  pleasant  manner,  give  him- 
self that  consolation:  "Well,  they'll  be  restored  shortly,  at  the  resur- 
rection." 

The  Jews,  upon  the  dim  sight  of  Eli,  have  an  observation,  that  none 
are  mentioned  in  the  Scripture,  as  afflicted  with  failure  of  sight,  but  such 
as  were  afllicted  either  in  their  children  or  in  their  pnqnls.  Our  Parker 
had  no  children  to  afllict  him,  and  his  pupils  were  such  as  to  comfort 
him ;  yet  failure  of  sight  was  his  calamity. 

§  9.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he  bent  himself  unto  the  study  of 
the  Scripture-prophecies ;  being,  as  has  been  said  of  Dr.  Usher,  instigated 
thereunto.  It  was  with  an  assiduous  conjunction  of  meditations  and  sup- 
plications that  he  followed  this  delightful  study  till  he  had  written  sev- 
eral volumes,  a  great  part  of  them  in  Latin ;  whereof  no  part  was  ever 
pubhshcd  but  one  upon  Daniel,  which  he  wrote  in  English.  If  some  of 
his  expositions  upon  those  difficult  parts  of  the  Scripture,  have  been 
since  confuted  by  some  great  authors,  who  disliked  them,  we  may,  on 
more  accounts  than  one,  consider  \nn\  as  the  Homer  of  New-England; 
and  add, 

Aliqunndo  Bonus  Dormitat  Ilomerus.^ 

•  llo  Konrrnlly  cnn.i.ltrd  ihr  8cl.olm.tlc  writers,  aftpr  the  mnnnfir  of  a  person  who,  visiting  a  palace,  should  not 
dMtin,  .ft.T  hiivln*  ..irv,.,.^  ll.o  mmfi.iflcoi.ee  ofgul.K,.,,  chaml.or,  and  dining-hall,  to  inspect  the  meanest  apart- 
menu  of  th.-  »culllnn :  In  othiT  words  Kpnringly,  on  account  of  their  oflensiveness. 

t  Tliry  hove  morr  wit  than  knowledge,  more  knowledge  than  learning,  more  learning  than  experience,  more 
exprrirnrr  than  wiMjom  unto  salvation. 

J  To  •«>  «  thooloKicnl  srhool-man,  ii  to  iee  the  seven  deadly  sins. 

I  t*oraFtlnii«  the  matchless  llumcr  seems  lo  nod. — Horacx,  Ars  Poet.  359. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  433 

§  10.  He  went  unto  the  immortals,  in  the  month  of  April,  1677,  about 
the  eighty  second  year  of  his  age ;  and  after  he  had  lived  all  his  days  a 
single  7nan,  but  a  great  part  of  his  days  engaged  in  ajMcalyptical  studies, 
he  went  unto  the  apocalyptical  virgins,  who  "  follow  the  Lamb  whither- 
soever he  goes." 

He  was  a  person  of  a  most  extensive  charity,  which  grain  of  his  temper 
might  contribute  to  that  largeness  in  his  principles  about  church-govern- 
ment, which  exposed  him  unto  many  temptations  amongst  his  neighbours, 
who  were  not  so  principled.  He  would,  indeed,  express  himself  dissatis- 
fied at  the  edge  which  there  was  in  the  writings  of  his  father  against 
the  Bishops;  and  he  did  himself  write  a  preface  unto  a  book,  where- 
upon Mr.  Charles  Chancey  bestowed  a  short  answer,  which  begins  with 
this  shorter  censure: 

"Let  it  not  be  an  offence  to  any  Christian  that  there  hath  been  found  one  like  to  Urijah 
tlie  priest,  that  would  set  up  the  altar  of  Damascus  among  us,  to  thrust  out  the  brazen 
altar  of  the  Lord's  institution;  viz:  Mr.  Thomas  Parker,  who  has  published  a  book,  plead- 
ing for  Episcopacy ;  wherein  is  found,  IluKog  Xali^wv,  a  colt  kicking  against  his  dam." 

Such  a  difference  in  apprehension,  and  in  affection  too,  did  on  that 
occasion  discover  it  self  between  those  good  men,  who  are  now  joyfully 
met,  JJbi  Luthi  Luthero  cum  Zuiiiglio,  optirae  jam  Convenit* 

Yet  the  alienation  between  them  was  not  so  great  as  that  between  The- 
oclus  and  Pollinis,  who,  being  burnt  in  one  funeral  fire,  after  they  had 
killed  one  another,  the  very  flame  of  that  fire  divided  it  self;  the  flame 
of  their  funeral  fire  would  not  be  united.  Chancey  and  Parker  are  united 
in  our  church-histor}^ ;  the  funeral  respects  which  are  here  paid  unto  both 
of  them,  agree  very  well  together.     Now, 

That  which  the  learned,  pious,  and  sweet-spirited  Bucholtzer  provided 
for  himself,  we  will  now  assign  unto  this  our  sweet-spirited  Parker  (who 
spent  his  life  much  in  chronological  studies,  like  that  great  Bucholtzer,) 
for  an 

EPITAPH. 
Hie,  Pie  Christie .'   Tuo  rcciilat  quasita  cruore, 

Inque;   Tuo  Gremio,  Parmila  dormit  Ovis. 
Reddidit  hcec  Animam  balanti  Voce  Fidelern: 

Huic  Pastor  dices,  Intret  Ovile  meum.t 


AN    APPENDIX. 

CONTAIJVIIVG     MEMOIRS     OF    MR.     JAMES    JfOYES. 

When  we  had  thus  finished  our  Memoirs  of  Mr,  Parker,  our  second 
thoughts  told  us,  that  some  of  Mr.  Noyes  must  accompany  them.  Send- 
ing therefore  to  my  excellent  friend,  Mr.  Nicholas  Noyes,  the  present 

•  Where  now  for  Luther  to  commune  in  Zingle  is  the  joy  of  both. 

t  Jksus  !  thy  lamb,  blood-purchased,  on  thy  breast    I  Soon,  soon  to  hear,  in  heavenly  accents  told, 

Is  sweetly  sleeping — in  confiding  rest ;  |  A  peaceful  welcome  to  the  Shepherd's  fold. 


^^  MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

minister  of  Salem,  for  some  account  concerning  a  person  so  nearly  related 
unto  him,  he  favourt-.l  me  witli  the  following  relation.  And  though  he 
were  plcalod  in  his  letters  to  tell  me,  "that  he  had  sent  me  only  a  rude 
immethodical  jumble  of  things,  intending  that  I  should  serve  my  occa- 
sions out  of  them,  for  a  composition  of  my  own,"  yet  I  find  that  I  shall 
not  give  my  readers  a  better  satisfaction,  any  way,  than  by  transcribing 
the  words  of  my  friend.  The  account,  in  his  own  Avords,  is  too  elegant 
and  expressive  to  need  any  alteration: 

»>fr.  J:imcs  Noycs  was  horn,  1608,  at  Clioulderton  in  Wiltshire,  of  godly  and  worthy 
MrontH.  I  lis  father  was  minister  of  the  same  town,  a  very  learned  man,  the  school-master 
of  Mr.  Thi>mas  I'arker.  His  motiier  was  sister  to  the  learned  Mr.  Robert  Parker,  and  he 
h.nd  miii-h  of  his  ediu-ation  and  tutorage  under  Mr.  Thomas  Parker.  He  was  called  by  him 
fnim  nni/eii-Nose-Coik'ge  in  Oxford,  to  help  him  in  teaching  the  free  school  at  Newberry; 
where  they  Uiuglit  school  together  till  the  time  tliey  came  to  New-England.  He  was  con- 
verted in  his  youth  by  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Twiss  and  Mr.  Thomas  Parker,  and  was  admired 
for  his  piety  and  his  vertue  in  his  younger  years.  The  reason  of  his  coming  to  New-Eng- 
land  was.  because  he  could  not  comply  with  tlie  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England.  He 
was  married  in  England  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Brown,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph  Brown, 
of  Southampton,  not  long  before  he  came  to  New-England,  which  was  in  the  year  1634.  In 
the  same  sliip  came  Mr.  Tliomas  Parker,  Mr.  James  Noyes,  and  a  younger  brother  of  his, 
Mr.  Nicholas  Noyes,  who  then  was  a  single  man ;  between  which  three  was  more  than  ordi- 
nan*  ende.irinent  of  affection,  wliich  was  never  shaken  or  broken  but  by  death.  Mr.  Parker 
and  Mr.  James  Noyes,  and  others  that  came  over  with  them,  fasted  and  prayed  together  many 
times  before  they  undertook  this  voyage;  and  on  the  sea  IMr.  Parker  and  Mr.  Noyes  preached 
or  expounded,  one  in  the  forenoon,  the  other  in  the  afternoon,  every  day  during  the  voyage, 
unles.s  some  extraordinary  thing  intervened,  and  were  abundant  in  prayer. 

"W'lien  they  arrived,  ]\lr.  Parker  was  at  first  called  to  preach  at  Ipswich,  and  Mr.  Noyes 
nt  Mistiek,  at  wliicli  places  they  continued  nigh  a  year.  He  had  a  motion  made  unto  him  to 
be  minister  nt  Watertown ;  but  Mr.  P;irker  and  others  of  his  brethren  and  acquaintance, 
sottling  at  Newberry,  and  gathering  the  tenth  of  the  churches  in  the  colony,  and  calling  Mr. 
Noyes  to  be  the  teacher  of  it,  he  preferred  that  place ;  being  lothe  to  be  separated  from  Mr. 
Parker,  and  brethren  that  had  so  often  fasted  and  prayed  together,  both  in  England  and  on 
the  Atlantic  sea.  So  he  became  the  teacher  of  that  church,  and  continued  p:iinful  and  suc- 
cessful in  that  station  something  above  twenty  years,  without  any  considerable  trouble  in 
the  church.  NotwitlisUmding  his  principles,  as  to  dit^cipline,  were  something  difl'ering  from 
many  of  the  brethren,  there  was  such  condescension  on  both  parts,  that  peace  and  order  was 
not  intrrrnpted.  He  was  very  mucli  loved  and  honoured  in  Newberry;  his  memory  is  pre- 
cious there  to  tliis  day,  and  iiis  catechism  (whicli  is  a  pnblick  and  standing  testimony  of  his 
undersUuMlin},'  and  ortiiodoxy  in  tlie  prineijjles  of  religion)  is  publickly  and  privately  used 
in  that  church  and  town  iiitherto.  He  was  very  well  learned  in  the  tongues,  and  in  Greek 
excelled  most.  He  was  much  read  in  the  fathers  and  the  schoolmen.  And  he  was  much 
Mtoenu'd  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.  Twice  he  was  called  by  Mr.  Wilson  and  others 
U.  pro.-ich  in  the  time  wlien  the  Antinomiim  principles  were  in  danger  of  prevailing,  which 
ho  did  with  good  success  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  that  invited  him.  J\Ir.  Wilson 
dearly  Ic.ved  him;  and  it  so  happened  once  at  Newberry  that  he  preached  in  the  forenoon 
•bout  holiness  so  holily  and  ably,  that  Mr.  Wilson  was  so  affected  with  it  as  to  chan.re  his 
own  text,  and  pitch  upon  Mr.  Noyes'  for  the  afternoon;  prefacing  his  discourse  with  telling 
the  auditory  that  his  brother  Noyes'  discourse  about  holiness  in  the  forenoon  had  so  much 
impre.tM.on  upon  Ins  mind,  he  knew  not  how  in  the  afternoon  to  pursue  any  other  argument. 
H..S  conversation  was  so  unquestionably  godly,  that  tiny  who  differed  from  him  in  smaller 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  435 

matters,  as  to  discipline,  held  a  most  amicable  correspondence  with  him,  and  had  an  high 
estimation  of  him.  Although  he  was  very  averse  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, accounting  them  needless,  many  ways  offensive  and  hurtful  at  the  best,  and  the  rigor- 
ous imposition  of  them  abominable  and  intolerable,  so  that  he  left  England  for  their  sake ; 
yet  he  was  not  equally  averse  to  Episcopacy,  but  was  in  opinion  for  Episcopns  Prccses,* 
though  not  for  Episcopus  Priticeps.f  His  own  words  testify  this,  for  so  he  wrote:  'It  seera- 
eth  he  that  was  called  A7itisies  Prccpositus,\  the  Bishop,  in  a  Presbytery,  by  process  of  time 
was  only  called  Bishop,  though  all  elders  are  also  according  to  their  office  essentially  Bish- 
ops, and  differing  only  in  gradual  jurisdiction.'  He  no  ways  approved  of  a  governing  vote, 
in  tiie  fraternity,  but  took  their  consent  in  a  silential  way.  He  held  Ecclesiastical  councils 
so  far  authoritative  and  binding,  that  no  particular  elder  or  society  might  seem  to  have  inde- 
pendency and  sovereignity,  or  the  major  part  of  them  have  liberty  to  sin  with  impunity. 
He  was  equally  afraid  of  ceremonies  and  of  schism  ;  and  when  he  fled  from  ceremonies  he  was 
afraid  of  being  guilty  of  schis7n.  For  that  reason  he  was  jealous  (if  not  too  jealous)  of  par- 
ticular church-covenants;  yet  he  accounted  them  adjuncts  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  He  held 
profession  of  faith,  and  repentance,  and  subjection  to  the  ordinances,  to  be  the  ride  of  admis- 
sion into  church-fellowship;  and  that  such  as  show  a  willingness  to  repent,  and  be  baptised 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  without  known  dissimulation,  are  to  be  admitted  thereto: 
and  that  it  depended  more  on  God's  providence,  than  his  ordinances,  to  render  church 
members  sound  in  faith;  and  that  God  took  into  covenant  some  that  were  vessels  of 
wrath,  as  for  other  ends,  so  to  facilitate  the  conversion  of  their  elect  children.  He  was  as 
religious  at  home  as  abroad,  in  his  fiimily  and  in  secret,  as  he  was  publickly ;  and  they  that 
best  knew  him,  most  loved  and  esteemed  him.  Mr.  Parker  and  he  kept  a  private  fast  once 
a  month  so  long  as  they  lived  together,  and  Mr.  Parker  after  his  own  death,  till  his  own 
departure.  Mr.  Noyes  bitterly  lamented  the  death  of  K.  Charles  I.,  and  both  he  and  Mr. 
Parker  too  had  too  great  expectations  of  K.  Charles  II. ;  but  Mr.  Parker  lived  to  see  his 
expectations  of  Charles  the  Second  frustrated.  He  had  a  long  and  tedious  sickness,  which 
he  bore  patiently  and  chearfully;  and  he  died  joyfully  in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  his  age, 
October  2'2,  1656.  He  left  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  which  lived  to  be  married, 
and  have  children,  though  since  one  son  and  one  daughter  be  dead.  He  hath  now  living 
fifty-six  children,  grand-children,  and  great-grand-children.  And  his  brother  that  came  over 
with  him  a  single  man,  is  through  the  mercy  of  God  yet  living;  and  hath  of  ciiildren,  grand- 
children, and  great-grand-children,  .above  an  hundred:  which  is  an  instance  of  divine  favour, 
in  making  the  '  families  of  his  servants  in  the  wilderness  like  a  flock.'  There  was  the  great- 
est amity,  intimacy,  unanimity,  yea,  unity  imaginable  between  Mr.  Parker  and  Mr.  Noyes. 
So  unshaken  was  their  friendship,  nothing  but  death  was  able  to  part  them.  They  taught 
in  one  school;  came  over  in  one  ship;  were  pastor  and  teacher  of  one  church;  and  Mr. 
Parker  continuing  always  in  celibacy,  they  lived  in  one  house,  till  death  separated  them  for 
a  time ;  but  they  are  both  now  together  in  one  heaven,  as  they  that  best  knew  them  have 
all  possible  reason  to  be  persw.aded.  Mr.  Parker  continued  in  his  house  as  long  as  he  lived; 
and  as  he  received  a  gre.at  deal  of  kindness  and  respect  there,  so  he  showed  a  great  deal  of 
kindness  in  the  educating  of  his  children,  and  was  very  liberal  to  that  family  during  his  life 
.and  at  his  death.  He  never  forgot  the  old  friendship,  but  shewed  kindness  to  the  dead  in 
shewing  kindness  to  the  living. 

"Mr.  Parker  and  Mr.  Noyes  were  excellent  singers,  both  of  them;  and  were  extraordin.-.ry 
delighted  in  singing  of  psalms.  They  sang  four  times  a  d.ay  in  the  publick  worship,  and 
always  just  after  evening-prayer  in  the  family,  where  reading  the  Scripture,  expounding,  and 
praying,  were  the  other  constant  exercises.  Mr.  Parker  and  Mr.  Noyes  were  of  the  same 
opinion  with  Dr.  Owen  about  the  Sabbath;  yet  in  practice,  were  strict  observers  of  the  eve- 
mu<r  .after  it.  Mr.  Parker,  whose  practice  I  myself  remember,  was  the  strictest  observer  of 
the^'Sabbath  that  ever  I  knew.  I  once  asked  him,  seeing  his  opinion  was  otherwise,  as  to 
•  A  presiding  bishop.  t  A  lord  bishop.  t  The  Presiding  Priest. 


4S6 


MAQNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


tJ.c  cvpning  bi'lnnfring  to  llic  Sabbath,  why  his  practice  differed  from  his  opinion  ?    He 
annworcd  me. '  Ilot-aime  he  dan-  not  di-part  from  the  footsteps  of  the  flock,  for  liis  private 

opinion.' 

"lU-inp  pot  into  some  passages  of  Mr.  Parker's  life  before  I  am  aware,  I  will  insert  a  f.w 
more-;  and  you  may  make  what  use  of  them  you  please.  He  kept  a  school,  as  well  as 
preai-hcd.  ul' Newbury  in  New-Kii<jland.  He  ordinarily  had  about  twelve  or  fourteen  schol- 
ar*. He  took  no  pay  for  liis  i>ains,  unless  any  present  were  freely  sent  him.  He  used  to 
•ay.'H*  lived  for  tlie  chuR-hes' sake,' and  begrutched  no  pains  that  were  for  its  benefit; 
and  by  his  good  will  he  was  not  free  to  teach  any  but  such  as  were  designed  for  the  minis- 
tr)-  bv  th.ir  parent-s;  for  he  would  say,  'He  could  not  bestow  his  time  and  pains  unless  it 
were  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.'  Though  he  were  blind,  yet  such  was  his  memory,  that 
he  could  in  liis  old  age  teach  I-ntin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  very  artificially.  He  seldom  cor- 
r.Ttod  a  scholar,  unless  for  li/irifr  tindji<^htmg,  which  were  unpardonable  crimes  in  our  school. 
lie  promoted  learning  in  his  scholars  by  something  an  unusual  way;  encouraging  them  to 
learn  lessons  and  make  verses,  besides  and  above  tlieir  stinted  tasks,  for  which  they  had  par- 
dints  in  store,  that  were  kept  on  record  in  the  school,  and  were  for  lesser  school-faults,  such 
ns  were  not  innnoralities  and  sins  against  God,  crossed  out;  but  he  always  told  them  they 
must  not  think  to  escape  unpunished  for  sin  against  God  by  reason  of  them ;  though  for 
8ome  lesser  defects  about  their  lessons,  they  were  accepted.  I  heard  him  tell  Mr.  Millar,  the 
mitiistor,  that  the  great  changes  of  his  life  had  been  signified  to  him  before-hand  by  dreams. 
.\nd  I  heard  him  sjiy,  that  before  a  fiery  temptation  of  the  devil  befel  him,  he  had  a  very  ter- 
rible represent;ition  in  a  dream  of  the  devil  assaulting  of  him,  and  he  wrestled  with  him,  and 
h.ad  more  than  once  like  to  have  prevailed  against  him;  but  that  when  he  was  most  likely 
and  most  neiir  to  be  overcome,  he  was  afresh  animated  and  strengthened  to  resist  him;  till 
at  h-nifth  the  devil  seemed  to  break  abroad  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  then  disappeared; 
and  th.it  not  long  after,  the  most  dismal  temptation  of  Satan  befel  him  that  ever  he  was 
sensible  of,  and  that  all  the  passages  of  that  temptation  answered  the  forementioned  rcpre- 
wntation;  and  that  the  hazards  of  it,  and  his  fresh  supplies  when  almost  vanquished,  and 
his  deliverance  was  so  rem.-n-kable,  that  every  day  he  had  lived  since  that  time,  he  had  given 
Uianks  to  God  particularly  for  his  assistance  of  him  in  that  temptation,  and  his  deliverance 
out  of  it:  though  it  were  twenty  years  before  the  time  of  his  now  telling  me  concerning  it. 
Mr.  Parker  excelled  in  liberty  of  speech,  in  praying,  preaching,  and  singing,  having  a  most 
delicate  sweet  voice;  yet  he  had  all  along  an  impilse  upon  his  spirit,  that  he  should  have  the 
pahry  in  his  tinurve  before  he  died.  His  voice  held  extraordinarily  until  very  old  age;  and 
I  think  the  more,  because  his  tt^eth  held  sound  and  good  until  then ;  his  custom  being  to  wash 
his  mouth  and  rub  his  teeth  every  morning.  Some  few  years  before  his  death,  he  began  to  com- 
pl.-vin  of  the  tooth-ache,  and  then  he  quickly  began  to  lose  his  teeth:  and  now  he  said,  'The 
daughters  of  his  musick  began  to  fail  him.'  And  about  a  year  and  half  before  he  died,  that 
which  he  had  long  feared  befel  him,  viz:  the  palsey  in  his  tongue;  and  so  he  became  speeeh- 
le.ia,  and  thus  continued  until  death;  having  this  only  help  left  him,  that  he  could  pronounce 
letters  but  not  syllables  or  words.  He  signified  his  mind,  by  spelling  his  words,  which  was 
indeed  a  tedious  way,  but  yet  a  mercy  so  far  to  him  and  others.  During  that  time,  which 
was  in  otir  first  Indian  war,  when  the  Indians  broke  in  upon  many  towns,  and  committed 
horrible  outrages,  and  tormented  such  as  they  took  captives,  one  night  he  fell  into  a  dreadful 
tontation,  lest  the  Indians  should  break  in  upon  Newburv,  and  the  inhabitants  might  gener- 
ally cHoapc  by  fighting  or  flying,  but  he  being  old  and  blind,  and  grown  decrepit,  he  must 
of  ne<-e.Hsity  fall  into  their  hands;  and  that  being  a  minister,  they  would  urge  him  by  torture 
to  blaspheme  Christ,  and  that  he  sh..uld  not  have  grace  to  hold  out  against  the  tentation  of 
Indian  torture;  and  with  the  very  tVar  of  this,  he  was  for  the  most  part  of  the  ni-rht  in  such 
agonies  of  soul,  that  he  was  on  the  very  brink  of  desparation;  but  at  length,  God  helpt  him, 
by  bringing  to  hin  mind  two  pim-es  of  Scripture:  that  in  Isa.  li.  12, 13:  'I,  even  I,  am  he  that 
romforU  thee;  who  art  thou,  that  thou  shouldest  be  afraid  of  a  man  that  shall  die,  and  for- 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


487 


gettest  the  Lord  thy  Maker!'  And  that  in  Rom.  viii.  35,  36:  'Who  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ]  Shall  tribulation  or  distress,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  nakedness, 
or  peril,  or  sword?— For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the  day  long;— Nay,  in  all  these  things, 
■we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  hath  loved  us.'  Sleep  departed  from  him 
that  night,  by  reason  of  the  horrour  of  that  tentation;  and  the  joy  that  came  towards  morn- 
ing he  was  wonderfully  affected  with;  and  in  the  morning  early,  he  pronounced  all  this  to 
me  letter  by  letter,  and  glorified  God.  Once  hearing  some  of  us  laughing  very  freely,  while, 
I  suppose,  he  was  better  busied  in  his  chamber  above  us,  he  came  down,  and  gravely  said 
to  us,  'Cousins,  I  wonder  you  can  be  so  merry,  unless  you  are  sure  of  your  salvation!'  He 
was  a  very  holy  and  heavenly-minded  man,  and  as  much  mortified  to  the  world  as  almost 
any  in  it.  He  scarce  called  any  thing  his  own  but  his  hooks  and  his  cloaths.  When  he  was 
urged,  to  vindicate  himself  to  be  the  author  of  the  '  Theses  de  Traductione  Peccatoris  ad 
Vitam'*  he  utterly  refused  it ;  saying,  being  young  at  the  time  when  he  made  them,  he  was 
afraid  he  had  not  so  fully  aimed  at  the  glory  of  God  as  he  ought  to  have  done.  But  a  while 
after,  one  unbeknown  to  him  in  Holland,  reprinted  them,  with  the  name  of  the  author,  and 
set  him  forth  with  more  advantage  than  would  have  been  modest  or  proper  for  himself  to 
have  done;  giving  him  his  parental  as  well  as  personal  honour;  and  saying  that  his  father 
was  Paler  dignus  tali  Filio;\  and  that  he  was  Filius  dignus  tali  Patre.\  Thus  'he  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.' 

"Mr.  Wilson  once,  on  occasion  of  his  caelibacy,  said  to  him,  That  if  there  could  be  anger 
in  heaven,  his  fiither  would  chide  him  when  he  came  there,  because  he  had  not,  like  him,  a 
son  to  follow  him.  But  he  had  many  spiritual  children,  that  were  the  seals  of  his  ministry: 
he  was  also  a  father  to  the  fatherless;  and  many  scholars  were  little  less  beholden  to  him 
for  their  education,  than  they  were  to  their  parents  for  their  generation. 

"Tlie  occasion  of  his  cselibacy  was  this:  at  the  time  that  he  meditated  marriage,  he  was 
assaulted  with  violent  temptations  to  infidelity,  which  made  him  regardless  of  every  thing, 
in  comparison  of  confirming  his  faith  about  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures.  This  occasioned  his 
falling  into  the  study  of  the  prophecies,  which  proved  a  means  of  confirming  his  faith;  but 
he  fell  so  in  love  with  that  study,  that  he  never  got  out  of  it  until  his  death:  and  the  church 
had  doubtless  had  much  benefit  by  his  profound  studies  in  that  kind,  could  the  bishops  have 
been  perswaded  to  license  his  books;  which  they  refused,  because  he  found  the  Pope  to  be 
prophesied  of,  where  they  could  not  understand  it.  His  whole  life,  besides  what  was  neces- 
sary for  the  support  of  it,  by  food  and  sleep,  was  prayer,  study,  preaching,  and  teaching  school. 
I  once  heard  him  say,  he  felt  the  whole  frame  of  his  nature  giving  way,  which  threatened 
his  dissolution  to  be  at  hand:  but  'he  thanked  God,  he  was  not  amazed  at  it.' 

"To  conclude  all  I  intend  concerning  Mr.  Parker  or  Mr.  Noyes,  I  shall  give  you  Mr.  Par- 
ker's character  of  Mr.  Noyes,  who  best  knew  him,  and  whose  testimony  of  him  is  very 
credible: 

"'Mr.  James  Noyes,  my  worthy  collegue  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  was  a  man  of  sin- 
gular qualifications,  in  piety  excelling,  an  implacable  enemy  to  all  heresie  and  schism,  and  a 
most  able  warriour  against  the  same.  He  was  of  a  reaching  and  ready  apprehension,  a  large 
invention,  a  most  profound  judgment,  a  rare,  and  tenacious,  and  comprehensive  memory, 
fixed  and  unmovable  in  his  grounded  conceptions;  sure  in  words  and  speech,  without  rash- 
ness; gentle  and  mild  in  all  expressions,  without  all  passion  or  provoking  language.  And 
as  he  was  a  notable  disputant,  so  he  never  would  provoke  his  adversary,  saving  by  the  short 
knocks  and  heavy  weight  of  argument.  He  was  of  so  loving,  and  compassionate,  and  hum- 
ble carriage,  that  I  believe  never  any  were  acquainted  with  him,  but  did  desire  the  continu- 
ance of  his  society  and  acquaintance.  He  was  resolute  for  truth,  and  in  defence  thereof 
had  no  respect  to  any  persons.  He  w.as  a  most  excellent  counsellor  in  doubts,  and  could 
strike  at  an  hair's-breadth,  like  the  Benjamites,  and  expedite  the  entangled  out  of  the  briars. 

•  Propositions  concemiDg  the  conversion  of  the  sinner  unto  life, 
f  A  father  worthy  of  such  a  son.  %  A  son  worthy  of  such  a  father. 


488 


MAGNA  LI  A    CUKISTl    AMERICANA; 


He  was  courapcous  in  d.inp.TS,  and  still  was  apt  to  believe  the  best,  and  made  fair  weather 
in  a  Htorin.  Ho  was  niiuli  honoured  and  esteemed  in  the  country,  and  his  death  was  mucii 
bcwaUed.     I  think  he  may  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest  worthies  of  this  age.'" 


CHAPTER  XX?L 

inB   LIFE   OF   MR.   THOMAS   TIIACHER. 

Virtutem   Virtus  pariat;  Dc  lumine  Lumen  prodeat* 

%  1.  Athanasius,  writing  the  life  of  his  Antonius,  describes  him  as 
propounding  to  his  own  observation  and  imitation  the  various  excel- 
lencies of  the  good  men  whom  he  conversed  withal :  the  to  x«p'^v,  or  good 
carriage  of  one;  the  to  irpos  <ra.g  hx"-s  Cuvrovov,  or  praycrfulness^  of  another; 
the  TO  aopyTjTov,  or  lenity,  of  a  third ;  the  to  (piXav^pwzs'ov,  or  humanity  of  a 
fourth;  attending  to  one  tw  ot^pu'rvSvTi,  or  keeping  of  his  watchfulness;  to 
another  tu  (piXoXoySvTi,  or  loving  of  learning ;  remarking  of  one,  tov  sv  xaprs. 
pta,  in  Wis  patierice ;  of  another,  tov  iv  vrissiais  xai  j^a/xsuviaiff,  in  his  fastings  and 
hanlsltips:  regarding  the  ttjv  crpaoTiiTa,  or  mansueiude,  of  one;  the  Tr,v  fxaxpo- 
di-/jnav,  or  longanimity  of  another:  but,  rravruv  ofxs  rriv  iig  tov  ;)^piO'Tov  sutftSsiav 
xoi  i-r)v  <pof  aXXTjXaff  ayairr,v,  the  piety  of  them  all  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  charily  of  them  all  towards  one  another. 

Such  rxcdloicies  of  good  men  have  been  set  before  my  reader,  in  the 
Lives  that  we  have  written  of  several  such  good  men,  who  were  the 
"excellent  on  the  earth."  But  if  my  reader  would  see  a  majiy  of  those 
excellencies  meeting  together  in  one  man,  there  are  not  many  in  whom  I 
could  more  hopefully  promise  him  such  a  sight,  than  in  our  excellent  Mr. 
Thomas  Thachcr,  who  is  now,  therefore,  to  be  considered. 

§  2.  Mr.  Thomas  Thachcr  was  born  May  1,  1620,  the  son  of  Mr.  Peter 
Thachcr,  a  reverend  minister  at  Salisbury,  in  England:  one  whom,  in  a 
letter  of  Dr.  Twiss  to  Mr.  Mede,  at  the  end  of  his  works,  we  find  joined 
with  famous  Mr.  White  of  Dorchester,  in  a  conversation,  wherein  the 
learned  exercises  of  that  great  man  made  a  grateful  entertainment.  And 
because  it  may  be  some  satisfaction  unto  good  men  to  see  instances  multi- 
plied, for  the  confirmation  of  a  matter  mentioned  by  Mr.  Baxter,  in  his 
proof  of  infant  baptism,  where  he  says: 

"Ab  Inrpo  rx,H>rience  a.s  I  have  had  in  my  ministry,  of  the  state  of  souls,  and  the  toay  of 
conven.u.n  I  dare  say,  1  have  met  not  with  mie  of  very  many,  that  would  say,  that  they  knew 
U,r  nr.r  ,rhrn  they  were  converted :  and  of  those  tliat  would  say  so,  by  reason  that  th'ey  then 
found  Home  more  rrr,u,rkal.U  chanpe,yA  Ihey  discovered  such  stirrings  and  workings  before. 
U,.t  many,  had  cj.n«c  to  thmk,  were  then,selves  mistaken.  I  was  once  in  a  meeti,^  of  very 
many  O.n.  mna,  the  most  emment  for  zeal  and  hoiinc-ss  of  most  in  the  land,  of  whom  divers 
»cre  mn,u,ters,  and  some  at  tins  day  as  famous  and  as  much  followed  as  any  I  know  in  Eng- 
•  Lcl  virtue  beget  virtue:  let  light  bring  forth  light. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  439 

land ;  and  it  was  there  desired,  that  every  one  should  give  in  the  marnier  of  their  conversion, 
that  it  might  be  observed  what  was  God's  ordinary  way;  and  there  was  but  one,  that  I 
remember,  of  them  all,  that  could  conjecture  at  the  time  of  their  first  conversion." 

It  shall  here  be  noted,  that  this  was  the  experience  of  our  Thacher. 
The  regenerating  and  verticordius  grace  of  Heaven  took  advantage  from 
his  religious  education,  insensibly,  as  it  were,  to  steal  into  the  heart  of  this 
young  disciple. 

He  afterwards  affirmed  that  he  was  never  able  to  determine  the  time 
when  the  spirit  of  God  first  began  to  convince  him  and  renew  him ;  only 
he  could  say,  with  the  reverend  blind  man,  "I  was  blind,  but  now  I  see." 
When  Thacher  was  a  child,  the  Lord  loved  him,  and  this  child  also  loved 
the  Lord:  he  was  an  Abijah  that,  "while  he  was  a  child,"  had  many 
"good  things  in  him  towards  the  Lord  God  of  his  father;"  he  was  a  Tim- 
othy that,  while  he  was  a  child,  knew  the  holy  Scriptures:  he  was  a  Sam- 
uel that,  in  his  childhood,  was  visited  by  the  Holy  Spirit:  he  was  a  Josiah, 
that  while  he  was  yet  young,  "sought  after  the  Lord:  and  so  much 
remarked  was  his  early  piety,  that  while  he  was  in  his  earliest  minority, 
they  would  say  of  him,  "There  goes  a  Puritan."  It  might  indeed  be  said 
of  him,  as  they  report  of  St.  Nicholas,  that  he  led  a  life,  Sanctissime,  ab 
ipsis  Incunahulis  Inchoatani.^  And  it  might  be  said  by  him,  as  it  was  by 
the  blessed  ancient  in  his  confessions,  Doinine,  puer  coepi  rogare  te  Auxilium 
et  Refugium  meum,  et  rogavi  parvus,  non  ■parvo  affectu.\ 

§  3.  Having  been  well  educated  at  the  grammar  school,  he  had  the  offer 
of  his  father  to  perfect  his  education  at  the  university,  either  of  Cambridge 
or  Oxford.  But  considering  the  impositions  of  things,  to  him  appearing 
U7iiuarrantable,  whereto  he  then  must  have  exposed  himself,  he  conscien- 
tiously declined  his  father's  offer,  and  chose  rather  to  venture  over  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  and  content  himself  with  the  meannesses  of  America,  than 
to  wound  his  own  conscience  for  the  academical  priviledges  of  England. 

When  his  parents  discerned  his  inclination,  they  permitted  his  removal 
to  New-England:  intending  themselves,  within  a  year  or  two,  with  their 
family,  to  have  removed  thither  after  him:  which  intention  was  prevented 
by  the  death  of  his  mother,  before  it  could  be  effected. 

He  arrived  at  Boston,  June  4,  1635.  In  which  year  he  was  wonderfully 
preserved  from  a  shipwreck,  with  his  uncle,  wherein  a  worthy  minister, 
one  Mr.  Avery,  lost  his  life,  as  elsewhere  we  have  related.  A  day  or  two 
before  that  fatal  voyage  from  Newberry  to  Marblehead,  our  young  Thacher 
had  such  a  strong  and  sad  impression  upon  his  mind  about  the  issue  of  the 
voyage,  that  he  with  another  would  needs  go  the  journey  by  land,  and  so 
he  escaped  perishing  with  some  of  his  pious  and  precious  friends  by  sea. 

§  4.  'Tis  well  known  that  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  there  were 
no  colledges  (except  we  will  say  the  Catechetick  Lecture  at  Alexandria 

•  Most  holily  begun  at  the  very  cradle.  [feeling. 

+  Lord!  in  boyhood  I  began  to  implore  thine  aid  and  protection:  I  prayed  as  a  little  child,  but  not  with  little 


^gQ  M  AC  N  ALIA    CIIIilSTI    AMERICANA; 

was  one)  for  the  breeding  of  young  ministers;  but  tlie  bishop  of  every 
church  took  the  care  to  educate  and  elevate  some  young  men,  who  might 
be  prepared  thereby  to  succeed  in  their  place  when  they  should  be  dead 
and  gone.  And  in  the  early  days  of  New-England,  they  were  for  a  little 
while  obliged  unto  such  a  method  of  providing  young  men  for  the  service 
of  the  churches.  Thus  our  Thacher,  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  was 
now  caiit  into  the  family  and  under  the  tuition  of  that  reverend  man,  Mr. 
Charles  Chancey ;  who  was  afterwards  the  President  of  Harvard-Colledge, 
in  our  Cambridge.  Under  the  conduct  of  that  eminent  scholar,  he  became 
such  an  one  himself;  and  his  indefatigable  studies  were  so  prospered,  that 
he  became  Alit/uis  in  Omnibus*  without  the  blemish  usually,  but  sometimes 
unjitsthj  annexed  unto  it,  NuUus  in  Singulis.^  He  was  not  unskilled  in  the 
tomjues,  especially  in  the  Ilebrew,  whereof  he  did  compose  a  Lexicon; 
but  so  comprized  it,  that  within  one  sheet  of  paper,  he  had  every  consider- 
able word  of  the  language.  And  he  was  as  well  skilled  in  the  arts^  espe- 
cially in  lofjic^  whereof  he  gave  demonstration,  in  his  being  a  most  irre- 
fragaUe  disputant  on  some  great  occasions. 

Moreover,  it  was  his  custom,  once  in  three  or  four  years  time,  at  succes- 
site  liuurs,  to  go  over  the  tongues  and  arts  at  such  a  rate,  that  his  good  skill 
in  them  continued  fresh  unto  the  last.  And  to  all  his  other  accomplish- 
ments, there  was  this  added,  that  he  was  a  most  incomparable  scribe;  he  not 
only  wrote  all  the  sorts  of  hands  in  the  best  copy-books  then  extant,  with 
a  singular  exactness  and  acuteness,  but  there  are  yet  extant  monuments 
of  Syriac,  and  other  oriental  characters  of  his  writing,  which  are  hardly 
to  be  imitated,  lie  had  likewise  a  certain  mechanic  genius^  which  disposed 
him  in  his  recreations  unto  a  thousand  curiosities,  especially  the  ingenuity 
of  clock-work^  wherein  at  his  leisure  he  did  things  to  admiration. 

§  5.  On  ^fay  11,  1643,  he  was  married  unto  the  daughter  of  that  ven- 
erable man  Mr.  Kalph  Partridge,  the  minister  of  Duxbury.  The  consort 
■whom  the  favour  of  Heaven  thus  bestowed  upon  him,  was  a  person  of  a 
most  amiable  temper;  one  pious, 'and  prudent,  and  every  way  worthy  of 
the  man  to  whom  she  became  a  glory.  By  her  he  received  three  sons  and 
one  daughter;  and  when  she  had  continued  three  sevens  of  years  with  him, 
she  went  after  a  very  triumphant  manner  to  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord, 
June  2,  10G4,  uttering  those  for  her  dying  words,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly:  why  are  thy  chariot-wheels  so  long  a  coming?" 

§  6.  Having,  as  a  candidate  of  the  ministry,  by  his  most  commendable 
preaching  and  living,  abundantly  recommended  himself  unto  the  service 
of  the  churches,  he  was  invited  by  the  church  of  Weymouth  to  take  the 
pasU.ral  cliarge  of  them;  whereto  he  was  ordained,  January  2,  1644.  And 
here  he  did  for  many  years  fulfil  his  ministry,  not  only  with  elaborate 
and  afrectionato  sermons  twice  every  Lord's  day,  and  in  a  lecture  once  a 
fortnight;  but  also  in  catechising  the  lambs  of  his  flock,  for  which  he  like- 

•  Knowi,.K  „  H„l,.  or  .very  tlung.  ^  eood  in  nolhinK. 


OE,    THE    HISTOET    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  49;]^ 

wise  made  a  Catechism.  These  also  be  would  at  fit  seasons  call  to  an 
account  concerning  their  proficiency  under  the  means  of  grace :  and  such 
as  he  found  ripe  for  an  admission  unto  the  highest  mysteries,  at  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  he  would  encourage  to  put  themselves  upon  the  publick  and 
usual  probation,  in  order  thereunto,  but  such  as  he  found  short,  he  would 
suitably,  faithfully,  and  fervently  advise  unto  the  preparations,  wherein 
they  appeared  hitherto  defective.  And  God  crowned  these  methods  and 
labours  of  his  holy  servant  with  observable  successes;  which  were  seen 
in  the  great  growth  of  the  church  whereof  he  had  the  oversight.  But 
one  excellency  that  shined  above  the  other  glories  of  his  ministry  was, 
that  excellent  spirit  of  prayer  which  continually  breathed  in  him.  It  has 
been  used  among  the  arguments  for  men  to  be  much  in  prayer,  that  the 
dignity  of  the  person  praying  is  thereby  much  augmented ;  and  Chrysos- 
tom,  in  his  book,  "Z^e  Deo  Orando,""^  says:  "The  very  angels  cannot  but 
honour  him  whom  they  see  familiarly  and  frequently  to  be  admitted  unto 
the  audience,  and,  as  it  were,  discourse  with  the  Divine  Majesty."  Now, 
though  this  honour  have  alt  the  saints,  yet  our  Thacher  had  more  than  ordi- 
nary share  of  this  honour ;  he  was  a  person  much  in  prayer,  and  as  he  was 
much  in  prayer,  so  he  had  an  eminency  above  most  men  living,  for  his 
copious,  his  fluent,  his  fervent  manner  of  performing  that  sacred  exercise. 

It  was  an  heaven  upon  earth  to  be  present  at  the  notable  salleys  of  a 
raised  soul,  a  lively  faith,  and  a  tongue,  toucht  with  a  "coal  from  the  altar," 
with  which,  in  his  prayers,  he  did  Cuelum  tundere  et Misericordiarn  extorquere.\ 

§  7.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he  married  a  second  in  Boston, 
which,  with  a  concurrence  of  many  obliging  circumstances,  occasioned  his 
removal  thither.  And  it  was  afterwards  found  that  "He  who  holds  the 
stars  in  his  right  hand,"  had  a  purpose  of  service  to  be  done  for  his  name 
in  that  populous  town,  by  the  talents  of  this  his  "good  and  faithful  servant." 
For  in  the  month  of  May,  1669,  a  third  church  swarming  out  from  the  first 
in  Boston,  which  afterwards  made  one  of  the  most  considerable  congrega- 
tions in  the  colony,  this  worthy  person  was  chosen  the  pastor  of  that  church: 
and  installed  in  the  pastoral  charge  thereof,  February  16,  1669,  wherein 
he  continued  until  he  died.  From  this  time,  I  behold  him  in  the  metro- 
polis of  the  English  America,  not  only  dispensing  both  light  and  ivarmth 
unto  his  own  particular  flock,  but  also,  as  he  had  opportunity,  expressing 
a  "care  of  all  the  churches."  And  for  the  comfort  of  those  worthy  min- 
isters who  commonly  have  their  spirits  buffeted  with  strong  temptations  and 
sore  dejections,  before  their  performing  any  special  service  of  their  ministry, 
I'll  mention  one  passage  that  may  a  little  describe  how  this  worthy  man 
became  so  useful:  he  would  say  to  his  son,  "Son,  I  never  preach  a  sermon 
till  I  cannot  preach  at  all!" 

§  8.  As  he  was  in  his  whole  behaviour  a  serious,  holy,  and  useful  man, 
so  in  his  government  of  his  family,  he  so  well  "ruled  his  own  house,"  as  to 

•  On  Prayer  to  God.  t  To  storm  Heaven  and  wrest  from  it  its  mercy. 


^g.,  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

give  particular  demonstrations  of  his  abilities  to  "take  care  of  the  Church 
of  God."  His  doincsticks  both  loved  him  andi  feared  him;  and  he  was 
most  conscientiously  and  exernplarily  careful  about  their  interiour  as  well 
as  temporal  welfare.  This  appeared  especially  in  the  management  of  his 
fnmily  worship;  wherein  he  usually  read  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures,  both 
morning  and  evening,  and  he  would  raise  doctrines  from  every  verse  with 
brief  confirmations,  and  close  applications  thereof  as  he  went  along.  Yea, 
BDmetinics  one  might  hear  from  him  thus,  in  one  family  exposition^  as  enter- 
taining a  variety  of  truth,  notably  and  pungently  expressed,  as  in  several 
publick  sermons:  and  he  has  told  his  worthy  son,  for  his  encouragement 
unto  such  exercises,  that  he  had  found  as  much  advantage  by  them^  as  by 
most  of  his  other  studies  of  divinity;  adding,  that  he  looked  upon  it  as 
the  Ijord's  gracious  accomplishment  of  that  word,  "Shall  I  hide  any  thing 
from  Abraham?    I  know  Abraham,  that  he  will  teach  his  house." 

§  9.  He  was  one  very  watchful  over  the  souls  of  his  people,  and  careful 
to  preserve  them  from  errors  as  well  as  vices:  but  of  all  errors,  he  discov- 
ered an  antipathy  unto  none  more  than  that  sink  of  all  errors,  Quakerism. 
It  was  in  his  time,  namely,  about  the  year  1652,  that  there  appeared  a  neio 
sect  of  people  in  the  world,  which,  from  the  odd  motions  of  their  bodies, 
that  attended  especially  their  first  j^erversioii,  were  called  Quakers;  and 
it  was  not  long  after  their  first  appearance,  that  New-England  began  to  be 
troubled  with  them.  Their  spirit  of  the  hat^  and  their  fopperies  of  thou 
and  tlicc,  in  their  language  to  a  single  person,  were  the  least  of  those  things 
which  gave  our  Thacher  a  dissatisfaction  at  them;  that  which  caused  him 
to  employ  a  most  fervent  zeal  against  those  hereticks,  was  the  horrible  end 
of  their  heresies,  to  lead  men  into  a  pit  of  darkness,  under  a  pretence  of 
the  light,  and  annihilate  all  the  sensible  objects  of  our  holy  religion,  under  a 
pretence  of  advancing  the  spiritual;  so  that  we  must  have  no  Bible,  no 
Jesus,  no  Baptism,  no  Eucharist,  no  ordinances,  but  what  shall  be  evapo- 
rated into  dispensations,  allegories,  and  meer  mystical  notions:  when  he  saw 
that  quite  contrary  to  the  tendency  and  character  of  every  truth,  which  is 
to  abuse  the  creature,  the  main  design  of  Quakerism  is  to  exalt  man,  and 
find  that  in  man  himself,  which  may  be  instead  of  Saviour,  Scripture, 
Heaven,  righteousness  and  all  institutions  unto  him,  he  could  not  but  adore 
the  justice  and  vengeance  of  God,  in  permitting  such  a  spiritual  plague  to 
be  inflieted  on  places  where  the  gospel  had  been  more  eminently  sinned 
against;  but  he  set  himself  with  the  more  of  a  pastoral  diligence  to  defend 
his  own  fiock  from  the  contagion :  and  hence,  when  he  heard  of  any  books  left 
by  the  Quakers  in  any  houses  of  his  neighbourhood,  he  would  presently 
repair  U)  tiie  houses,  and  obtain  those  venomous  pamphlets  from  them: 
for  which,  that  the  wolves  barked  more  at  him  than  at  many  other  men 
and  would  sometimes  come  with  their  faces  hideously  blacked,  and  their 
garn^ents  fearfully  torn,  into  his  congregation,  whereby  the  neighbours  were 
frighted  unto  the  danger  of  their  lives,  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondred  at.     In 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  493 

this  his  pastoral  care,  he  met  with  some  experiments  that  were  extraor- 
dinary ;  whereof  one  shall  here  be  related.  It  has  here  sometimes  been 
remarked,  that  a  very  sensible  possession  of  the  devil  has  attended  the  first 
arrest  of  Quakerism  on  the  minds  of  men,  and  the  seducers  have,  with  a 
real  and  proper  ivitckcraft,  by  certain  ceremonies  conveyed  it  unto  them. 
Agreeably  hereunto,  an  inhabitant  of  Weymouth  having  bought  certain 
Bibles  at  Boston,  lodged  the  night  following  at  a  tavern,  where  two  Qua- 
kers lodged  with  him.  The  Quakers  fell  to  disgracing  and  degrading  the 
Bibles,  wherewith  he  had  furnished  himself,  as  a  dead  letter^  and  advised 
him  to  hearken  to  the  ligld  within^  which  would  sufficiently  direct  him  to 
Heaven;  and  the  effect  of  their  enchantments  was,  that  before  morning  the 
poor  man  was  as  very  a  Quaker  as  the  best  of  them.  In  the  morning  he 
was  carrying  back  his  Bibles  to  the  book-sellers,  as  books  now  become 
altogether  useless;  and  resolving  to  keep  no  dead  letter  any  longer  in  his 
hands;  but  in  the  way  he  was  met  by  Mr.  Thacher,  who,  seeing  the  man 
look  wild  and  strange,  and  of  an  energumen  countenance,  over-perswaded 
him  to  go  aside  with  him,  that  he  might  enquire  a  little  further  to  his 
condition.  He  carried  the  poor  man  into  a  neighbour's  house,  and  pri- 
vately there  talked  with  him,  and  prayed  with  him,  and  by  the  wonderful 
blessing  of  Heaven,  immediately  recovered  him  from  the  error  of  his  way : 
the  man  was  never  any  more  a  Quaker,  but  ever  after  this,  wonderfully 
thankful  unto  God  and  unto  this  his  servant  for  his  recovery. 

§  10.  The  last  that  I  shall  mention  of  the  excellencies  that  signalized 
this  worthy  man  shall  be  his  claim  to  the  accomplishments  of  an  excellent 
physician.  He  that  for  his  lively  ministry  was  justly  reckoned  among 
"the  angels  of  the  churches,"  might  for  his  medical  acquaintances,  expe- 
riences, and  performances,  be  truly  called  a  Eaphael.  Ever  since  the  days 
of  Luke  the  evangelist,  skill  in  physich  has  been  frequently  professed  and 
practised  by  persons  whose  more  declared  business  was  the  study  of  divin- 
ity. To  say  nothing  of  such  monks  as  vEgidius  Atheiiiensis,  or  Constanti- 
nus  A/er,  or  Johannes  JDamascemis,  or  Triisianus  Florentinus,  and  to  say 
nothing  of  Henry  Bochelt,  a  Bishop,  or  of  Alhicus,  an  Arch  Bishop,  or  of 
Ludovicus  Patavinus,  a  Cardinal,  or  of  John  XXIL,  a  Pope,  all  of  whom 
were  notable  physicians,  our  English  nation  has  commonly  afforded  emi- 
nent physicians,  who  were  also  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

But  I  suppose  the  greatest  frequency  of  the  angeliccd  conjunction  has 
been  seen  in  these  parts  of  America,  where  they  are  mostly  "the  poor  to 
whom  the  gospel  is  preached,"  by  pastors  whose  compassion  to  them  in 
their  poverty  invites  them  to  supply  the  want  of  able  physicians  among 
them,  and  such  an  universally  serviceable  pastor  was  our  Thacher.  They 
were  the  priests  of  Egypt,  of  Greece,  and  of  Rome,  who  reserved  in  the 
archives  of  their  temples  the  stories  and  methods  of  the  cures  wrought  on 
the  recovered  persons,  who  brought  thither  their  thankful  sacrifices;  and 
by  the  priests  were  directions  hence  communicated  unto  such  as  wanted 


.Q^  MAGiNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

cures  for  tbc  like  distempers.  As  the  art  of  healing  was  first  brought  into 
some  order  by  the  hands  of  officers  that  have  been  set  apart  for  the  care 
of  souls;  thus,  tliat  art  has  been  happily  exercised  by  the  hands  of  church- 
ofiicers  in  all  a^es,  who  have  administred  unto  the  souls  of  people  the  more 
cflectually,  for  being  able  to  administer  unto  their  bodies.  And  a  singular 
artust  herein  was  our  Thacher;  who,  knowing  that  every  rank  of  generous 
men  had  at  st)me  time  or  other  afforded  persons  eminent  for  skill  in  phys- 
ick;  yea,  that  it  had  been  studied  by  no  less  than  such  crowned  heads  as 
Mithridates  and  Iladrianus  and  Constantinus  Pogonatus,  he  thought  it  no 
ways  misbecoming  him  to  follow  the  example.  How  many  hundreds  in 
this  way  lared  the  better  for  him,  I  cannot  say ;  but  this  I  can  say,  that 
as  King  Zamolxes  of  Thracia,  who  was  of  old  a  renowned  physician,  would 
give  this  as  the  reason  why  the  Greeks  had  the  diseases  among  them  so 
much  uncurcd,  "because  they  neglected  their  souls,  the  chief  thing  of  all:" 
so  our  Thacher  was  blessed  of  God  in  his  faithful  endeavours  to  make  natu- 
ral and  qiiritual  health  accompany  each  other  in  those  that  were  about  him. 

g  11.  But,  Contra  Vim  Mortis Nothing  will  exempt  from  the  arrest 

of  death.  It  happened  that  this  excellent  man  preached  for  my  father  a 
sermon  on  1  Pet.  iv.  18:  "The  righteous  scarcely  saved;"  the  last  words 
of  which  sermon  were,  ""When  a  saint  comes  to  die,  then  often  it  is  the 
hour  and  power  of  darkness  with  him;  then  is  the  last  opportunity  that 
the  devil  has  to  vex  the  people  of  God ;  and  hence  they  then  sometimes 
have  the  greatest  of  their  distresses.  Do  not  think  him  no  godly  man 
that  then  meets  with  doubts  and  fears;  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  then  cries 
out,  'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  nie?'  God  help  us,  that 
as  we  live  by  faith,  so  we  may  walk  in  it."  And  these  proved  the  last 
words  that  ever  he  uttered  in  any  sermon  whatsoever.  For  visiting  a  sick 
person,  after  his  going  out  of  the  assembly,  he  got  some  harm,  which 
turned  into  a  fever,  whereof  he  did,  without  any  "hour  and  power  of  dark- 
ness" upon  his  own  holy  mind,  expire  on  October  15,  1678.  He  left 
behind  him  two  worthy  sons,  Mr.  Peter  Thacher,  who  is  at  this  time  the 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Milton,  and  one  from  whose  pious  labours,  not  the 
English  only,  but  even  the  Indians  also,  receive  the  "glad  tydings  of  sal- 
vation ;"  and  Mr.  Ralph  Thacher,  minister  of  the  word  at  Martha's  Vine- 
yard. And  he  likewise  left  one  printed  off-spring  of  his  mind;  for  as  the 
reverend  jircn^ccr  thereto  observes,  "When  the  Lord  knew  that  Boston, 
yea,  that  New-England  would  have  cause  for  many  days  of  humiliation, 
he  therefore  stirred  up  the  heart  of  his  servant  aforehand  to  give  instruc- 
tions and  directions  concerning  the  acceptable  performance  of  so  great  a 
duty,"  he  did  in  the  year  1674  preach  on  the  nature  of  a  sacred  fast;  and 
some  of  his  hearers,  who  wrote  after  him,  when  he  preached,  afterwards 
published  it  under  the  title  of,  "yl  Fast  of  God's  Chusing." 

§  12.  The  church  of  this  worthy  man  at  Weymouth  has  been  entertained 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  495 

Avitli  one  curiosity^  which,  by  waj  of  appendix  to  his  life,  is  not  unworthy 
to  be  related: 

One  Matthew  Prat,  whose  religious  parents  had  well  instructed  him  in 
his  minority,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  became  totally  deaf  through 
sickness,  and  so  hath  ever  since  continued.  He  was  taught  after  this  to 
imte,  as  he  had  been  before  to  read;  and  both  his  reading  and  his  writing 
he  retain eth  perfectly,  but  he  has  almost  forgotten  to  speak;  speaking  but 
imjyerfedly,  and  scarce  intelligibly^  and  very  seldom.  He  is  yet  a  very  j  udi- 
cious  Christian,  and  being  admitted  into  the  communion  of  the  church,  he 
has  therein  for  many  years  behaved  himself  unto  the  extream  satisfaction 
of  good  people  in  the  neighbourhood.  Sarah  Prat,  the  wife  of  this  man, 
is  one  also  who  was  altogether  deprived  of  her  hearing  by  sickness  when 
she  was  about  the  third  year  of  her  age;  but  having  utterly  lost  her  hear- 
ing, she  has  utterly  lost  her  speech  also,  and  no  doubt  all  remembrance  of 
every  thing  that  refers  to  language.  Mr.  Thacher  made  an  essay  to  teach 
her  the  use  of  letters^  but  it  succeeded  not:  however,  she  has  a  most  quick 
apprehension  of  things  by  her  eye.^  and  she  discourses  by  signs^  whereat 
some  of  her  friends  are  so  expert,  as  to  maintain  a  conversation  with  her 
upon  any  point  whatever,  with  as  lavioh.  freedom  ^vadi  fulness  as  if  she  wanted 
neither  tongue  nor  ear  for  conference.  Her  children  do  learn  her  signs 
from  the  breast :  and  speak  sooner  by  her  eyes  and  hands  than  by  their  lijys. 
From  her  infancy  she  was  very  sober  and  modest;  but  she  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  a  Deity,  nor  of  any  thing  that  concerns  another  life  and  world. 
Nevertheless,  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  has  revealed  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  great  mysteries  of  salvation  by  him,  unto  her,  by  a  more  extraor- 
dinary and  immediate  operation  of  his  own  spirit  upon  her.  An  account 
of  her  experiences  was  written  from  her,  by  her  husband;  and  the  elders 
of  the  church  employing  her  husband,  with  two  of  her  sisters,  who  are 
notably  skilled  in  her  way  of  communication,  examined  her  strictly  here- 
about: and  they  found  that  she  understood  the  unity  of  the  divine  essence, 
the  trinity  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  the  personal  union  in  our  Lord,  the 
mystical  union  between  our  Lord  and  his  church;  and  that  she  was 
acquainted  with  the  impressions  of  grace  upon  a  regenerate  soul.  She  was 
under  great  exercise  of  mind,  about  her  internal  and  eternal  state;  she 
expressed  unto  her  friends  desire  of  help;  and  she  made  use  of  the  Bible, 
and  other  good  hoohs.^  and  with  tears  remarked  such  passages  as  were  suit- 
able to  her  own  condition.  Yea,  she  once,  in  her  exercise,  wrote  with  a 
pin  upon  a  trencher,  three  times  over,  "Ah,  poor  soul!"  and  therewith, 
before  divers  persons,  burst  into  tears.  At  a  sermon  she  would  enquire 
after  the  text,  which  being  shewn  her,  she  would  look  and  muse  upon  it: 
and  she  strangely  knows  the  names  of  those  with  whom  she  is  acquainted; 
insomuch  that  if  they  be  names  found  in  the  Scripture,  she  will  turn  and 
find,  and  point  them  there.  It  seems  that  written  words  are  a  sort  of  hie- 
rogfyphicks  unto  her. 


496 


MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 


She  was  admitted  into  the  church  with  the  general  approbation  of  the 
faithful,  nor  would  the  mo^5t  judicious  casuist  in  the  world — a  Luther,  a 
Melanc'thon,  a  Gerhard,  an  Alting,  a  Baldwin— have  scrupled  her  admis- 
sion to  the  sacred  mysteries:  and  her  carriage  is  that  of  a  grave,  gracious, 

holy  woman. 

The  wonderful  circumstances  of  this  couple  may  justly  be  added  unto 
the  "entertainments  for  the  curious,"  which  we  have  in  the  young  man 
and  maid  mentioned  by  Camerarius,  who,  though  deaf  and  dur^ih^  could 
read  and  write  and  cypher,  and  know  a  man's  meaning  by  the  motion  of 
his  hjis.  And  the  person  mentioned  by  Platerus^  who,  though  born  deaf 
as  well  as  dumh,  yet  could  express  his  thoughts  in  a  table-book,  and  com- 
prehend what  was  written  by  others  in  it,  and  with  edification  attend  upon, 
the  ministry  of  CEcoIainjjadius :  and  both  Mr.  Crisp  of  London,  and  Gennet 
Lowes  of  Edinburgh,  who,  though  naturally  deaf  and  by  consequence 
ditmb^  could  yet  see  what  people  spoke,  by  seeing  them  when  they  spoke: 
and,  in  a  word,  the  exquisite  sence  of  the  mutes  in  the  Ottoman  Court, 
related  by  Rycaut  in  his  history  of  that  empire. 

An  cpita])h  must  now  be  sought  for  this  worthy  man:  and  because  the 
nation  and  quality  of  the  autJior,  will  make  the  composure  to  become  a 
curiosity,  I  will  here,  for  an  Epitaph,  insert  an  elegy  which  was  composed 
upon  tliis  occasion  by  an  Indian  youth,  who  was  then  a  student  of  Har- 
vard Colledgc  (his  name  was  Eleazar): 


IN   OniTIM  VIKI  VKRE   REVERENDI 
D.   TUOiMiE   THACHERI, 

Qri  AD 
Dom.  ex  hac  vitA  misravit,  18,  8,  1678. 

TcMtabu  Jtluflrrm  trhti  mcmorare  dolore, 

Qufm  /.arri/mif  reptlunt  Ttmpora  nostra,  yirvm. 
Mrmniinn  rir  ^Vatrr,  .Mnirr  ploravit  AchilUm, 

Justit  cum  l.acrymi.1,  cumiiiie  Dolore  gravi. 
Mem  fluprt,  ora  silrnt,  jiistiim  nunc  pnlma  recusal 

Offleium  :   (iuid?   Vprm  Triatis  Apollo  ncgaf! 
AiltThncliiTO,  7'uo.«  conabor  dieere  laudes, 

l^udti  t'irtulis,  quit  super  Astra  volat. 
Cantullit  Hrrum  Domiuis,  Oentiquw  togata 

Aota  full  rirtus,  ac  tua  Kincta  Fides. 
t'irit  pott  Funus.  Fd-tii  post  Fata  ;  Jiicca  Tu: 

Sed  SU-IIhr  inter  Gloriip  nrmpe  .liicRS. 
Mm  Tun  jam  Cirtum  rrpelil ;   Fictoria  parta  est  : 

Jam  Tuut  est  Christus,  quod  meruilque  tuum. 
lilt  hinn  (  rui-ii  ;   mn;rnorum  hjc  meta  malorum  ; 

Vltrriut  »i>ii  quo  iirofrrrdialur  erit. 
On  I  jam  casta  mines;   rcquieseuni  osin  Seputchro  ; 

Mn$  muritur :   l'i(«  J'lla  Hecta  redit. 
Quum  tuba  per  Densas  sonitum  dabit  ultima  jYubes, 

Cum  Itomino  HeJirns  Frrrea  Serptra  geres. 
C^lmm  turn  srandes,  ubi  Patria  f'era  piorum  ; 

VrrriHS  banc  I'atriam  nunc  libi  .Ii-sim  adit. 
Itlu  vera  (^uirt ;  iltic  sine  fine  roluptat  ; 

Oaudia  rt  Humanis  non  referenda  lonit. 

EI.EAZAR.  Jndut  Senior  SopHista. 


ON  THE  DEATH  OF  THAT  TRULY  REVEREND    MAN, 

THOMAS   THACHER, 

WHO  DEPARTED  THIS    LIFE    FOR   HIS    HEAVENLY  HOME, 

OCTOBER  18,  1678. 

I  SING  of  one,  though  tears  bedew  the  page, 
Mourned  by  the  present  as  the  former  age ; 
Mourned  as  was  Memnon,  by  Achilles  slain. 
When  o'er  his  corse  his  mother  knelt  in  vain. 
Mind,  voice,  and  strength  have  lost  their  wonted  Are, 
As  if  the  Muse  would  weep,  but  not  inspire. 

Thacher,  'tis  virtue  that  thy  name  endears — 
Virtue,  that  climbs  beyond  the  starry  spheres. 
To  men  of  station  and  of  low  degree 
Thy  faith  shone  far,  like  beacons  o'er  the  sea. 
Though  dead,  thou  livest:  victory  crowns  thy  brow: 
The  grace  that  saved  thee,  glorifies  thee  now. 
Thy  cross  of  suffering  thou  shalt  bear  no  more — 
Temptations,  perils,  sorrows,  all  are  o'er. 
Death,  the  destroyer,  dies— the  last  of  foes,— 
And  life,  renewed,  to  life  immortal  grows. 

When  the  last  trumpet,  fearfully  and  loud. 
Peals  like  the  thunder  through  the  parted  cloud, 
And  the  great  Judge  of  all  shall  spread  his  throne. 
Thou  shalt  sit  with  Him  as  a  chosen  son  : 
Then  through  the  skies  seek  realms  of  endless  day, 
To  which  thy  Saviour  hath  prepared  the  way. 
Tliere,  mid  delights  for  human  thought  too  sweet, 
Thy  rest  is  pure— thy  pleasure  infinite. 

ELEAZAR,  an  Indian  Senior  Sophister. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  497 

Js.\ei.vov  Iv  {ijiCTepjii  k    iaofitvoitn  ^povoii' 
'^'"X^  iJ   Ik  pedectiv  vrafievt],  0fi  ipavov  aiireivov, 
Mi^flcij    dQavaroi  -rrvevpaaiv  ddai/arois. 

Eleazar,  Indus  Senior  Sophista' 

[Translation  of  the  preceding.] 

Thocgh  earth  contains  his  dust,  his  name  is  yet  immortal : 

It  shall  light  the  future  ages  as  o'er  the  past  it  beamed : 
While  his  soul,  set  free  from  prison,  seeks  the  ever-open  portal 

Where  the  shining  ones  are  waiting  to  welcome  the  redeemed. 


UikLiilJTXJjA    AAYXXo 
THE   LIFE  OP   MR.  PETER   HOBART. 

§  1.  It  was  a  saying  of  Alphonsus  (whom  they  sir-named,  "the  wise, 
King  of  Arragon,")  that  "among  so  many  things  as  are  by  men  possessed 
or  pursued  in  the  course  of  their  lives,  all  the  rest  are  baubles,  besides  old 
wood  to  burn,  old  wine  to  drink,  old  friends  to  converse  with,  and  old 
books  to  read."  Now,  there  having  been  Protestant  and  reformed  colonies 
here  formed,  in  a  7iew  world,  and  those  colonies  now  growing  oM,  it  will 
certainly  be  no  unwise  thing  for  them  to  converse  with  some  of  their  old 
friends,  among  which  one  was  Mr.  Peter  Hobart,  whom  therefore  a  new 
hook  shall  now  present  unto  my  readers. 

§  2.  Mr.  Peter  Hobart  was  born  at  or  near  Hingham,  a  market  town  in 
the  county  of  Norfolk,  about  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1604.  His  parents 
were  eminent  for  piet}',  and  even  from  their  youth  "feared  God  above 
many;"  wherein  their  zeal  was  more  conspicuous  by  the  impiety  of  the 
neighbourhood,  among  whom  there  were  but  three  or  four  in  the  whole 
town  that  minded  serious  religion,  and  these  were  sufficiently  maligned 
by  the  irreligious  for  their  Puritanism.  These  parents  of  our  Hobart  were 
such  as  had  obtained  each  other  from  the  God  of  heaven,  by  Isaac-like 
prayers  unto  him,  and  such  as  afterwards  "besieged  Heaven"  with  a  con- 
tinual importunity  for  a  blessing  upon  their  children;  whereof  the  second 
was  this  our  Peter.  This  their  son  was,  like  another  Samuel,  from  his 
infancy  dedicated  by  them  unto  the  ministry,  and  in  order  thereunto,  sent 
betimes  unto  a  grammar-school ;  whereto,  such  was  his  desire  of  learning, 
that  he  went  several  miles  on  foot  every  morning,  and  by  his  early  ap- 
pearance there,  still  shamed  the  sloth  of  others.  He  went  afterwards  unto 
the  free-school  at  Lyn,  from  whence,  when  he  was  by  his  master  judged 
fit  for  it,  he  was  admitted  into  a  colledge  in  the  University  of  Cambridge; 
where  he  remained,  studied,  profited,  until  he  proceeded  Batchellor  of 
Arts;  giving  all  along  an  example  of  sobriety,  gravity,  aversion  from  all 
vice,  and  inclination  to  the  service  of  God. 
Vol.  I.— 32 


MAC  NAM  A    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

5  8.  Retiring  then  from  the  university,  he  taught  a  grammar-school; 
but  lie  lodged  in  the  house  of  a  conformist  minister,  who,  though  he  were 
no  friend  unto  Puritans,  yet  he  employed  this  our  young  Hobart  some- 
times to  preach  for  him :  and  when  asked,  "  What  his  opinion  of  this  young 
man  was?"  he  said,  "I  do  highly  approve  his  abilities;  he  will  make  an 
able  preacher:  but  I  fear  he  will  be  too  precise."  When  the  time  for  it 
came,  he  returned  unto  the  university,  and  proceeded  Master  of  Arts:  but 
the  rest  of  his  time  in  England  was  attended  with  much  unsettkment  of 
his  condition.  He  was  employed  here  and  there,  as  godly  people  could 
obtain  jicrmission  from  the  parson  of  the  parish,  who  upon  any  little  dis- 
gust would  rccal  that  permission :  and  yet  all  this  while,  by  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  his  own  diligence  and  discretion,  and  the  frugality  of  his 
vertuous  consort,  he  lived  comfortably.  The  last  place  of  his  residence 
in  En<'land  was  the  town  of  Haverhil,  where  he  was  a  lecturer,  laborious 
and  successful  in  the  vineyard  of  our  Lord. 

§  4.  His  parents,  his  brethren,  his  sisters,  had  not  without  a  great  afflic- 
tion to  him  embarked  for  New-England;  but  some  time  after  this,  the 
cloud  of  prelatical  impositions  and  persecutions  grew  so  black  upon  him, 
that  the  solicitations  of  his  friends  obtained  from  him  a  resolution  for  New- 
England  also,  where  he  hoped  for  a  more  settled  abode,  which  was  most 
agreeable  to  his  inclination.  Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1635, 
he  took  ship,  with  his  wife  and  four  children,  and  afler  a  voyage  by  con- 
stant sickness  rendred  very  tedious  to  him,  he  arrived  at  Charles-town, 
where  he  found  his  desired  relations  got  safe  before  him.  Several  towns 
now  addressed  him  to  become  their  minister;  but  he  chose  with  his  father's 
family  and  some  other  Christians  to  form  a  new  plantation,  which  they 
called  Ilingham;  and  there  gathering  a  church,  he  continued  a  faithful  pas- 
tor and  an  able  preacher  for  many  years.  And  his  old  people  at  Haverhil 
indeed,  in  some  time  after,  sent  most  importunate  letters  unto  him,  to 
invite  his  return  for  England:  and  he  had  certainly  returned,  if  the  letters 
had  not  so  miscarried,  that  before  his  advice  to  them,  there  fell  out  some 
remarkable  and  invincible  hindrances  of  his  removal. 

§  6.  Not  long  afler  this,  he  had  (as  his  own  expression  for  it  was)  "his 
heart  rent  out  of  his  breast,"  by  the  death  of  his  consort;  but  his  Christian, 
j)aticnt,  and  submissive  resignation,  was  rewarded  by  his  marriage  to  a 
second,  that  proved  a  rich  blessing  unto  him.  His  house  was  also  edified 
and  beautified  with  many  children,  on  whom  when  he  looked  he  would 
say,  sometimes  with  much  thankfulness,  "Behold,  thus  shall  the  man  be 
blessed  that  fearcth  the  Lord!"  and  for  whom  he  employed  many  tears  in 
his  prayers  to  God,  that  they  might  be  happy,  and,  like  another  Job, 
offered  up  liis  daily  supplications. 

His  love  to  learning  made  him  strive  hard  that  his  hopeful  sons  might 
not  go  without  a  learned  education ;  and  accordingly  we  find  four  or  five 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  499 

of  them  wearing  laurels  in  the  catalogue  of  our  graduates;  and  several  of 
them  are  at  this  day  worthy  preachers  of  the  gospel  in  our  churches. 

§  7.  He  was  mostly  a  morning  student,  not  meriting  the  name  of  Homo 
Lectissimm^'^  as  he  in  the  witty  epigrammatist,  from  his  long  lying  a  led; 
and  yet  he  would  improve  the  darkness  of  the  evening  also  for  solemn, 
fixed,  and  illuminating  meditations.  He  was  much  admired  for  well-stud- 
ied sermons;  and  even  in  the  midst  of  secular  diversions  and  distractions, 
his  active  mind  would  be  busie  at  providing  materials  for  the  composure 
of  them.  He  much  valued  that  rule,  study  standing;  and  until  old  age 
and  weakness  compelled  him,  he  rarely  would  study  sitting:  which  prac- 
tice of  his  he  would  recommend  unto  other  students,  as  an  excellent  pre- 
ventive of  that  Flagellum  Studiosorum^f  the  stone.  And  when  he  had  an 
opportunity  to  hear  a  sermon  from  any  other  minister,  he  did  it  with  such 
a  diligent  and  reverent  attention,  as  made  it  manifest  that  he  worshipped 
God  in  doing  of  it:  and  he  was  very  careful  to  be  present  still,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  exercises,  counting  it  a  recreation  to  sit  and  wait  for  the 
worship  of  God. 

Moreover,  his  heart  was  knit  in  a  most  sincere  and  hearty  love  towards 
pious  men,  though  they  were  not  in  all  things  of  his  own  perswasion.  He 
would  admire  the  grace  of  God  in  good  men,  though  they  were  of  senti- 
ments contrary  unto  his;  and  he  would  say,  "I  can  carry  them  in  my 
bosome:"  nor  was  he  by  them  otherwise  respected. 

§  8.  There  was  deeply  rooted  in  him  a  strong  antipathy  to  all  profanities, 
whereof  he  was  a  faithful  reprover,  both  in  publick  and  in  private;  and 
when  his  reproofs  prevailed  not,  he  would  "weep  in  secret  places." 

Drinking  to  excess,  and  mispence  of  precious  time,  in  tipling  or  talking 
with  vain  persons,  which  he  saw  grown  too  common,  was  an  evil  so 
extremely  offensive  to  him,  that  he  would  call  it,  "Sitting  at  meat  in  an 
idol's  temple;"  and  when  he  saw  that  vanity  grow  upon  the  more  high 
professors  of  religion,  it  was  yet  more  distastful  to  him,  who  in  his  own 
behaviour  was  a  great  example  of  temperance. 

Pride,  expressed  in  a  gaiety  and  bravery  of  apparel,  would  also  cause 
him  with  much  compassion  to  address  the  young  persons  with  whom  he 
saw  it  huddiiig,  and  advise  them  to  correct  it,  with  more  care  to  adorn  their 
souls  with  such  things  as  were  of  great  price  before  God:  and  here  likewise 
his  own  example  joined  handsomeness  with  gravity,  and  amoderation  that 
could  not  endure  a  show.  But  there  was  no  sort  of  men  from  whom  he 
more  turned  away  than  those  who,  under  a  pretence  of  zeal  for  church  dis- 
cipline, were  very  pragmatical  in  controversies,  and  furiously  set  upon  hav- 
ing all  things  carried  their  way,  which  they  would  call  "the  rule;"  but  at 
the  same  time  were  most  insipid  creatures,  destitute  of  the  "life  and  power 
of  godliness,"  and  perhaps  immoral  in  their  conversations.     To  these  he 

•  "  Lectus,"  which  means  "select"  or  "eligible,"  signifies  also  "a  bed."  Hence  the  double  entendre  of  tho 
text—"  a  most  eligible  man,"  or,  "  a  man  most  a-bed."  t  The  scourge  of  the  sedentary. 


500 


MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


would  apply  a  saying  of  Mr.  Cotton's,  "That  some  men  are  all  church,  and 
no  Christ." 

§  9.  He  was  a  person  that  met  with  many  temptations  and  afflictions, 
which  are  better  forgotten  than  remembered;  but  he  was  internally  and 
is  now  eternally  a  gainer  by  them.  It  is  remarked  of  the  Patriarch  Jacob, 
that  when  he  was  a  very  old  man,  and  much  older  than  the  most  that 
lived  after  him,  he  complained,  "Few  and  evil  have  been  the  days  of  the 
years  of  my  life:"  in  which  complaint  the  few  is  explained  by  the  evil; 
his  days  were  winter-days,  and  spent  in  the  darkness  of  sore  calamity. 
Winter-days  are  twenty-four  hours  long  as  well  as  other  days;  yea,  longer, 
if  the  equation  of  time  should  be  mathematically  considered:  yet  we  count 
them  the  shorter  days.  Thus,  although  our  Hobart  lived  unto  old  age,  he 
might  call  his  days  few,  because  they  had  been  evil.  But  "Mark  this  per- 
fect man,  and  behold  this  upright  one ;  for  the  end  of  this  man  was  peace. " 
In  the  spring  of  the  year  1670,  he  was  visited  with  a  sickness  that  seemed 
the  "messenger  of  death;"  but  it  was  his  humble  desire  that,  by  having 
his  life  prolonged  a  little  further,  he  might  see  the  education  of  his  own 
younger  children  perfected,  and  bestow  more  labour  also  upon  the  con- 
version of  the  young  people  in  his  congregation:  "I  have  travelled  in 
the  ministry  in  this  place  thirty -five  years,  and  might  it  please  God  so  far 
to  lengthen  out  my  days,  as  to  make  it  up  forty,  I  should  not,  I  think, 
desire  any  more."  Now,  the  Lord  heard  this  desire  of  his  praying  ser- 
vant, and  added  no  less  than  eight  years  more  unto  his  days.  The  most  part 
of  which  time,  except  the  last  three-quarters  of  a  year,  he  was  employed 
in  the  publick  services  of  his  ministry. 

Being  recovered  from  his  illness,  he  proved  that  he  did  not  flatter  with 
his  lips  in  the  vows  that  he  had  made  for  his  recovery;  for  he  now  set 
himself  with  great  fervour  to  gather  the  cJiildren  of  his  church  under  the 
saving  icings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  in  order  thereunto  he  preached 
many  pungent  sermons,  on  Eccl.  xi.  9, 10,  and  Eccl.  xii.  1,  and  used  many 
other  successful  endeavours. 

§  10.  Though  his  labours  were  not  without  success,  yet  the  success  was 
not  so  general  and  notable  but  that  he  would  complain,  "Alas,  for  the 
barrenness  of  my  ministry !"  And  when  he  found  his  lungs  decay  by  old 
age  and  fever,  he  would  clap  his  hands  on  his  breast,  and  say,  "The  bel- 
lows are  burnt,  the  founder  has  melted  in  vain!"  At  length,  infirmities 
grew  so  fast  upon  this  painful  servant  of  our  Lord,  that  in  the  summer  of 
the  year  1678  he  seemed  apace  drawing  on  to  his  end;  but  after  some 
revivals  he  again  got  abroad;  however,  he  seldom,  if  ever,  preached  after 
it,  but  only  administered  the  sacraments.  In  this  time  his  humility,  and 
consequently  all  the  other  graces  which  God  gives  unto  the  humble,  grew 
exceedingly  and  observably;  and  hence  he  took  delight  in  hearing  the 
commendations  of  other  men,  though  sometimes  they  were  so  unwisely 
uttered  as  to  carry  some  diminutions  unto  himself;  and  he  set  himself 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  p^q^ 

particularly  to  put  all  respect  and  honour  upon  the  ministers  that  cainc 
in  the  time  of  his  weakness  to  supply  his  place.  After  and  under  hin 
confinement,  the  singing  of  psalms  was  an  exercise  wherein  he  took  a  par- 
ticular delight;  saying,  "That  it  was  the  work  of  Heaven,  which  he  was 
willing  to  anticipate."  But  about  eight  weeks  before  his  expiration,  he 
did  with  his  aged  hand  ordain  a  successor;  which  when  he  had  performed 
with  much  solemnity,  he  did  afterwards,  with  an  assembly  of  ministers 
and  other  Christians,  at  his  own  house,  joyfully  sing  the  song  of  aged 
Simeon,  "  Thy  servant  now  lettest  thou  depart  in  peace."  He  had  now 
"nothing  to  do,  but  to  die;"  and  he  spent  his  hours  accordingly  in  assid- 
uous preparations;  not  without  some  dark  intervals  of  temptatmi;  but  at 
last  with  "light  arising  in  darkness"  unto  him.  While  his  exteriour  was 
decaying,  his  interiour  was  renewing  every  day,  until  the  twentieth  day  of 
January,  1678,  when  he  quietly  and  silently  resigned  his  holy  soul  unto 
its  faithful  Creator. 

EPITAPHIUM. 

D.   PETRI   HOBARTI, 

Ossa  sub  hoc  Saxo  Latitant,  defossa  Sepulchre, 
Spiritus  in  Coelo,  carcere,  missus  agit.* 


A    MAN   OF   GOD.    AND    AN   HONOURABLE   MAN. 

THE   LIFE  OP  MR.  SAMUEL  WHITING. 

Hi  niihi  Boctores  semper  placuere,  docenda 

Qui  faciunt,  plus,  quam  qui  facienda  docent.f 

§  1.  When  the  miserable  Saul  applied  himself  to  the  Witch  of  Endor 
for  the  invoking  of  and  consulting  with  some  spirit  in  the  invisible  world, 
he  chose  that  the  spirit  should  rather  appear  in  the  shape  of  the  venerable 
Samuel,  than  in  any  other.  A  dispute  is  raised  among  learned  men,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  spirit  thus  raised,  "who  it  should  be?"' — for  while  some 
think  that,  beyond  the  expectation,  and  unto  the  astonishment  of  the 
Witch,  it  was  the  true  Samuel  which  now  appeared;  in  as  much  as  the 
apparition  is  five  times  over  called  by  the  name  of  Samuel,  and  the  apoc- 
ryphal Ecclesiasticus  affirms  of  Samuel,  that  "after  his  death  he  prophe- 
sied :"  and  several  of  the  fathers  and  of  the  school-men,  herein  followed  by 
Mendoza,  Delrio,  Dr.  More,  Mr.  Glanvil,  and  others,  are  of  this  opinion: 
they  imagine,  with  Lyra,  that  God  then  sent  in  the  real  Samuel,  unhoked 

*  Beneath  this  stone  his  buried  ashes  lie,  |  But  his  freed  spirit  is  beyond  the  sky. 

t  Teatliers  who  do  what  should  be  taught,  I  Better  than  those,  so  often  sought, 

Have  pleased  me  best — 'tis  very  true ;  |  Who  teach  the  things  they  ought  to  do. 


502 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


for,  as  he  came  upon  Balaam,  when  employed  about  his  magical  impostures: 
there  are  more,  who  judge  that  it  was  a  spirit  of  the  same  kind  with  that 
which  is  described  by  Porphyrius,  cravla^op^ov  Ti  xax  *oXo7po*ov— "changing 
themselves  into  multifarious  forms,  one  while  acting  the  parts  of  da^iniMis, 
another  while  of  angels,  and  another  while  the  souls  of  the  deceased:" 
of  which  opinion  was  Tertullian,  and  the  author  of  the  Quest,  et  liesj)* 
ascribed  unto  Justin  Martyr,  and  the  generality  of  Protestants:  who  cannot 
perswade  themselves  that  the  Lord  would  have  so  far  countenanced  Nec- 
romancy or  Psycomancy  as  to  have  let  the  real  Samuel  come  upon  the 
solicitations  of  an  enchantress;  and  that  the  real  Samuel  would  not  have 
discoursed  at  the  rate  of  the  sjjectre  now  exhibited. 

Let  the  disputants  upon  this  question  wrangle  on:  while  we  by  a  very 
lawful  and  laudable  art  will  fetch  another  Samuel  from  the  dead:  and  by 
the  happy  marjick  of  our  pen,  reader,  we  will  bring  into  the  view  of  the 
world  a  venerable  old  man — a  Samuel  who  shall  entertain  us  with  none 
but  comfortable  and  profitable  tidings. 

§  2.  Mr.  Samuel  "Whiting  drew  his  first  breath  at  Boston,  in  Lincoln- 
shire, November  20,  A.  D.  1597.  His  father,  a  person  of  good  repute 
there,  the  eldest  so7i  among  many  brethren,  an  alderman,  and  sometimes  a 
mayor  of  the  town,  had  three  sons;  the  second  of  these  was  our  Samuel, 
who  had  a  learned  education  by  his  father  bestowed  upon  him,  first  at 
Boston  school,  and  then  at  the  university  of  Cambridge.  He  had  for  his 
companion  in  his  education  his  cosen  german,  the  very  renowned  Anthony 
Tuckney,  afterwards  doctor,  and  master  of  St.  John's  Colledge:  they  were 
.sc'/iooZ- fellows  at  Boston,  and  chamber-mates  at  Cambridge;  they  both 
belonged  unto  Immanuel-Colledge,  and  they  continued  an  intimate  friend- 
ship, when  they  left  the  seats  of  the  Muses,  which  indeed  was  not 
"quenched  by  the  many  waters"  of  the  Atlantick  when  they  were  a  thou- 
sand leagues  asunder.  It  was  while  he  was  thus  at  the  university  that 
the  good  Spirit  of  God  made  early  impressions  of  grace  upon  his  young 
soul;  and  the  cares  of  his  pious  tutor  (I  think  Mr.  Yates)  to  instruct  him 
in  matters  o^reli'jion,  as  well  as  of  literature,  were  blessed  for  the  imbuing  of 
his  mind  with  a  tincture  o(  early  jnety ;  which  was  further  advanced  by  the 
ministry  of  such  preachers  as  Dr.  Sibs  and  Dr.  Preston :  so  that  in  his  age 
he  would  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  divine  favours  which  he  thus  received 
in  his  youth,  and  when  he  was  entering  into  his  rest,  where  he  expected 
the  most  intimate  communion  with  our  glorious  Immanuel,  and  with  the 
"spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,"  he  could  with  joy  reflect  upon  the  anti- 
cipations of  it,  which  he  enjoyed  in  the  retired  walk  of  Immanuel-Colledge. 

§  3.  Having  proceeded  Master  of  Arts,  he  removed  from  Cambridge, 
and  became  a  chaplain  to  Sir  Nathanael  Bacon  and  Sir  Roger  Townsend, 
where  he  did  for  three  years  together,  with  prayers,  with  sermons,  with 
catechising,  and  with  a  grave  and  wise  deportment,  serve  the  interest  of 

*  Questiona  and  Answers. 


OK,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  5O3 

religion,  in  a  family  which  had  no  less  than  two  hnights  and^ive  ladies  in 
it.  He  next  removed  unto  Lyn,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  and  spent 
another  three  years  as  a  collegue  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  with  a  rev- 
erend and  excellent  man,  Mr.  Price.  But  the  great  content  which  he  took 
in  his  present  scituation,  and  society,  and  service,  was  interrupted  at  length 
by  complaints  made  unto  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  for  his  non-conformity 
unto  those  rites  which  never  were  of  any  use  in  the  church  of  God,  but 
only  to  be  tools  by  which  the  worst  of  men  might  thrust  out  the  best  from 
serving  it.  Being  cited  unto  the  High  Commission  Court,  he  expected 
that  he  should  lose  the  most  of  his  estate  for  his  being  a  non-conformist; 
but  before  the  time  for  his  appearance,  according  to  the  citation,  came, 
King  James  died;  and  so  his  trouble  at  this  time  was  diverted.  The  Earl 
of  Lincoln  afterwards  interceding  for  him,  the  Bishop  was  willing  to  prom- 
ise that  he  would  no  farther  worry  him,  in  case  he  would  be  gone  out  of 
his  diocess,  where  he  could  not  reach  him;  and  therefore  leaving  Lyn,  he 
exercised  his  ministry  at  Skirbick,  near  Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  for  a  con- 
siderable while,  with  no  inconsiderable  fruit;  refreshed  with  the  delightful 
neighbourhood  of  his  old  friends,  and  especially  those  eminent  persons 
Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Tuckney,  to  both  of  whom  he  had  some  affinity,  as 
from  both  of  them  no  little  affection. 

§  4.  Having  buried  his  first  wife,  by  whom  he  had  three  children — two 
sons,  who  died  in  England,  and  one  daughter,  afterwards  matched  with 
one  Mr.  Thomas  Weld,  in  another  land — he  married  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
Oliver  St.  John,  a  Bedfordshire  gentleman,  of  an  honourable  family,  nearly 
related  unto  the  Lord  St.  John  of  Bletso.  This  Mr.  St.  John  was  a  person 
of  incomparable  breeding,  vertue,  and  piety;  such  that  Mr.  Cotton,  who 
was  well  acquainted  with  him,  said  of  him,  "He  was  one  of  the  compleat- 
est  gentlemen,  without  affectation,  that  ever  he  knew."  And  this  his 
daughter  was  a  person  of  singular  piety  and  gravity;  one  who  by  her  dis- 
cretion freed  her  husband  from  all  secular  avocations;  one  who  upheld  a 
daily  and  constant  communion  with  God  in  the  devotions  of  her  closet; 
one  who  not  only  wrote  the  sermons  that  she  heard  on  the  Lord's  days 
with  much  dexterity,  but  lived  them,  and  lived  on  them  all  the  week. 
The  usual  phrase  for  an  excellent  ivoman  among  the  ancient  Jews  was, 
"one  who  deserves  to  marry  a  priest:"  even  such  an  excellent  woTnan  was 
now  married  unto  Mr.  Whiting.  This  gentlewoman  having  stayed  with 
her  worthy  consort  forty -seven  years,  went  in  the  seventy-third  year  of 
her  age  unto  Him  to  whom  her  soul  had  been  some  scores  of  years  espoused. 
Mr.  Whiting  had  by  her  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Three  of  the  sons 
lived  unto  the  estate  and  stature  of  men ;  and  had  a  learned  education. 
Samuel  is  at  this  day  a  reverend,  holy,  and  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel 
in  the  New-English  town  of  Billerica:  John  was  intended  for  a  physician, 
but  became  a  preacher,  first  at  Butterwick,  then  at  Leverton  in  Lincoln- 


504 


M  AG  N  ALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


shire,  where  he  died  a  godly  conformist:  Joseph  is  at  this  day  a  worthy 
and  painful  minister  of  the  gospel  at  Southampton  upon  Long-Island. 

§  5.  After  he  had  abode  several  years  at  Skirbick,  soon  after  Mr.  Cot- 
ton's removal,  he  fell  into  such  trouble  for  his  non-conformity  to  the  vani- 
ties which  men  had  "received  by  tradition  from  their  Popish  fathers,"  and 
this  through  the  complaint  of  the  same  unhappy  man,  it  is  said,  who  pro- 
cured the  trouble  of  Mr.  Cotton,  that  he  found  he  must  he  gone:  but  New- 
England  on'ercd  it  self  as  the  most  hopeful  and  quiet,  and  indeed  the  only 
place  that  he  could  be  gone  unto.  The  ecclesiastical  sharks  then  drove 
this  Whiting  over  the  Atlantic  sea  unto  the  American  strand.  Let  it  not 
be  a  matter  of  wonder,  that  persons  of  a  conscience  rightly  informed  and 
inclined,  chose  rather  to  undergo  an  uncomfortable  exile  from  the  best 
island  under  heaven  to  as  hard  a  desart  as  any  upon  earth,  rather  than 
to  conform  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  English  Liturgy.  If  the  things  had 
been  as  lawful  \n  the  judgment  of  the  sufferers  as  they  were  in  the  pre- 
tences of  the  imposers,  they  were  not  so  fond  of  miseries  as  to  have  refused 
conformit}'.  But  it  was  of  old  observed,  that  when  sinful  things  were 
commanded.  Nihil  obstinacius  Christiana — nothing  is  more  ohstinate  than  a 
Christian  dissenter;  and  it  is  a  commendable  obstinacy/  The  faithful  in 
Tertullian's  time  would  undergo  any  thing  rather  than  use  the  ceremonies 
of  idolaters,  though  they  might  have  used  them  to  another  end,  and  with 
another  mind  than  they.  The  first  planters  of  New-England  knew  that 
the  ceremonies  retained  in  the  Church  of  England  had  been  first  invented 
and  practised  by  idolaters:  and  knowing  that  all  the  abominations  of  the 
Popish  Mass  originally  sprang  from  an  imposed  Liturgy,  they  thought  it 
no  nicety  to  have  declined  all  compliance  with  such  a  thing,  though  they 
should  not  have  had,  as  they  had,  numberless  objections  against  it.  The 
very  xcords  used  in  the  rites  then  required,  were  feared  by  those  good  men, 
as  dangerous;  after  they  read  those  words  of  the  Rhemists,  "While  they 
say,  ministers,  let  us  say,  priests;  when  they  call  it,  a  communion  table,  let 
us  call  it,  an  altar.  Let  us  keep  our  old  words,  and  we  shall  keep  our  old 
things,  our  religion."  But  much  more  did  these  good  men  fear  the  rites 
of  tilings  themselves;  especially  when  they  saw  them  to  be  not  only 
unscriptural  and  uninstituted,  but  also  of  pernicious  consequence  to  the  very 
vitxds  of  religion.  For  this  they  had  the  example  of  Peter  Martyr,  who 
wished  that  the  reformed  churches,  keeping  up  these  things,  would  be 
sensible,  Evangelium  lis  manentibus,  non  satis  essefrmum: — that  the  gospel 
cannot  be  secure,  while  the  ceremonies  continue:  they  had  the  example 
of  Martin  Bucer,  who  complained  that  the  ceremonies  and  the  preaching  of 
the  xoord,  mutually  expel  one  another.  Where  knowledge  through  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  prevails,  there  the  love  of  these  withers,  and  where 
the  love  of  these  prevails,  there  knowledge  decays:  they  had  the  example  of 
the  divines  of  Hamburgh,  who  looked  upon  such  ceremonies  to  be  the 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  5Q5 

CunicuU — the  secret  mines — by  which  the  Papists  would  convey  themselves 
under  onr  foundations,  and  overthrow  our  churches.  And  if  they  did  then 
entertain  Austin's  fear — In  Multitudine  Ceremoniarum  periclitatur  Fides* — 
I  wish  the  event  had  less  confirmed  it.  It  is  very  certain,  in  the  English 
nation,  they  served  only  as  Gileadites,  to  keep  i\iQ  passages  of  the  church, 
so  that  no  minister,  how  able  or  worthy  soever,  could  pass,  unless  he  could 
pronounce  that  Shibboleth.  And  if  the  man  of  Bern,  mentioned  by  Me- 
lancthon,  who  would  rather  be  martyred  than  observe  one  fast  in  the 
Popish  manner,  were  to  be  commended  for  his  fidelity  to  Christ,  though  it 
seemed  such  a  little  matter,  these  good  men  must  not  be  reproached  for  this, 
that  they  would  rather  be  exiled  than  to  conform  to  those  things,  which 
were  like  the  pretended  "indifferent  things"  imposed  in  the  old  German 
instrument  called  the  Interim,  namely,  Semina  CorruptelcB — the  seeds  of 
Romish  corruption.  It  is  time  for  me  now,  without  any  further  observa- 
tion, to  add  concerning  our  Whiting.  His  vertuous  consort  was  far  from 
discouraging  him,  through  any  unwillingness  in  her  to  forsake  her  native 
country,  or  expose  her  own  person  first  unto  the  hazards  of  the  ocean,  and 
then  unto  the  sorrows  of  a  wilderness:  but  though  some  of  her  friends  were 
much  against  it,  yet  she  rsithev  forwarded,  than  hindred  her  husband's  incli- 
nation for  America.  When  he  shipped  himself,  he  took  with  him  all  that 
he  had ;  and  whereas  he  might  have  reserved  his  lands  in  England,  which 
would  have  yielded  him  a  considerable  annual  revenue,  and  notable  acces- 
sion to  the  small  salary,  which  he  was  afterwards  put  off  withal;  yet 
judging  that  he  never  should  return  to  England  any  more,  he  sold  all, 
saying,  "I  am  going  into  the  wilderness  to  a  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord,  and 
I  will  not  leave  an  hoof  behind  me." 

He  took  shipping  about  the  beginning  of  April,  1636,  and  arrived  May 
26,  after  he  had  been  so  very  sick  all  the  way,  that  he  could  preach  but 
one  sermon  all  the  while:  and  he  would  say,  "that  he  had  much  rather 
have  undergone  six  weeks  imprisonment  for  a  good  cause,  than  to  undergo 
six  weeks  of  such  terrible  sea-sickness  as  he  had  been  now  tried  withal." 

But  in  a  sermon  after  his  arrival,  he  thus  expressed  his  apprehensions 
and  consolations:  >i 

"We  in  this  country  have  left  our  near  and  our  dear  friends;  but  if  we  can  get  nearer  to 
God  here,  he  will  be  instead  of  all,  and  more  than  all  unto  us:  He  hath  all  the  fulness  of  all 
the  sweetest  relations  bound  up  in  him.  We  may  take  out  of  God,  which  we  forsook  in 
father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  friends  that  hath  been  as  near  and  as  dear  as  our  own  soul." 

§  6.  When  he  came  ashore,  his  friends  at  the  New-English  Boston,  with 
many  of  whom  he  had  been  acquainted  in  Lincoln-shire,  let  him  know 
how  glad  they  were  to  see  him ;  and  having  lodged  about  a  month  with 
his  kinsman,  Mr.  Adderton  Haugh,  he  removed  unto  Lyn,  the  church 
there  inviting  him  to  be  their  pastor;  and  in  the  pastoral  care  of  that  flock 
he  spent  all  the  rest  of  his  days.     The  year  following,  Mr.  Thomas  Gobbet 

*  In  the  multitude  of  ceremonies,  faith  itself  is  in  peril. 


606 


MAGNA  LI  A    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


followed  him;  and  soon  after  Lis  arrival  at  New-England,  became  his  col- 
logue in  the  service  of  the  church  at  Lyn.  Great  was  the  love  that  sweet- 
ncd  the  labours  and  whole  conversation  and  vicinity  of  these  fellow- 
lubourers;  the  rays  with  which  thoy  illuminated  the  house  of  God,  sweetly 
uuiU-il;  they  were  almost  every  day  together,  and  thought  it  a  long  day 
if  thcv  were  not  so;  one  rarely  travelling  abroad  without  the  other:  and 
these  "two  angelick  men  seemed  willing  to  give  one  another  as  little  jostle 
as  the  angels  upon  Jacob's  ladder  did  unto  one  another,  while  one  was 
descending  and  another  ascending  there.  How  little  stipends  these  great 
servants  of  the  church  were  oppressed,  but  yet  contented  withal,  may  be 
gathered  from  this  one  story: 

The  ungrateful  inhabitants  of  Lyn  one  year  passed  a  town  vote,  that 
thev  could  not  allow  their  ministers  above  thirty  pounds  apiece  that  year 
for  their  salary:  and,  behold,  the  God  who  will  not  be  mocked,  immedi- 
ately caused  the  town  to  lose  three  hundred  pounds,  in  that  one  specie  of 
their  cattcl,  by  one  disaster. 

However,  Mr.  Whiting  found  such  a  blessing  of  God  upon  his  little,  that 
he  would  cheerfully  say,  "He  questioned  whether,  if  he  had  abode  in  Eng- 
land, where  his  means  v/ere  much  more  considerable,  he  could  have  brought 
up  three  sons  at  the  university  there,  as  he  did  at  Harvard-CoUedge  here." 
But  after  they  had  lived  about  a  score  of  years  together,  Mr.  Gobbet  was, 
upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Rogers,  translated  unto  Ipswich;  from  this  time 
was  Mr.  Whiting  mostly  alone  in  his  ministry;  "and  yet  not  alone,  because 
the  Heavenly  Father  was  with  him."  And  as  he  drew  near  his  end,  he 
had  his  youngest  son  for  his  assistant. 

In  the  sixty  third  year  of  his  age,  A.  D.  1659,  he  began  to  be  visited 
with  the  grinding  and  painful  disease  of  the  stone  in  the  bladder,  with 
which  he  was  much  exercised  [and  the  reader  that  knows  any  thing  of  it, 
will  say  it  was  exercise  enough]  until  he  came  to  be  "  where  the  weary  are 
at  rest."  He  bore  his  affliction  with  incomparable  patience;  and  he  had 
one  favour  which  he  much  asked  of  God,  that  though  small  stones,  wdtli 
great  j^ains,  often  proceeded  from  him,  and  he  scarce  enjoyed  one  day  of 
perfect  ease  after  this  until  he  died,  yet  it  is  not  remembred  that  he  was 
ever  hindred  thereby  one  day  from  his  publick  services.  And  whereas 
it  was  expected,  both  by  himself  and  others,  that  as  he  grew  in  years,  the 
torments  of  his  malady  would  grow  upon  him,  it  proved  much  otherwise; 
the  torments  and  complaints  of  his  distemper  abated  as  his  age  increased. 
At  length  a  i^enile  atrophy  came  upon  him,  with  a  wasting  Diarrhoea,  which 
brought  Lyn  into  darkness,  December  11,  1679,  in  the  eighty  third  year 
of  his  peregrination. 

§  7.  For  his  learning  he  was  many  ways  well  accomplished:  especially 
he  was  accurate  in  Hebrew,  in  which  primitive  and  expressive  language 
he  took  much  delight;  and  he  was  elegant  in  Latin,  whereof  among  otiicr 
demonstrations  he  gave  one  in  an  oration  at  one  of  our  commencements: 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  507 

and  much  of  his  vacant  hours  he  employed  in  history :  history,  which 
made  good  unto  him  her  ancient  character : 

Omnis  nunc  nostra  pendct  Prudentia  Sensu, 
Kiteque  nil,  nostra  qui  caret  Arte,  sapit* 

History,  whose  great  votary,  Polybius,  truly  asserts.  Nulla  hominihus  facil- 
ior  ad  Vitce  institutionem  via  est,  quani  Rerum  ante  gestarum  Cognitio.\  And 
he  was  no  less  a  man  of  temper  than  of  learning:  the  peculiar  sweetness 
and  goodness  of  his  temper  must  be  an  essential  stroke  in  his  character;  he 
was  wonderfully  happy  in  his  meek,  his  composed,  his  peaceable  disposi- 
tion :  and  his  meekness  of  wisdom  out-shone  all  his  other  attainments  in 
learning;  for  there  is  no  humane  literature  so  hardly  attained,  as  the  dis- 
cretion of  a  man  to  regulate  his  anger.  His  very  countenance  had  an 
amiable  smile  continually  sweetning  of  it:  and  his  face  herein  was  but  the 
true  image  of  his  mind,  which,  like  the  upper  regions,  was  marvellously 
free  from  the  storms  of  passions. 

In  prosperity  he  was  not  much  elated,  in  adversity  he  was  not  much 
dejected;  under  provocations  he  would  scorn  to  be  provoked.  When  the 
Lord  would  not  express  himself  unto  Elijah  in  the  wind,  nor  in  the  earth- 
quake, nor  in  the  fire,  but  in  the  still  voice,  I  suspect,  lest  one  thing 
intended  among  others,  might  be  an  admonition  unto  the  prophet  himself, 
to  beware  of  the  boisterous,  uneven,  inflamed  efforts,  whereto  his  natural 
constitution  might  be  ready  to  betray  him. 

This  worthy  man,  as  taking  that  admonition,  was  for  doing  every  thing 
with  a  still  voice.  He  knew  himself  to  be  born,  as  all  men  are,  with  at 
least  a  dozen  passions;  but  being  also  neiv  horn,  he  did  not  allow  himself 
to  be  hagridden  with  the  enchantments  thereof  The  philosopher  of  old 
called  our  passions  by  the  just  name  of  unnurtured  dogs;  but  these  dogs 
do  often  worry  the  children  of  God  themselves ;  even  a  great  Luther,  who 
removed  the  foulest  abominations  out  of  the  house  of  God,  could  not  hin- 
der these  dogs  from  infecting  of  his  own  heart:  however,  this  excellent 
(because  cool,  therefore  excellent)  spirited  person,  kept  these  dogs  with  a 
strong  chain  upon  them;  and  since  man  was  created  with  a  dominion 
over  the  beasts  of  the  field,  he  would  not  let  the  ^>)p(a  t^j  4'i^X^ff  t  hold  him 
in  any  slavery.  He  lived  as  under  the  eye  and  awe  of  the  great  God ;  and, 
as  Basil  noted,  Potest  Miles  coram  Rege  suo  non  irasci,  oh  solum  Regice  majes- 
tatis  Eininentiam  :^  thus  the  fear  of  God  still  restrained  him  from  those 
ebullitions  of  wrath  which  other  men  are  too  fearless  of.  As  virulent  a 
pen  as  ever  blotted  paper  in  the  English  nation,  pretends  to  observe — 

"That  some  men  will  pray  with  the  ardours  of  an  angel,  love  God  with  raptures  of  joy 
and  delight,  be  transported  with  deep  and  pathetiek  devotions,  talk  of  nothing  but  the 
unspeakable  pleasures  of  c^jmrnunion  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  be  ravished  with  devout  and 

*  He  nothing  knows  who  hath  not  learned  my  art,    |    And  he  knows  all  who  knows  what  I  impart. 
+  Nothing  more  facilitates  the  right  ordering  of  our  lives  than  a  knowledge  of  former  events. 
X  The  wild  beasts  of  the  temper, 
g  The  soldier  must  not  dare  to  be  angry  in  presence  of  his  sovereign,  out  of  respect  to  the  royal  majesty. 


508 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


s;Ti.phiok  miHliUitioiis  of  heaven,  and  like  the  blessed  spirits  there,  seem  to  relish  nothing 
but  .piritual  delights  and  enterUiinnients:  who,  when  they  return  from  tiieir  transfiguration 
to  their  ordinary  converse  with  men,  are  churlish  as  a  cynick,  passionate  as  an  angry  wasp, 
tnviouH  as  a  studious  dunce,  and  insolent  as  a  female  tyrant;  proud  and  haughty  in  their 
deportment ;  peevish,  petulant,  and  self-willed,  impatient  of  contradiction,  implacable  in  their 
nnger,  rude  Imd  imperious  in  all  their  conversation,  and  made  up  of  nothing  but  pride,  malice, 
aixl  peevishness." 

But  if  any  have  ever  given  occasion  for  this  observation,  there  was  none 
given  by  our  Whiting,  who  would  have  thought  himself  a  fish  out  of  his 
element,  if  he  had  ever  been  at  any  time  any  where  but  in  the  Pacifick 
Sea.  And  from  this  account  of  his  temper,  I  may  now  venture  to  proceed 
unto  his  vertue;  by  which  I  intend  tlie  holiness  of  his  renewed  heart  and 
life,  and  the  change  made  by  the  supernatural  grace  of  Christ  upon  him, 
without  which  all  vertue  is  but  a  name,  a  sham,  a  fiction.  He  was  a  very 
holy  man;  as  the  ancients  hath  assured  us,  Ama  Scientiam  Scripturarum 
et  Vitia  Carni^  non  Amahis:*  thus  by  reading  daily  several  chapters  in  both 
Testaments  of  the  Scriptures,  with  serious  and  gracious  reflections  there- 
upon, which  he  still  followed  with  secret  prayers,  he  grew  more  holy  con- 
tinually, until,  in  a  flourishing  old  age^  he  was  found  fit  for  transplantation. 

His  worship  in  his  family  was  that  which  argued  him  a  true  child  of 
Abraham;  and  his  counsel  to  his  children  was  grave,  watchful,  useful, 
savoury,  and  very  memorable.  And  if  meditation  (which  was  one  of 
Luther's  great  things  to  make  a  divine)  be  a  thing  of  no  little  consequence 
to  make  a  Christian,  this  must  be  numbered  among  the  exercises  whereby 
our  Whiting  became  very  much  improved  in  Christianity.  Meditation 
(which  is  Mentis- Ditatio)\  daily  enriched  his  mind  with  the  dispositions  of 
Heaven ;  and  having  a  icalk  for  that  purpose  in  his  orchard,  some  of  his 
flock  that  saw  him  constantly  taking  his  turns  in  that  walk,  with  hand, 
and  eye,  and  soul,  often  directed  heavenward,  would  say,  "There  does  our 
dear  pastor  walk  with  God  every  day." 

In  fine,  as  the  Apostle  Peter  says,  "They  that  obey  not  the  word,  yet 
with  fear  behold  the  chaste  conversation  of  them  who  do."  And  as  Igna- 
tius describes  the  pastor  of  the  Trallians  for  one  "of  such  a  sanctity  of  life, 
that  the  greatest  Atheist  woilld  have  been  afraid  to  have  looked  upon  him :" 
even  so  the  natural  conscience  in  the  worst  of  men  paid  an  homage  of  rev- 
erence to  this  holy  man  where  ever  he  came. 

§  8.  Tliough  he  spent  his  time  chiefly  in  his  beloved  study,  yet  he  would 
sometimes  visit  his  flock;  but  in  his  visit,  he  made  conscience  of  entertain- 
ing his  neighbours  with  no  discourse  but  what  should  be  grave,  and  tvise, 
and  profUnUe;  as  knowing  that,  Qiue  sunt  in  Ore  FopuU Niigice,  stint  in  Ore 
Pastoris  ]i hyphemia'. %  And  sometimes  an  occasional  tuord  let  fall  by  him, 
hath  had  a  notable  effect:  once  particularly,  in  a  jo<irney,  being  at  an  inn 
upon  the  road,  he  over-heard  certain  people  in  the  next  room  so  inerry  as 

•  Ix)To  the  iludy  of  tho  Pcrlpturcii.  luid  you  will  spurn  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.        +  The  enriching  of  the  mind. 
X  Whml  are  mere  Idle  words  In  the  mouths  of  common  people,  become  blasphemies  when  uttered  by  a  minister. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  509 

to  be  too  loud  and  rude  in  their  mirth ;  wherefore,  as  he  passed  bj  the 
door,  he  looked  in  upon  them,  and  with  a  sweet  majesty,  only  dropt  those 
words:  "Friends,  if  you  are  sure  that  your  sins  are  pardoned,  you  may 
be  wisely  merry."  And  these  words  not  only  stilled  all  their  noise  for 
the  present,  but  also  had  a  great  effect  afterwards  upon  some  of  the  com- 
pany. Indeed,  his  conversation  preached  where-ever  he  was;  as  being 
sensible  of  the  Jewish  proverb,  Propheta  qui  transgreditur  Prophetiani  suam 
propriam  Mors  ejus  est  in  Manihus  Dei:*  but  in  the  pulpit  he  laboured  espe- 
cially to  approve  himself  a  preacher.  In  his  preaching^  his  design  was  Pro- 
desse  magis  quam  placere  :\  and  his  practice  was,  Non  alta  sed  apta  proferre.X 
But  what  a  proper  and  useful  speaker  he  was,  we  may  gather  from  what 
we  find  him  when  a  writer. 

There  are  especially  two  hooks  wherein  we  have  him  yet  living  among 
us.  In  the  fate  and  fire  of  Sodom,  there  was  a  notable  type  of  the  confla- 
gration that  will  arrest  this  polluted  world  at  the  day  of  judgment:  and 
the  famous  prayer  of  Abraham  (who,  as  K.  Bechai  imagines,  had  some 
hope  when  he  deprecated  that  ruine  for  the  sake  of  ten  righteous  07ies,  that 
Lot  and  his  wife,  and  the  four  daughters  which  tradition  hath  assigned 
him,  and  his  four  sons-in-law,  would  have  made  up  the  number)  on  that 
occasion,  is  indeed  a  very  rich  portion  of  Scripture.  Now,  our  Whiting 
published  a  volume  of  sermons  upon  that  prayer  of  Abraham ;  wherein 
he  does  raise,  confirm,  and  apply  thirty-two  doctrines,  which  he  offered 
unto  the  publick  (as  he  says  in  his  preface)  "as  the  words  of  a  dying 
man;"  hoping  that,  as  Constantine  the  Great  would  stoop  so  low  as  to 
kiss  Paphnutius'  maimed  eye,  so  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  condescend 
to  put  marks  of  his  favour  on  (that  which  he  humbly  calls)  "a  maimed 
work,"  But  that  which  encouraged  him  unto  this  publication,  was  the 
acceptance  which  had,  before  this,  been  found  by  another  treatise  of  his 
upon  the  day  of  judgment  it  self.  In  the  fifty-eight  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
the  Lord  promises  a  time  of  wondrous  light  a.nd  joy  unto  his  restored  peo- 
ple, and  the  consolations  of  a  lasting  sahbatism:  things  to  be  accomplished 
at  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord.  Now,  to  prepare  for  that  blessedness, 
those  very  things  be  required  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  afterwards 
mentioned,  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  as  the  qualifications 
of  those  whom  he  will  admit  into  his  blessed  kingdom.  There  seems, 
at  least,  a  little  reason  for  it,  that  at  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  one  of  the  first  things  will  be  a  glorious  translation,  wherein 
the  members  of  Christian  churches  will  be  called  before  him,  and  be 
examined,  in  order  to  the  determination  of  their  state  under  the  New 
Jerusalem  that  is  to  follow:  either  to  take  their  part  in  the  glories  of  that 
city  and  kingdom  for  the  thousand  years  to  come,  and  by  consequence 
what  ensues  thereupon,  or  to  be  exiled  into  the  confusions  of  them  that 

*  The  doom  of  the  prophet  who  is  false  to  his  own  prophecy  is  in  the  hands  of  God. 

+  Rather  to  profit  than  to  please.  J  To  promulgate,  not  high  things,  but  fit  things. 


510 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 


arc  to  be  witliout.  Now,  though  'tis  possible  that  whole  discourse  of  our 
Lord  may  nextly  refer  to  no  more  than  this  transaction,  yet  inasmuch  as 
the  generality  of  interpreters  have  carried  it  unto  the  more  general  and 
ultimate  proceedings  of  the  last  judgment,  our  Whiting  did  so  too;  and 
he  has  given  us  forty-tico  doctrines  thereupon,  so  handled  as  to  suit  the 
edification  of  all  readers.  The  notes  are  short,  and  but  the  concise  heads 
of  what  the  author  prepared  for  his  weekly  exercises;  nevertheless,  Mr. 
Wilson  and  Mr.  Mitchel  observe  in  their  preface  thereunto:  That  the 
reader,  by  having  "much  in  a  little  room,"  is  the  better  furnished  with 
variety  of  matter,  worthy  of  meditation,  for  want  of  which  many  a  man 
does  digest  little  of  what  he  reads.  They  say,  "It  is  a  good  saying  of 
one,  'that  the  reading  of  many  diverse  heads,  without  some  interlaced 
meditation,  is^like  eating  of  marrow  without  bread.'  But  he  that  shall 
take  time  to  pause  upon  what  he  reads  (where  great  truths  are  but  in  few 
words  hinted  at)  with  intermixed  meditations  and  ejaculations,  suitable  to 
the  matter  in  hand,  will  find  such  truths  concisely  delivered,  to  be  like 
marrow  and  fatness,  whereof  a  little  does  go  far,  and  feed  much." 

But  a  little  poetry  must  now  wait  upon  the  memory  of  this  worthy  man: 

UPON    THE    VERY    REVEREND    SAMUEL    WHITING. 


Moi'nT,  Fnmc,  the  glorious  chariot  of  the  sun ; 
TJinniRh  the  wdrUlN  riryuf,  all  yim,  her  heralds,  run: 
And  let  this  great  saint's  merits  l)e  reveai'd, 
Which,  during  lire,  he  studiously  concealed. 
Cite  all  the  Levites,  fetch  the  sons  of  art^ 
In  thew  our  dolours  to  sustain  a  part. 
Warn  all  that  value  worth,  and  every  one 
Within  their  eyes  to  bring  an  Helicon. 
For  in  this  single  person  we  have  lost 
More  riches,  than  an  India  has  engrost. 

When  Wilson,  that  plerophory  of  love, 

Did  from  our  banks,  up  to  his  center  move. 

Rare  Whiting  quotes  Columbus  on  this  coast. 

Producing  Kims,  of  which  a  King  might  boast. 

More  splendid  far  than  ever  Aaron  wore, 

Within  his  breast,  this  8acrl^d  Father  bore. 

Bound  doctrine  fnm,  in  liis  holy  cell, 

And  all  perfections  Thummim  there  did  dwell. 

His  holy  vesture  was  his  innocence, 

nil  s|>e«'ch,  embroideriea  of  curious  senct. 

Such  awful  gravity  this  doctor  us'd, 

Ai  if  an  ungel  every  word  infus'd. 

No  turueni  Mile,  but  Asiatic  store; 

Conduilii  were  almost  full,  seldom  run  o'er 

The  banliR  of  Tune:  come  visit  when  you  will. 

The  streams  of  nectar  were  desceiuling  still : 

Much  like  Septemfluous  Niliis,  rising  so. 

Ho  watered  Christians  round,  and  made  thorn  grow. 

His  miKtest  vhisprrs  could  the  conscience  reach, 

A»  Well  as  irkirlu-inds,  which  some  others  preach- 

No  llouiirrgeti,  yet  could  touch  llie  heart, 

And  clench  his  (lorlrine  liy  the  meekest  art. 

His  loaniing  and  his  language,  might  become 

A  proTinco  not  Inferiour  to  Home. 

GloHiius  was  Kur(i|M''s  heaven  when  such  as  lhes<', 

Blara  of  his  i-iie,  ihoiie  in  each  diiKHiss. 


Who  writ'st  the  fathers'  lives,  either  make  room, 
Or  with  his  name  begin  your  second  tome. 
Ag'd  Polycarp,  deep  Origen,  and  such 
Whose  wurtii  your  quills — your  wits  not  them,  enrich; 
Lactantius,  Cyprian,  Basil  too  the  great, 
Quaint  Jerora,  Austin  of  the  foremost  seat. 
With  Ambrose,  and  more  of  the  highest  class, 
In  Christ's  great  school,  with  honour,  I  let  pass; 
And  humbly  pay  my  debt  to  Whiting's  ghost. 
Of  whom  both  Englunds,  may  with  reason  boast. 
J^ations  for  men  of  lesser  worth  have  strove, 
To  have  the  fame,  and,  in  transports  of  love, 
Built  temples,  or  flx'd  statues  of  pure  gold, 
And  their  vast  worth  to  after-ages  told. 
His  modesty  forbad  so  fair  a  tomb. 
Who  iu  ten  thousand  hearts  obtaiii'd  a  room. 

What  sweet  composures  in  his  angel's  face! 
What  soft  affections,  melting  gleams  of  grace! 
How  mildly  pleasant!  by  his  closed  lips, 
Rlielorick's  bright  body  suffers  an  eclipse. 
Should  half  his  sentences  be  truly  numbred,        [bard  : 
And  weigh'd  in  wisdom's  scales,  'twould  spoil  a  Lom- 
And  churches'  homilies,  but  homily  be. 
If  venerable  Whiting,  set  by  thee. 
Profoundest  jud^'ment,  with  a  meekness  i*are, 
Preferr'd  him  to  the  Moderator's  chair ; 
Where,  like  Truth's  champion,  with  his  piercing  eye 
Ho  silenced  errors,  and  made  Hectors  fly. 
Svft  answers  quell  hot  passions  ;  ne'er  too  soft 
Where  solid  Judgment  is  enthron'd  aloft. 
Church  doctors  are  my  witnesses,  that  here 
Affections  always  kept  their  proper  sphere, 
Withc>ut  those  wilder  eccentricities. 
Which  spot  the  fairest  fields  of  men  most  wise. 
In  pleasant  i>laces  fall  that  peoples'  line, 
Who  have  but  shmlows  of  men  thus  divine. 


OR,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


511 


Much  more  their  presence,  and  heaven-piercing  prayers, 

Thus  many  years  to  mind  our  soul-affairs. 

A  poorest  soil  oft  has  the  richest  mine; 

This  weighty  oar,  poor  Lyn,  was  lately  thine. 

O  wondrous  mercy  !  but  this  glorious  light 

Hoth  left  thee  in  the  terrours  of  the  night. 

New-England,  didst  thou  know  this  mighty  one, 

His  weight  and  worth,  thouMst  think  thyself  undone: 

One  of  thy  golden  chariots,  which,  among 

The  clergy,  rendered  thee  a  thousand  strong : 

One  who,  for  learning,  wisdom,  grace,  and  years, 

Among  the  Levites  hath  not  many  peers : 


One,  yet  with  God  a  kind  of  heavenly  band. 
Who  did  whole  regiments  of  woes  withstand: 
One  that  prevailed  with  Heaven  ;  one  greatly  mist 
On  earth ;  he  gain'd  of  Christ  whateVr  he  list : 
One  of  a  world  ;  who  was  both  born  and  bred 
At  Wisdom's  feet,  haid  by  the  Fountain's  head. 
The  loss  of  such  an  one,  would  fetch  a  tear 
From  Niobe  her  self,  if  she  were  here. 

What  qualifies  our  grief,  centers  in  this. 
Be  our  Inss  near  so  great,  the  gain  is  his. 

B.  THOMPSON. 


We  will  now  leave  him,  with  such  a  distich  as  Wigandus  provided  for 
his  own 

EPITAPH. 

In  Christo   Vixi,  Morior,   Vivoqne  Whitingus; 
Do  Sordes  Morti,  ccBtera,  Christe,  Tibi* 


THE   LIFE    OF   MR.   JOHN   SHERMAN. 

Vetustas  judicavit  Hunestum,  ut  Mortal  Laudarentur. — THt;ciD.t 

§  1.  That  great  Athanasius,  whom  some  of  the  ancients  justly  called 
Propugnaculum  Veritatis\  others  Lumen  Ecclesice,^  others,  Orbis  Oi^aculum^l 
is  in  the  funeral  oration  of  Gregory  Nazianzen  on  him  so  set  forth:  "To 
commend  Athanasius,  is  to  praise  vertue  it  self"  My  pen  is  now  falling 
upon  the  memory  of  a  person  whom,  if  I  should  not  commend  unto  the 
church  of  God,  I  should  refuse  to  praise  vertue  it  self,  with  learning,  wis- 
dom, and  all  the  qualities  that  would  render  any  person  amiable.  I  shall 
proceed  then  with  the  endeavour  of  my  pen,  to  immortalize  his  memory^ 
that  the  signification  of  the  name  Athanasius  may  belong  unto  him,  as 
much  as  the  grace  for  which  that  great  man  was  exemplary. 

§  2.  Mr.  John  Sherman  was  born  of  godly  and  worthy  parents,  Decem- 
ber 26,  1613,  in  the  town  of  Dedham,  in  the  county  of  Essex.  While  he 
was  yet  a  child,  the  instruction  of  his  parents,  joined  with  the  ministry 
of  the  famous  Rogers,  produced  in  him  that  "early  remembrance  of  his 
Creator,"  which  more  than  a  little  encouraged  them  to  pursue  and  expect 
the  good  effects  of  the  dedication  which  they  had  made  of  him  unto  the 
service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  work  of  the  gospel.  His  educa- 
tion at  school  was  under  a  learned  master,  who  so  much  admired  his 
youthful  piety,  industry,  and  ingenuity,  that  he  never  bestowed  any  chas- 
tisement upon  him ;  except  once  for  his  giving  the  lieads  of  sermons  to  his 

*  In  Christ  I  lived  and  died,  and  yet  do  live:      |     To  earth  my  dust,  to  Christ  the  rest  I  give. 

t  The  ancients  esteemed  it  to  be  an  honourable  duty  to  praise  the  dead.  %  The  bulwark  of  truth. 

{  The  Light  of  the  Church.  |  Tlie  World's  Oracle. 


512 


MAGNALIA    CHKISTI    AMERICANA; 


idle  school-mates,  when  an  account  thereof  was  demanded  from  thorn. 
So  studious  was  he,  tliat  next  unto  communion  with  his  God,  he  delighted 
in  communion  with  his  book,  and  he  studied  nothing  more  than  to  be  an 
exception  unto  that  ancient  and  general  complaint,  Quern  mihi  dahis,  qui 
Diem  ccstimcl?* 

§  3.  Early  ripe  for  it,  he  went  into  the  university  of  Cambridge,  where, 
being  admitted  into  Immanuel-Colledge,  and  instructed  successively  by 
two  very  considerable  tutors^  his  proficiency  still  bore  proportion  to  his 
means,  but  out-went  the  proportion  of  his  years.  When  his  turn  came  to 
be  a  graduate,  he  seriously  considered  the  subscription  required  of  him : 
and  uj)on  invincible  arguments,  became  so  dissatisfied  therewithal,  that 
advising  with  Mr.  Rogers,  Dr.  Preston,  and  other  eminent  persons,  who, 
commending  his  conscientious  consideration,  counselled  his  remove,  he 
went  away  under  the  persecuted  character  of  a  Colledge-Puritan.  The 
same  that  occasioned  his  removal  from  the  colledge,  in  a  little  time  occa- 
sioned also  his  removal  from  the  kingdom;  for  upon  mature  deliberation, 
after  extraordinary  addresses  to  Heaven  for  direction,  he  embarked  him- 
self, with  several  famous  divines  who  came  over  in  the  year  1634,  hoping 
that  by  going  over  the  icater,  they  should  in  this  be  like  men  going  under 
the  earth,  lodged  "  where  the  wicked  would  cease  from  troubling  and  the 
wear}'  be  at  rest." 

§  4.  So  much  was  religion  the  first  sought  of  the  first  coyne  into  this  coun- 
try, that  they  solemnly  offered  up  their  praises  unto  Him  that  "inhabits 
the  praises  of  Israel,"  before  they  had  provided  habitations  wherein  to 
offer  those  praises.  A  day  of  thanksgiving  was  now  kept  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  a  new  hive,  here  called  Water-town,  under  a  tree;  on  which 
thanksgiving  I\[r.  Sherman  preached  his  first  ser7non,  as  an  assistant  unto 
Mr.  riiilips:  there  being  present  many  other  divines,  who  wondred 
exceedingly  to  hear  a  subject  so  accurately  and  excellently  handled  by 
one  that  had  never  before  performed  any  such  public  exercise. 

§  5.  He  continued  not  many  weeks  at  Water-town,  before  he  removed 
upon  mature  advice  unto  New-Haven;  where  he  preached  occasionally 
in  most  of  the  towns  then  belonging  to  that  colony:  but  with  such 
deserved  acceptance,  that  Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Stone  being  in  an  assembly 
of  ministers,  that  met  after  a  sermon  of  our  young  Sherman,  pleasantly 
said,  "Brethren,  we  must  look  to  our  selves  and  our  ministry;  for  this 
young  divine  will  out-do  us  all." 

Here,  though  he  had  an  importunate  invitation  unto  a  settlement  in 
Mil  ford,  yet  he  not  only  declined  it  out  of  an  ingenuous  yea/ous?/,  lest  the 
worthy  person  who  must  have  been  his  collegue  should  have  thereby  suf- 
fered some  inconveniences,  but  also  for  a  little  while,  upon  that,  and  some 
other  such  accounts,  he  wholly  suspended  the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 
Hercuiu:)!!  the  zealous  alVection  of  the  people  to  him  appeared  in  their 

•  Where  shall  ho  bo  found  who  rightly  values  a  day? 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  518 

cliusing  him  a  magistrate  of  the  colony ;  in  which  capacity  he  served  the 
pubhck  with  an  exemplary  discretion  and  fidelity,  until  a  fresh  opportu- 
nity for  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  within  two  or  three  years,  offered 
it  self;  and  then  all  the  importunity  used  by  the  governour  and  assistants, 
to  ftisten  him  among  themselves,  could  not  prevail  with  him  to  "look 
back  from  that  plow." 

Our  land  has  enjoyed  the  influences  of  many  accomplished  men,  who, 
from  candidates  of  the  ministry^  have  become  our  magistrates;  but  this 
excellent  man  is  the  only  example  among  us  who  left  a  bench  of  our 
magistrates  to  become  a  painful  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Nevertheless,  he  that  beholds  Joseph  of  Arima- 
thiea,  a  counsellour  of  state,  Ambrose,  the  consul  of  Millain,  George,  the 
Prince  of  Anhalt,  Chrysostom,  a  noble  Antiochean,  John  a  Lasco,  a  noble 
Polonion,  all  becoming  the  j^ZazVi  preachers  of  the  gospel,  will  not  think 
that  Mr.  Sherman  herein  either  suffered  a  degradation,  or  was  without 
a  pattern. 

§  6.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Philips  of  Watertown,  Mr.  Sherman  was 
addressed  by  the  church  there  to  succeed  him;  and  he  accepted  the 
charge  of  that  church,  although  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  churches  at 
Boston  used  their  endeavours  to  become  the  owner  of  so  well  talented  a 
person,  and  several  churches  in  London  also,  by  letters,  much  urged  him 
to  "come  over  and  help  them."  And  now,  being  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Cambridge,  he  was  likewise  chosen  a  fellow  of  Harvard  Colledge  there; 
in  which  place  he  continued  unto  his  death,  doing  many  good  offices  for 
that  society.  Nor  was  it  only  as  a  fellow  of  the  colledge,  that  he  was  a 
blessing,  but  also  as  he  was  in  some  sort  a  preacher  to  it:  for  his  lectures 
being  held  for  the  most  part  once  a  fortnight,  in  the  vicinage,  for  more 
than  thirty  years  together,  many  of  the  scholars  attending  thereon  did 
justly  acknowledge  the  durable  and  abundant  advantage  which  they  had 
from  those  lectures. 

§  7.  His  intellectual  abilities,  whether  7iatural  or  acquired,weTe  such  as 
to  render  him  a  first-rate  scholar;  the  skill  of  tongues  and  arts^  beyond  the 
common  rate^  adorned  him.  He  was  a  great  reader,  and  as  Athanasius 
reports  of  his  Antonius,  ITpotfjrjj^Hv  ^76j  Tr\  avayvcjtfsi,  i)?  \i.y\i)eM  twv  ^s^pa/xjvwv  (X* 
(XutS  'rriTlsiv  j^a^aai,  ■iravla  Ss  xals^siv,  xai  Xoiirov  au7(2  Irjv  yvu,aT]v  dvli  fSiSXiuv  yiv=5ai ; — 
He  read  ivith  such  intention,  as  to  lose  nothing,  hut  heep  every  thing,  of  all  that 
he  read,  and  his  mind  became  his  library:  even  such  was  the  felicity  of  our 
Sherman;  he  read  with  an  unusual  dispatch,  and  whatever  he  read  became 
his  own.  From  such  a  strength  of  invention  and  mem.ory  it  was,  that  albeit 
he  was  a  curious  preacher,  nevertheless,  he  could  preach  without  any  pre- 
paratory notes  of  what  he  was  to  utter.  He  ordinarily  wrote  but  about 
half  a  page  in  octavo  of  what  he  was  to  preach;  and  he  would  as  ordina- 
rily preach  without  writing  of  one  vjtord  at  all.  And  he  made  himself  won- 
derfully acceptable  and  serviceable  unto  his  friends,  by  the  homelistical 
Vol.  I.— 33 


514 


MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 


accoinpUshments  wliich  were  produced  by  his  abilities  in  his  conversation. 
For  though  he  were  not  a  man  of  much  discourse,  but  ever  thought  iv  *oXu. 
\oyia  iffli  iroXofiwpia  :*  and  when  some  have  told  him,  "that  he  had  learned 
the  art  of  silence,"  he  hath,  with  a  very  becoming  ingenuity,  given  them 
to  understand  that  it  was  an  art  which  it  would  hurt  none  of  them  to  learn, 
yet  his  discourse  had  a  rare  conjunction  of  profit  sxrid  pleasure  in  it. 

He  was  u-idi/,  and.  yet  tcise  and  grave,  carrying  a  majesty  in  his  very 
countenance;  and  much  visited  for  council,  in  weighty  cases;  and  when 
he  delivered  his  judgment  in  any  matter,  there  was  little  or  nothing  to  be 
sjwken  by  others  after  him. 

§  8.  It  is  a  remark,  which  Melchior  Adam  has  in  the  life  of  his  excel- 
lent Pitiscus:  Jllud  mirandum,  quod  Homo  Theologus,  in  Matheraatum 
stiuliis,  nulk)  nisi  se  Magistro,  eo  usque  progressus  est,  ut  Editls  Scriptis,  Dis- 
cipUnce  illiiis  Gloriam,  magnis  Matlieseos  Professoribus  prwripuerit.-f  and  it 
might  be  well  applied  unto  our  eminent  Sherman,  who,  though  he  were  a 
consummate  divine,  and  a  continual  preacher,  yet,  making  the  mathematics 
his  diversion,  did  attain  unto  such  an  incomparable  skill  therein,  that  he 
was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best  mathematicians  that  ever  lived  in  this 
hemisphere  of  the  world,  and  it  is  great  pity  that  the  world  should  be 
deprived  of  the  astronomical  calcidations  which  he  has  left  in  manuscript 
behind  him.  It  seems  that  men  of  great  parts  may,  as  it  is  observed  by 
that  great  instance  thereof,  Mr.  Boyle,  successively  apply  themselves  to 
more  than  one  study.  Thus  Copernicus  the  astronomer,  eternized  like  the 
very  stars  by  his  new  system  of  them,  was  a  church-man ;  and  his  learned 
champion  Lansbergius  was  a  minister.  Gassendus  was  a  doctor  of  divin- 
ity; Clavius  too  was  a  doctor  of  divinity;  nor  will  the  names  of  those 
English  doctors,  Wallis,  Wilkins,  and  Barrow,  be  forgotten  so  long  as  that 
learning  which  is  to  be  called  real,  has  any  friends  in  the  English  nation: 
and  Ricciolus  himself,  the  compiler  of  that  voluminous  and  judicious  work 
the  "  Almagestum  Novum,'"'  was  a  professor  of  Theology. 

Into  the  number  of  these  heroes  is  our  Sherman  to  be  admitted ;  who, 
if  any  one  had  enquired  how  he  could  find  the  leisure  for  his  mathemat- 
ical speculations?  would  have  given  the  excuse  of  the  famous  Pitiscus 
for  his  answer:  Alii  &hacc]ua  Ludant,  et  Talis;  Ego  Regula  et  Circino,  si 
quando  Ludere  datur.X 

^  And  from  the  view  of  the  effects  which  the  mathematical  contempla- 
tions of  our  Sherman  produced  in  his  temper,  I  cannot  but  utter  the  wish 
of  the  noble  Tycho  Brache  upon  that  blessed  Pitiscus,  Optarem  jylures  ejics- 
modi  Concionatores  reperiri,  qui  Geomctrica  gnaviter  callerent:  forte  plus  esset 
in  Us  Circumspedi  et  solidi  Judicii,  Eixarum   inanium  et  Logomachiarum 

•  Much  RpeukiiiK  mu*t  erabmco  much  folly. 

t  It  U  ..ir,,ri»lnB,  that  a  thfoloRlan  should,  without  tho  aid  of  ku  instructor,  have  made  such  progress  in 
m.lh..n.uliral  Mudic*  as  by  his  published  writings  to  have  borne  off  the  honours  from  distir.guished  professors 
in  that  il(<|mrlnu'nl. 

X  Some  piny  M  chess  ond  with  dice :  when  I  have  an  opportunity  to  play,  ray  toys  are  tho  rule  and  compasses. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  515 

minus:*  for  among  other  things  very  valuable  to  me,  in  the  temper  of 
this  great  man,  one  was  a  certain  largeness  of  soul,  which  particularly  dis- 
posed hira  to  embrace  the  Congregational  way  of  church-government,  with- 
out those  rigid  and  narroiv  principles  of  uncharitable  separation,  where- 
with some  good  men  have  been  leavened. 

§  9.  But  as  our  mentioned  Pitiscus,  when  his  friends  congratulated  unto 
him  the  glory  of  his  mathematical  excellencies,  with  an  humble  and  holy 
ingenuity  replied,  "Let  us  rejoice  rather  that  our  names  be  written  in 
heaven!"  thus  our  Sherman  was  more  concerned  for,  and  more  employed 
in  an  acquaintance  with  the  heavenly  seats  of  the  blessed,  than  with  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  He  did  not  so  much  use  a  Jacob's  staff  in 
observations,  as  he  was  in  supplications  a  true  Jacob  himself  He  was  a 
person  of  a  most  heavenly  disposition  and  conversation;  heavenly  in  his 
words,  heavenly  in  his  thoughts,  heavenly  in  his  designs  and  desires ;  few 
in  the  world  had  so  much  of  heaven  upon  earth.  He  was  a  most  practical 
commentary  upon  those  words  of  the  psalmist,  "Mine  eyes  are  ever  towards 
the  Lord:"  and  those  of  the  apostle,  "Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God." 

As  the  Scriptures  are  the  Jirynament  which  God  hath  expanded  over  the 
spiritual  world,  so  this  good  man  usually  spent  an  hour  every  morning 
in  entertaining  himself  with  the  ligJits  that  are  shining  there.  Besides 
this,  with  meditations  on  God,  Christ,  and  heaven,  he  fell  asleep  at  night; 
and  with  the  like  meditations  he  woke  and  rose  in  the  morning;  and 
prayer  was  therefore  the  first  and  last  of  his  daily  works.  Yea,  had  any 
one  cast  a  look  upon  him,  not  only  abroad  in  company,  but  also  in  his 
closest  retirement,  they  would  have  seen  scarce  a  minute  pass  him,  with- 
out a  turn  of  his  eye  towards  heaven,  whereto  his  heaven-touched  heart  was 
carrying  of  him  with  its  continual  vergencies.  And  as  the  stars,  they 
say,  may  be  seen  from  the  bottom  of  a  well,  when  the  day  light  in  higher 
places  hinders  the  sight  thereof;  so  this  worthy  man,  who  saw  more  not 
only  of  the  stars  in  heaven  but  also  of  the  heaven  beyond  the  stars,  than 
most  other  men,  was  one  who,  in  his  humility,  laid  himself  low,  even  to 
a  fault;  and  he  had  buried  himself  in  the  obscurity  of  his  recesses  and 
retirements,  if  others  that  knew  his  worth  had  not  sometimes  fetched  him 
forth  to  more  publick  action. 

The  name  Descentius,  which  I  found  worn  by  an  eminent  person  among 
the  primitive  Christians,  I  thought  proper  for  this  eminent  person,  when 
I  have  considered  the  condescension  of  his  whole  deportment.  And, 
methought  it  was  an  instance  of  this  condescension,  that  this  great  man 
would  sometimes  give  the  country  an  almanack,  which  yet  he  made  an 
opportunity  to  do  good,  by  adding  at  the  end  of  the  composures  those 
holy  reflections,  which  taught  good  men  how  to  recover  that  little,  but  spread- 

•  I  would  that  there  were  more  controversialists  of  his  school  among  our  geometricians — adroit  and  graceful 
in  their  very  earnestness :  perhaps  there  would  then  be  among  them  more  circumspection  and  sound  judgment, 
and  fewer  fruitless  contentions  and  battles  of  words. 


616 


MAGNA  LIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


ing  thing,  the  almanack,  from  that  common  abuse,  of  being  an  engine  to 
convey  only  silly  impertinencics,  or  sinful  superstitions,  into  almost  every 
cottage  of  the  wilderness.  One  of  those  reflections  I  will  recite,  because 
it  lively  expressed  tlie  holy  sence  of  death  in  which  the  author  daily  lived : 

"Ix't  inc  ititrcat  one  tliinj,'  of  tliee,  and  I  will  adventure  to  promise  thee  a  good  year;  the 
request  is  in  it  self  reasonahle,  and  may  to  thee  be  eternally  profitable.  It  is  only  this: 
duly  to  prize  and  dili]?ently  to  improve  time,  for  obtaining  the  blessed  end  it  was  given  for, 
and  is  yet  gnieiously  continued  unto  thee,  by  the  eternal  God.  Of  three  hundred  sixty-tive 
day^  allowed  by  the  making  up  of  this  year,  which  shall  be  thy  last,  thou  knowest  not;  but 
th;it  any  of  them  may  be  it,  thou  oughtest  to  know,  and  so  consider,  that  thou  inayest  pass 
tlie  lime  of  thy  sojourning  here  with  fear." 

§  10.  Behold  him  either  in  the  Lord's  house,  or  in  his  own,  of  both  which 
a  well  fjovcrnment  is  joined  in  the  demands  of  the  apostle,  and  we  may 
behold  both  of  them  after  an  exemplary  manner  ordered.  In  his  minis- 
try he  was  judicious,  industrious,  faithful;  a  most  curious  expositor  of 
Scripture,  and  one  that  fed  us  with  the  fattest  marrow  of  divinity.  And 
there  was  one  thing  in  his  preaching,  which  procured  it  a  singular  admi- 
ration: this  was  a  natural  and  not  affected  loftiness  of  stile;  which  with 
an  easie  fluency  bespangled  his  discourses  with  such  glittering  figures  of 
oratory,  as  caused  his  ablest  hearers  to  call  him  a  second  Isaiah,  the  honey- 
dropping  and  golden-mouthed  preacher.  But  among  the  successes  of  his 
conduct  in  his  ministry,  there  was  none  more  notable  than  the  peace  which, 
by  God's  blessing  upon  his  wisdom  and  meekness  more  than  any  other 
things,  was  preserved  in  his  populous  town  as  long  as  he  lived,  notwith- 
standing many  temptations  unto  differences  among  the  good  people  there. 
From  thence  let  us  follow  him  to  his  family,  and  there  we  saw  him  with 
much  discretion  maintaining  both  fear  and  love  in  those  that  belonged 
unto  him,  and  a  zealous  care  to  uphold  religion  among  them.  The  duties 
of  reading,  praying,  singing,  and  catechising,  were  constantly  observed, 
and  sermons  repeated.  And  he  was,  above  all,  a  great  lover  and  strict 
keeper  of  the  Christian  Sabbath;  in  the  very  evening  of  which  approach- 
ing, he  would  not  allow  any  worldly  matter  to  disturb  or  divert  the  exer- 
cises of  piety  "within  his  gates." 

§  11.  He  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  the  vertuous  daughter 
of  parents  therein  resembled  by  her,  he  had  six  children.  But  his  next 
wife  was  a  young  gentlewoman  whom  he  chose  from  under  the  guardian- 
ship and  with  the  countenance  of  Edward  Hopkins,  Esq.,  the  excellent 
governour  of  Connecticut.  She  was  a  person  of  good  education  and  repu- 
tation, and  honourably  descended;  being  the  daughter  of  a  Puritan  gen- 
tleman, whose  name  was  Launee,  and  whose  lands  in  Cornwal  yielded  him 
fourteen  hundred  pounds  a  year.  He  was  a  parliament-man,  a  man  learned 
and  pious,  and  a  notable  disputant;  but  once  disputing  against  the  Eng- 
lish Episcopacy,  (as  not  being  ignorant  of  what  is  affirmed  by  Contzen  the 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  517 

Jesuite  in  his  politicks,  "That  were  all  England  brought  once  to  approve 
of  bishops,  it  were  easie  to  reduce  it  unto  the  Church  of  Rome,")  he  was 
worsted  by  such  a  way  of  maintaining  the  argument,  as  was  thought  agree- 
able ;  that  is,  by  a  Avound  in  the  side  from  his  furious  antagonist;  of  which 
wound  at  last  he  died.  The  wife  of  that  gentleman  was  daughter  to  the 
Lord  Darcy,  who  was  Earl  of  Rivers;  a  person  of  a  Protestant  and  Puri- 
tan religion,  though  of  a  Popish  family,  and  one  that,  after  the  murder  of 
her  former  husband,  Mr.  Launce,  had  for  her  second  husband  the  famous 
Mr.  Sympson.  But  by  the  daughter  of  that  Mr.  Launce,  who  is  yet  living 
among  us,  Mr.  Sherman  had  no  less  than  twenty  children  added  unto  the 
number  of  six^  which  he  had  before. 

I  remember  John  Helwigius  of  late,  besides  what  has  been  related  for- 
merly by  other  authors,  brings  undeniable  attestations  of  a  married  couple, 
who  in  one  wedlock  were  parents  io  fifty-three  children,  at  thirty-five  births 
brought  into  the  world:  somewhat  short  of  that,  but  not  short  of  wonder, 
is  a  late  instance  of  one  mother  that  has  brought  forth  no  less  than  thirty- 
nine  children,  the  tliirty-fifth  of  whom  was  lately  discoursed  by  persons  of 
honour  and  credit,  from  whom  I  had  it.  Although  New-England  has  no 
instances  of  such  a  Polytolde^  yet  it  has  had  instances  of  what  has  been 
remarkable:  one  woman  has  had  not  less  than  twenty-two  children :  whereof 
she  buried  fourteen  sons  and  six  daughters.  Another  woman  has  had  no 
less  than  twenty-three  children  by  one  husband;  whereof  nineteen  lived 
unto  men's  and  women's  estate.  A  third  was  mother  to  seven-o.nd-twenty 
children:  and  she  that  was  mother  to  Sir  William  Phips,  the  late  govern- 
our  of  New-England,  had  no  less  than  twenty-five  children  besides  him; 
she  had  one-and-twenty  sons  and  five  daughters.  Now,  into  the  catalogue 
of  such  "fruitful  vines  by  the  sides  of  the  house"  is  this  gentlewoman, 
Mrs.  Sherman,  to  be  enumerated.  Behold,  thus  was  our  Sherman,  that 
eminent  fearer  of  the  Lord,  blessed  of  him. 

§  12.  He  had  the  rare  felicity  to  ''grow  like  the  lilly,"  as  long  as  he 
lived ;  and  enjoy  a  flourishing  and  perhaps  increasing  liveliness  of  his  facul- 
ties, until  he  died.  Such  keenness  of  wit,  such  soundness  of  judgment,  such 
fulness  of  matter,  and  such  vigour  of  language,  is  rarely  seen  in  old  age, 
as  was  to  be  seen  in  him  when  he  was  old. 

The  last  sermon  which  he  ever  preached  was  at  Sudbury,  from  Eph. 
ii.  8,  "By  grace  ye  are  saved:"  wherein  he  so  displayed  the  riches  of  the 
free  grace  expressed  in  our  salvation,  as  to  fill  his  hearers  with  admiration. 
Being  thus  at  Sudbury,  he  was  taken  sick  of  an  intermitting  but  malig- 
nant fever;  which  j^et  abated,  that  he  found  opportunity  to  return  unto 
his  own  house  at  Water-Town.  But  his  fever  then  renewing  upon  him,  it 
prevailed  so  far  that  he  soon  expired  his  holy  soul;  which  he  did  with 
expressions  of  abundant  faith,  joy,  and  resignation,  on  a  Saturday  evening, 
enirmg  on  his  eternal  Sabbath^  August  8,  1685,  aged  seventy-two. 


j^g  MAGNALIA    ClIUISTI    AMERICANA; 

EPITAPH  1  UM. 

For  an  epitaph  upon  this  worthy  man,  I'll  presume  a  little  to  alter  the 
epitaph  by  Stcnius,  bestowed  upon  Pitiscus 

Ut  Pnuli  Pietas,  sic  Euclitlea  Mathesis, 
Uuo,  SluTinnnni,  conditur  in  Tumulo* 

And  annex  that  of  Altenburg  upon  Cffisius. 

Qui  cursum  Astrorum  vivens  Indagine  multd 
Quasivit,  coram  nunc  ea  cerrit  ovans.i 


UiiiiliTiLJujri         cAiiAjiAjo 

EISEBIUS:   THE   LIFE   OF   MR.   THOMAS   COBBET. 

Et  Eruditis  rieiatc,  ct  Fiis  Eruditione  anUcellens,  itci  Laudes  Secundas  Doctrines  ferens,  ut 
Pietatig  primas  oblineret.\ Nazianz.  de  Basilic. 

§  1.  In  the  old  church  of  Israel  we  find  a  considerable  sort  and  sett  of 
men,  that  were  called,  "The  scribes  of  the  people:"  w^hose  office  it  was, 
not  only  to  copy  out  the  Bible,  for  such  as  desired  a  copy  thereof,  with 
such  exactness  that  the  mysteries  occurring,  even  in  the  least  vowels  and 
accents  of  it,  might  not  be  lost,  but  also  to  be  the  more  publick  "preacliers 
of  the  law,"  and  common  and  constant  pulpit-men;  taking  upon  them  to 
be  the  expounders,  as  well  as  the  preservers  of  the  Scripture.  But  one 
of  the  principal  scribes  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  New-England  was  Mr. 
Thomas  Cobbet,  who  wrote  more  books  than  the  most  of  the  divines, 
which  did  their  parts  to  make  a  Kirjath-Sepher  of  this  wilderness;  in 
every  one  of  which  he  approved  himself  one  of  the  scribes  mentioned  by 
our  Saviour,  from  his  rich  treasure  bringing  forth  instructions,  both  out 
of  the  New  Testament  and  out  of  the  Old. 

§  2.  Our  Mr.  Thomas  Cobbet  was  born  at  Newbury,  long  enough  before 
our  New-England  had  a  town  of  that  name,  or  indeed  had  any  such  thing 
as  a  town  at  all;  namely,  in  the  year  1608.  And  although  his  parents, 
who  afterwards  came  also  to  New-England,  were  so  destitute  of  worldly 
grandnre  that  he  might  say,  as  divers  of  the  Jewish  Eabbis  tell  us  the 
words  of  Gideon  may  be  read,  "Behold,  my  father  is  poor,"  yet  this  their 
son  was  greatness  enough  to  render  one  family  memorable.  Eeader,  wo 
are  to  describe, 

Ingenua  de  plcbe    Viruin,  sed  Vita  Fidesque 
Inculpata  fuit.fj 

•  In  8h..rn.m,-.  lowly  t.,mb  aro  laia                           |  The  heart  of  Paul,  and  Euclid's  brain. 

t  He  wh...  I,y  mortal  ..>.«.,  aTar                                     i  Translated  to  their  native  skies, 

Tnu:.Hl  the  t.r.Rht  c..ur«.  of  every  .tar,                    I  Can  read  at  will  their  mysteries. 

,    *  ""  "*"■ '  "'"  '•'»">*^  "'  f '*">>  '»"»  P'""*  In  learning-accepting  the  secondary  houours  of  learning  to 

obtain  the  flml  in  piety. 

I  Of  humblo  parenu,  but  in  inward  faith  |  And  outward  life  most  blameless. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  519 

And  remember  the  words  of  Seneca, 

Ex  casa  etiam   Virum  magnum  pro  dire  posse.  * 

"When  Cicero  was  jeered  for  the  mean  signification  of  his  name,  he  said, 
"However,  he  would  not  change  it,  but  by  his  actions  render  the  name 
of  Cicero  more  illustrious  than  that  of  Cato:^^  and  our  Cobbet  has  done 
enough  to  make  the  name  of  Cobbet  venerable  in  these  American  parts 
of  the  world,  whether  there  were  the  actions  of  any  ancestors  or  no  to  sig- 
nalize it.  A  good  education  having  prepared  him  for  it,  he  became  an 
Oxford  scholar,  and  removing  from  Oxford  in  the  time  of  a  plague  raging 
there,  he  did,  with  other  young  men,  become  a  pupil  to  famous  Dr.  Twiss 
at  Newbury.  He  was,  after  this,  a  preacher  at  a  small  place  in  Lincoln- 
shire; from  whence  being  driven  by  a  storm  of  persecution  upon  the 
reforming  and  Puritan  part  of  the  nation,  he  came  over  unto  New-England 
in  the  same  vessel  with  Mr.  Davenport;  coming  to  New-England,  his  old 
friend,  Mr.  Whiting  of  Lyn,  expressed  his  friendship  with  endeavours  to 
obtain  and  to  enjoy  his  assistance,  as  a  collegue  in  the  pastoral  charge  of 
the  church  there;  where  they  continued,  Fratruin  Dulce  Pa/-,f  until,  upon 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Norton  to  Boston,  and  of  Mr.  Rogers  to  Heaven,  he 
was  translated  unto  the  church  of  Ipswich;  with  which  he  continued  in 
the  faithful  discharge  of  his  ministry  until  his  reception  of  the  crown  of  life^ 
at  his  death^  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1686.  Then  'twas  that  he 
was  (to  speak  Jewishly)  treasured  up. 

§  3.  The  witty  epigrammatist  hath  told  us. 


Qui  dignos  Ipsi   Vita  scripsere  Libellos, 
lllorum,   Vitam  scribere  non  Opus  est.t 


And  we  might  therefore  make  the  story  of  this  worthy  man's  life  to  be 
but  an  account  of  the  immortal  books  wherein  he  lives  after  he  is  dead. 
What  Mr.  Cobbet  was,  the  reader  may  gather  by  reading  a  very  savoury 
treatise  of  his  upon  the  ffth  commandment.  But  that  he  might  serve 
both  tables  of  the  law,  he  was  willing  to  write  something  upon  the  first 
commandment  as  well  as  the  fifth;  and  this  he  did  in  a  large,  nervous, 
golden  discourse  of  prayer.  But  that  the  second  commandment,  as  well  as 
the  first,  might  not  be  unserved  by  him,  there  were  divers  discij)linary  tracts, 
which  he  publickly  offered  unto  the  Church  of  God.  He  printed  upon 
the  dut}^  of  the  civil  magistrate,  in  the  point  of  Toleration;  a  point  then 
much  debated,  and  not  yet  every  where  decided;  whereto  he  annexed  a 
vindication  of  the  government  of  New-England  from  the  aspersions  of 
some  who  thought  themselves  persecuted  under  it. 

He  was  likewise  a  learned  and  a  lively  defender  of  infant-baptism,  and 
he  gave  the  world  an  elaborate  composure  on  that  subject,  on  the  occasion 

•  Within  a  hut  a  hero  may  be  born.  f  A  charming  pair  of  brothers. 

X  When  men  write  living  books,  my  friend  and  brother,      |     Their  life  is  written,  and  they  need  no  other. 


g20  MAGNALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

whereof  Mr.  Cotton,  in  bis  incomparable  preface  to  a  book  of  Mr.  Norton's, 
lias  these  passages : 

^^CovETVs  cum  pcrsentisccret  aliquot  ex  Ovibus  Chrisli  sibi  commissis,  Anlipado. 
baptismi  Laqtieis  atque  Dumetis  irretitas,  Zelo  Dei  accensus  {et  Zelo  quidem  secun. 
dum  Scienliam)  imo,  et  Miserecordia  etiam  Chrisli  Commotus,  erga  Errantes 
Oviculas ;  Libras  quos  potuil,  ex  Anabaptistartim  penu,  congessit ;  Rationum 
Momenta  {Quu/ia  fucrant)  in  Lance  Hanctuarii  trulinavit ;  Testimoniorum  Plans- 
tra,  qua-  ah  aliis  congeslafueratit,  sedulo  perquisivit ;  et  pro  eo,  quo  foret,  Dispu. 
tandi  Acumine,  Dijudicandi  solertia,  solida  multa  panels  Complectendi  Dexteritate 
alqur  Indcfesso  Lahore,  nihil  pcene  Intentatnm  reUqnil,  quod  vel  ad  Veriiatem,  in 
hac  Causa  I//uslrandam,  vel  ad  Errorum  Nebulas  Discutiendas,  atque  Dispellendas, 
conducerct.^'* 

Reader,  to  receive  so  much  commemoration  from  so  reverend  and 
renowned  a  pen,  is  to  have  one's  life  sufficiently  written:  it  is  needless  for 
me  to  proceed  any  further  in  serving  the  memory  of  Mr.  Cobbet. 

§  4.  And  yet  there  is  one  thing  which  my  poor  pen  may  not  leave 
un  mentioned.  Of  all  the  books  written  by  Mr.  Cobbet,  none  deserves  more 
to  be  read  by  the  world,  or  to  live  till  the  general  burning  of  the  world, 
than  that  of  prayer:  and  indeed  prayer,  the  subject  so  experimentally^  and 
therefore  jwc/icibus/y,  ihavcioxc,  profitably^  therein  handled,  was  not  the  least 
of  those  things  for  which  Mr.  Cobbet  was  remarkable.  lie  was  a  very 
praying  man,  and  his  prayers  were  not  more  observable  throughout  New- 
England  for  the  argumentative^  the  importunate^  and,  I  had  almost  said, 
filially  familiar  strains  of  them,  than  for  the  wonderful  successes  that 
attended  them.  It  was  a  yood  saying  of  the  ancient,  Homine  proho  Orante 
nihil potentius ;•[  and  it  was  a.  great  saying  of  the  reformer,  J^st  quondam  Pre- 
cum  Omnijjotentia'^.  Our  Cobbet  might  certainly  make  a  considerable 
figure  in  the  catalogue  of  those  eminent  saints  whose  experiences  have 
notably  exemplified  the  p)ower  of  prayer  unto  the  world.  That^oWen  chain, 
one  end  whereof  is  tied  unto  the  tongue  of  man,  the  other  end  unto  the 
ear  of  God  (which  is  as  just,  as  old,  a  resembling  of  prayer)  our  Cobbet 
was  always  pulling  at,  and  he  often  pulled  unto  such  marvellous  purpose, 
that  the  neighbours  were  almost  ready  to  sing  of  him,  as  Claudian  did 
upon  the  prosperous  prayers  of  Theodosius — 

0  Nimium  Dilecte  Deo.^ 

•  Whin  ConoET  saw  that  gomo  of  his  (lock,  over  whom  Christ  had  made  him  shepherd,  caught  in  the  snares 
and  brn.i.l.l.f.  of  Ahti-pu.doUiplisin,  burninR  with  zoal  lor  God  (a  zeal,  too,  according  to  knowledge,)  vea,  and 
nliKi  with  Mirh  c..mpa.^lon  lu  Christ  IVlt  towards  his  wandering  sheep,  collected  all  the  books  he  could  of  the  Ana- 
b.pli.U- weighed  their  urKUments  (xuch  as  they  were)  in  the  scales  of  the  sanctuury-laboriously  groped  through 
the  wmfKoii-hrnds  of  pn-of-iexU,  which  they  had  got  together  from  the  writings  of  others-and,  exercising  that 
keenne«  in  delmto  for  which  ho  is  distinguished,  his  profound  discrimination,  his  tact  for  condensing  many 
wciKhly  thoiiKhti.  In  few  words,  and  unwearied  perseverance,  left  nothing  untried,  which  could  conduce  either  to 
dcveh.pmeiit  of  the  truth  coucerning  thal«importanl  theme,  or  tend  to  dissipate  the  mists  of  error. 

t  Nothing  exceed.  In  power  a  holy  man  at  prayer.  J  There  is  a  kind  of  omnipoleuce  in  prayer. 

I  ()  thou,  (uo  much  beloved  of  God. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  521 

A  son  of  this  "man  of  prayer"  was  taken  into  captivity  by  tlie  barbar- 
ous, treacherous  Indian  salvages,  and  a  captivity  from  whence  there  could 
be  little  expectation  of  redemption:  whereupon  Mr.  Cobbet  called  about 
thirty,  as  many  as  could  suddenly  convene,  of  the  Christians  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood unto  his  house ;  and  there  they  together  prayed  for  the  young 
man's  deliverance.  The  old  man's  heart  was  now  no  more  sad;  he  believed 
that  the  God  of  heaven  had  accepted  of  their  supplications,  and  because 
"he  believed,  therefore  he  spake"  as  much  to  those  that  were  about 
him,  who,  when  they  heard  him  speak,  did  believe  so  too.  Now,  within 
a  [ew  days  after  this  the  prayers  were  all  answered,  in  the  return  of  the 
young  man  unto  his  father,  with  circumstances  little  short  of  miracle! 
But,  indeed,  the  instances  of  surprising  effects  following  upon  the  prayers 
of  this  gracious  man  were  so  many,  that  I  must  supersede  all  relation  of 
them  with  only  noting  thus  much,  that  it  was  generally  supposed  among 
the  pious  people  in  the  land  that  the  enemies  of  New-England  owed  the 
wondrous  disasters  and  confusions  that  still  followed  them,  as  much  to 
the  prayers  of  this  true  Israelite,  as  to  perhaps  any  one  occasion.  Mr. 
Knox's  prayers  were  sometimes  more  feared  "than  an  army  of  ten  thou- 
sand men;"  and  Mr.  Gobbet's  prayers  were  esteemed  of  no  little  signifi- 
cancy  to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  which  is  now  therefore  bereaved  of 
its  chariots  and  its  horsemen.  If  New-England  had  its  Noah,  Daniel,  and 
Job,  to  pray  wonderfully  for  it,  Cobbet  was  one  of  them  1 

EPITAPHIUM. 
Sta  viator  ;   Thesaurus  hie  Jacet, 
THOMAS    COBBETUS; 

CUJUS, 

Nosti  Preces  Potentissimas,  ac  Mores  Probatissimos, 
Si  es   Nov-Anglus. 
Mirare,  Si  Pietatem  Colas; 
Sequere,  Si  Felieitatem  Optes.* 


THE    LIFE    OF    MR.   JOHN    WARD. 

§  1.  Some  famous  persons  of  old  thought  it  a  greater  glory  to  have  it 
enquired,  "why  such  a  one  had  not  a  statue  erected  for  him?"  than  to 
have  it  enquired,  "why  he  had?"  Mr.  Nathanael  Ward,  born  at  Haver- 
hil,  in  Essex,  about  1570,  was  bred  a  scholar,  and  was  first  intended  and 
employed  for  the  study  of  the  law.  But  afterwards  travelling  with  cer- 
tain merchants  into  Prussia  and  Denmark,  and  having  discourse  with 

•  Stop,  traveller !  a  treasure  lies  here,  Thomas  Cobbet  :  whose  effectual  prayers  and  most  exemplary  life  thou, 
if  thou  art  a  New-Englander,  must  have  known.    Admire,  if  you  revere  piety:  follow,  if  you  long  for  happiness  I 


522 


MAONALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Puvid  Par.TUS,  at  Heidelberg,  from  wliom  he  received  much  direction,  at 
hia  return  into  England  lie  became  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  had  a 
living  at  Stondon.  In  the  year  1634  he  was  driven  out  of  England  for 
his  non-conformity;  and  coming  to  New-England,  he  continued  serving 
the  church  at  Ipswich  till  the  year  1045;  when,  returning  back  to  Eng- 
land, he  settled  at  Sherfield,  near  Brentwood;  and  there  he  ended  his  days, 
when  he  was  about  eighty-three  years  of  age.  lie  was  the  author  of  many 
composures  full  of  wit  and  sense;  among  which,  that  entituled,  "  The  Sim- 
ple Cobler"  (which  demonstrated  hira  to  be  a  subtil  statesman)  was  most 
considered.*  If  it  be  enquired,  "why  this  our  St.  Hilary  hath  among  our 
Lives  no  statue  erected  for  him?"  let  that  enquiry  go  for  part  of  one. 
And  we  will  pay  our  debt  unto  his  worthy  son. 

§  2.  Mr.  John  Ward  was  born,  I  think,  at  Ilaverhil,  on  November  5, 
1606.  His  grandfither  was  that  John  Ward,  the  worthy  minister  of  Hav- 
erhil,  whom  we  find  among  "the  worthies  of  England,"  and  his  father  was 
the  celebrated  Nathanael  Ward,  whose  wit  made  him  known  to  more  Eng- 
lands  than  one.  Where  his  education  was,  I  have  not  been  informed;  the 
first  notice  of  him  that  occurs  to  me  being  in  the  year  1639,  when  he  came 
over  into  these  parts  of  America;  and  settled  there  in  the  year  1641,  in 
a  town  also  called  Ilaverhil.  But  what  it  was,  every  body  that  saw  him, 
saw  it  in  the  effects  of  it,  that  it  was  learned,  ingenuous,  and  religious.  He 
Wiis  a  pei'son  of  a  quick  apprehension,  a  clear  understanding,  a  strong  7nem- 
ory,  a  facetious  conversation ;  he  was  an  exact  grammai-ian,  an  expert  phy- 
sician, and,  which  was  the  top  of  all,  a  thorough  divine:  but,  which  rarely 
happens,  these  endowments  of  his  mind  were  accompanied  with  a  most 
healthy,  hardy,  and  agile  constitution  of  hody,  which  enabled  him  to  make 
nothing  of  walking  on  foot  a  journey  as  long  as  thirty  miles  together. 

§  o.  Such  was  the  blessing  of  God  upon  his  religious  education,  that 
he  was  not  only  restrained  from  the  vices  of  immorality  in  all  his  younger 
years,  but  also  inclined  unto  all  vertuous  actions.  Of  young  persons,  he 
would  himself  give  this  advice:  "Whatever  you  do,  be  sure  to  maintain 
shame  in  them;  for  if  that  be  once  gone,  there  is  no  hope  that  they'll  ever 
come  to  good."  Accordingly,  our  Ward  was  always  ashamed  of  doing 
any  ill  thing.  He  was  of  a  modest  and  bashful  disposition,  and  very  spar- 
ing of  si)eaking,  especially  before  strangers,  or  such  as  he  thought  his 
betters.  He  was  wonderfully  temperate,  in  meat,  in  drink,  in  sleep,  and 
he  always  expressed— I  had  almost  said  affected— a  peculiar  sobriety  of 
apparel.  He  was  a  son  most  exemplarily  dutiful  unto  his  parents;  and 
having  paid  some  considerable  debts  for  his  father,  he  would  afterwards 
humbly  observe  and  confess  that  God  had  abundantly  recompenced  this 
his  dutifulness. 

§  4.  'i'hough  he  had  great  offers  of  rich  matches  in  England,  yet  he 
chose  to  marry  a  meaner  jScrson,  whom  exemplary  jn'ety  had  recommended. 
He  lived  with  her  for  more  than  forty  years,  in  such  an  happy  harmony, 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  523 

that  when  she  died,  he  professed  that,  in  all  this  time,  he  never  had 
received  one  displeasing  word  or  look  from  her.  Although  she  would  so 
faithfully  tell  him  of  every  thing  that  might  seem  amendable  in  him,  that 
he  would  pleasantly  compare  her  to  an  accusing  conscience^  yet  she  ever 
pleased  him  wonderfully:  and  she  would  often  put  him  upon  the  duties 
of  secret  flists,  and  when  she  met  with  any  thing  in  reading  that  she  counted 
singularly  agreeable,  she  would  still  impart  it  unto  him.  For  which  causes, 
when  he  lost  this  his  mate,  he  caused  those  words  to  be  fairly  written  on 
his  table-board: 

In  Lugendo  Compare,   VitcB  Spatium  Compleat  Orbus.* 

And  there  is  this  memorable  passage  to  be  added.  While  she  was  a  maid, 
there  was  ensured  unto  her  the  revenue  of  a  parsonage  worth  two  hundred 
pounds  per  annum,  in  case  that  she  married  a  minister.  And  all  this  had 
been  given  to  our  Ward,  in  case  he  had  conformed  unto  the  doubtful  mat- 
ters in  the  Church  of  England:  but  he  left  all  the  allurements  and  enjoy- 
ments of  England,  "chusing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God  in  a  wilderness." 

§  5.  Although  he  would  say,  "there  is  no  place  for  fishing  like  the  sea, 
and  the  more  hearers  a  minister  has,  the  more  hope  there  is  that  some  of 
them  will  be  catched  in  the  nets  of  the  gospel;"  nevertheless,  through  his 
humility  and  reservation,  it  came  to  pass  that,  as  he  chose  to  begin  his 
ministry  in  Old  England,  at  a  very  small  place,  thus,  when  he  came  to 
New-England,  he  chose  to  settle  with  a  7iew  plantation,  where  he  could 
expect  none  but  small  circumstances  all  his  days.  He  did  not  love  to 
appear  upon  the  publick  stage  himself,  and  there  appeared  few  there  whom  he 
did  not  prefer  above  himself:  but  when  he  was  there,  every  one  might  see 
how  conscientiously  he  sought  the  edification  of  the  souls  of  the  plainest 
auditors,  before  the  ostentation  of  his  own  abilities.  And  from  the  like 
self-diffidence  it  was,  that  he  would  never  manage  any  ecclesiastical  affairs 
in  his  church,  without  previous  and  prudent  consultations  with  the  best 
advisers  that  he  knew:  he  would  say,  "he  had  rather  always  follow  advice, 
though  sometimes  the  advice  might  mislead  him,  than  ever  act  without 
advice,  though  he  might  happen  to  do  well  by  no  advice  but  his  own." 

§  6.  This  dihgent  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  continued  under  and 
against  many  temptations,  watching  over  his  flock  at  Haverhil,  more  than 
twice  as  long  as  Jacob  continued  with  his  uncle;  yea,  for  as  many  years 
as  there  are  Sabbaths  in  the  year.  On  November  19,  1693,  he  preached 
an  excellent  sermon,  entering  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age;  the  only 
sermon  that  ever  was,  or  perhaps  ever  will  be  preached  in  this  country 
at  such  an  age.  He  was  then  smitten  with  a  paralytic  indisposition  upon 
the  organs  of  his  speech,  which  continuing  about  a  month  upon  him,  not 

•  In  mourning  my  companion  be  spent  life's  remaining  span.  [ 


524 


MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Wl 

uii 


ithout  evident  proofs  of  his  understanding,  and  his  heavenliness,  contin- 
i<r  firm  with  him  to  the  last;  at  last,  on  December  27,  he  went  off,  bring- 
ing up  the  rear  of  our  lirst  generation. 

E  P  I T  A  P  H  1  U  M . 

Bonorum   Ultimas,  at  inter  Bonos  non   Ultimus.* 

MANTISSA. 

The  Church  of  God  is  wronged,  in  that  the  life  of  the  great  John  Owen 
is  not  written.  He  was  by  his  intention,  so  much  a  New-England  man, 
that  a  New-English  book  affords  no  improper  station  for  him.  Let  him 
that  once  would  have  chose  to  die  among  the  worthies  of  New-England, 
be  counted  worthy  to  live  among  them.  The  most  expressive  memorials 
of  his  life,  that  we  at  Boston  can  yet  procure,  are  inscribed  on  his  grave 
at  London.     These  must  be  then  transcribed ;  behold,  the  language  of  his 

EPITAPH, 

JOHANNES  OWEN,  S.  T.    P. 


AfTO  Oxonii-nei,  Palre  Itisigni  Thcologo., 

Maire  Pia  .Valrona,  Uriundus: 
Murum  Eli'ganllii,  et  Lepore  Innocuo, 

UmnibHS  guibuseum  cunversatus  est,  Gratissimus: 
Diinoruiii /'(in  IJruliiiriinunie  Kminrntia, 
lis  putissimum  in  Prelio  habitus  et  Deliciis, 
^iu^bus,  sincera.  Curie  erat,  Corilique  Heli^'io  : 
l.iltri?    natus,    Literis    innutritus,    Totusque 
Dfditus, 
Donee  AmmaUi  plane  evasit  Itibliotheca: 
.■luthoribus  Classicis,  ijui'i  Griecis,  qua.  Latiiiis, 
Sub  KJv.  Silveslri),  Schola  Privulffl  Oionii  Modcratore, 
Opcrnm  navacit  satis  Felicam; 
FfliciiTcm  adhiic  Studiis  Pliilosojiliicis, 
Mui<iio  sub  Rurluvio,  Coll.  Rrginsis  id  teynpus  Socio; 
(AxlisChrisli  ibidcm,tcmporis  Decursu,Ipsemtt  Uecaiius, 

FA  qtiiiKiui'iiiialis  .IcademitB  Vice-Cuncellarius :) 
Theol(it(iK  i<f mum /un^'C  relicissimus  incubuit ;  .^rtibus 
Pi'<li!H>qiii«,  Dure  ct  Auspice,  Sancto  Christi  Spiritu  ; 
(C'yjus  ntniie!',  in  I'artd  a  Christo  Redemptione 

.ippliranda.  Paries  Thcologorum  solus  Kiposuit.) 
Trtumque,  qua  UocUc  pniserlim  audiunt, 

(.llias  pritter  Orieiilnles)  I.inguarum  Peritus  ; 
Pai;inas  Sacras  Intus,  rt  in  C'ule, 

!<|iirilu,  rl  Mlera,  sibi  habuit  notissimas  ; 
Ik  .Vagnts  rero  Noscvntis  Kcclesia  Luminibus  Vertro- 
tissimus ; 
Primi*  lonKum  DegoncrlB  Restitutoribus  neutiquam 
neglretit ; 
JiTtc  melluris  AVt*  Sckolatticit  Conteinptui  habitis  ; 
Tarn  in  Pala-slrn,  quim  PiilplU),  iJoininatus  est; 


In    Palwstrd,   Ponlificios,    Remonstrantes,    Socinitas, 

Nostrosque 
In  Momentaso  Justiflcationis  j3/)icc  Novaturientes, 
Scriptis  Nervosissimis  Prostravit,  Pruculcavit ; 
In  Pulpito,  maxime  Infirmi  Corporis, 
Presenlii  minime  hifirmd  : 
Gestu,  Thealrica  ;)»-ocui  Ocsticulatione, 
Ad  Optimas  Decori  Rcgulas  Composito : 
Sermoiie,  a  Cuntcmptibili  remotissimo  ;  Canoro, 
Scd  non  Slridulo;  Stiavi,  sed prorsus  Virili; 
Kt  Authoritatis  quiddnm  Sonante  : 
Pari,  si  non  et  Supcriorc,  Aiiinni  PrcescntiA  ; 
Conciunnm,  quas,  ad  veibum,  tolas  Chartis  covimisit^ 
.We  I'crbum  quidcm  vol  carptinu  et  stringcnte  oculo 

Inter  l'r<tdicandum  Leclitavit: 
Sed  omnia,  S[io  primiiin  Intpressa  altius  Pectori, 
.luditurum  Animis,  Coidibusque  yjotcnfius  ingessit; 
JVec  Orandi,  minis,  quam  PeroraudI,  Donis  Instructus  ; 
Ministri  vere  Evangelici  Omnc*  complecit  J\'unicros  : 
Cultus  et  Regiminis  Insliluti  («»id  cum  Doctrind  Revc- 
lata) 

Magnus  Ipsemet  Zelotes,  et  Assertor  strenuus  ; 
Aniplissima  dentque,  cui  Spiritus  S,  Kum  priefecerat, 
Ecclesiie 

PrudenlissimuspanVfr  ac  Vigilantissimus  Pastor. 
Cujus  Pra'lustri  c  JHultis  I'num  suffieiat  F.pitaphio  : 
Author  Quadripartili  in  Ep.  ad  Hebr.  Comraentarii. 

Peracto  in  Terris  Cursu,  ct  quod  acceperut,  Ministerio, 
.Id  Christi  in  Cseli  Statum,  quern,  Sero  Vitce  f'espcrc, 
Cluriiis,  licet  eminiis,  Prospectum  Oraphice  linearat, 
Prupiiis,  Pouitiiisque  contuendum  Angelus Dccessit, 


Mcnsis  Augusli  {Non-Conformistis  id  magis  adhuc  Fatali)  Die  xxiv. 
Anno  Sal.  mdci.xxxiii.  .^Etat.  lxvii. 


•  Lui  of  the  gixxl,  but  among  the  good  by  no  means  the  last. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


525 


Epitaphium  istud  ab  Indigno  Symmista  Coinpositum 
Uti  Lativs,  quatn  ut  infra  breves 
Tabulie  Marmorete  Cancellos  clauderotur  ; 
ltd  etiam  jlngustius,  quam  ut  Justum 


Ars  Admodum  Reverendi'adimpleret  Characterem ; 
J^obiliorcm,  quam  nn'iuit,  potitum  est,  Sedem, 
A  Fronte  Operis  IIujus  Operosissimi 
Chartacci  Marmoreo  Perenniovis  Jilonuinenti. 


[Translation  of  the  foregoing  Epitaph.] 
John  Owen,  Professor  of  Divinity— Born  in  Oxfordshire,  (his  father  a  distinguished  minister  and  his 
mother  a  pious  matron,)  most  agreeable  to  all  with  whom  he  was  intimate  on  account  of  the  elegance  of  his 
deportment  and  his  innocent  gaiety,  and,  inasmuch  as  he  was  equally  gifted  with  talents  and  graces,  regarded  with 
equal  esteem  and  delight  by  those  who  sincerely  cared  for  and  loved  religion.  Born,  as  it  were,  of  letters,  nour- 
ished by  letters,  and  wholly  devoted  to  them,  he  became  almost  literally  a  living  library.  He  gave  his  atten- 
ti(m  successfully  both  to  the  Greek  and  Latin  classic  authors  under  Edward  Sylvester,  master  of  a  private  school 
at  Oxford :  and  with  still  more  success  to  philosophic  studies  under  the  great  Barlowe,  at  that  time  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  College ;  becoming  himself,  in  the  progress  of  time,  Dean  of  Christ's  College,  and  for  five  years  Vice  Chan- 
cellor of  the  academy  at  the  same  place.  Finally  he  devoted  himself,  with  the  greatest  success  of  all,  to  Theol- 
ogy, with  learning  for  his  helper,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Christ  for  his  inspirer  and  guide:  theology,  all  the  points 
of  which,  in  respect  to  the  efficacy  of  the  redemption  secured  by  Christ,  he  alone  of  all  theologians,  made  clear. 
He  was  proficient  in  the  three  languages  commonly  called  the  learned  languages,  in  addition  to  the  Oriental  dia- 
lects. He  understood  the  Sacred  pages  in  their  inner  meaning— in  spirit  and  in  letter:  was  admirably  versed  in 
the  writings  of  the  great  lights  of  the  early  church :  had  by  no  means  neglected  those  who,  though  inferior  to  the 
ancient  lathers,  restored  the  primitive  faith,  nor  did  he  despise  the  school-men  of  lesser  note.  In  the  field  of  con- 
troversy he  was  as  superior  as  in  the  pulpit.  In  the  former,  he  overwhelmed  and  trampled  down  with  his  ner- 
vous reasoning  Uomanizers,  Dissenters,  Socinians,  and  those  of  our  time  who  invent  new  theories  concernmg 
the  momentous  and  crowning  doctrine  of  Justification.  In  the  latter,  though  of  exceedingly  weak  frame,  yet  of  a 
presence  by  no  means  weak ;  with  gestures  far  removed  from  theatrical  gesticulation,  and  adjusted  to  the  nicest 
rules  of  decorum;  of  speech  by  no  means  contemptible;  a  voice  loud,  but  not  shrill— sweet,  but  manly,  and  with 
a  certain  quality  of  authoritativeness :  of  a  mental  presence,  at  least  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  his  bodily  presence : 
he  did  not  in  preaching  read  word  for  word  and  with  peering  gaze  the  sermons  which  he  committed  to  paper 
entire;  but  every  thing  which  he  uttered,  having  been  first  deeply  impressed  on  his  own  heart,  he  imprinted  the 
more  powerfully  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  -hearers.  Not  less  gifted  in  prayer  than  in  oratory,  he  fulfilled 
all  the  functions  of  a  true  evangelical  minister ;  being  himself  a  great  zealot  and  staunch  partisan  in  the  matters 
of  an  established  worship  and  discipline,  as  well  as  of  the  doctrines  in  revelation.  Finally,  he  was  at  the  same 
time  a  most  discreet  and  watchful  pastor  to  the  church  over  which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  ordained  him.  For  his 
noble  epitaph  let  one  of  the  many  written  for  him  suffice: 

The  Author  of  the  "  Exposition  cf  the  Fpistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  four  parts,''''  having  finished  his  earthly 
career  and  the  ministry  he  had  received,  has  departed  in  angelic  guise  to  take  a  nearer  and  inward  survey  of  Christ's 
heavenly  kingdom,  which,  in  the  late  evening  of  life,  though  it  was  still  seen  from  far,  he  discribed  with  graphic 
truthfulness.  He  died  on  the  24th  day  of  August  (still  a  fatal  month  to  the  Non-conformists)  in  the  year  of  Salva- 
tion, 1683,  aged  67. 

This  epitaph,  composed  by  its  unworthy  author — too  extended  to  be  enclosed  within  the  small  area  of  a  mar- 
ble tablet — too  limited  to  embrace  a  complete  catalogue  of  his  virtues^has  obtained  a  more  honourable  place 
than  it  deserved  on  the  pages  of  this  most  elaborate  work — a  paper-memorial  more  enduring  than  a  marble 
monument. 


'Ov,tf.?opa  A.v»M-«ra;  She  UTILES  NARRATIONES.* 
Till-:  TUllMI'lIS  OF  THE  REFORMED  RELIGION  IN  AMERICA: 

OR, 

TUE  LIFE  OF  THE  RENOWNED  JOHN  ELIOT; 

A  PKRSrtN  JUSTLY  FAMOUS  IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  GOD;  NOT  ONLY  AS  AN  EMINENT 

CHRISTIAN,  AND  AN  EXCELLENT  MINISTER  AMONG  THE  ENGLISH;  BUT  ALSO 

AS  A  MEMORABLE  EVANGELIST  AMONG  THE  INDIANS  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

WITH  SOME  ACCOUNT  CONCERNING  THE  LATE  AND  STRANGE  SUCCESS 

OF  THE  GOSPEL  IN  THOSE  PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD,  WHICH  FOR 

MANY  AGES  HAVE  LAIN  BURIED  IN  PAGAN  IGNORANCE. 

ESSAYED  BY  COTTON  MATIIEK. 

'0»  ynp  '«i)i(i'  0(7(o»',  XauirporaTKov  Ipyiov  Kat  dvriaiipopoiv  ioyparuv  to  K\toi  wapticlv  vtto  rijs  Xrjflijf  av\ovpevov  : 
i.  e.  Existimavi,  hand  sine  scelere  fieri  potttisse,  ut  factorum  splendidissimorum,  et  utilium 
Narrationum  gloria,  Obliviuni  tradcretur.i — Theodorit. 

"Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his  Lord,  when  he  conieth,  shall  find  so  doing." 

THE   THIRD  PART. 

TO    THE    RIGHT    HONOURABLE    PHILIP    LORD    WHARTON; 

A  NO  LESS  NOBLE  THAN  AGED  PATRON  OF  LEARNING  AND  VERTUE. 

Mat  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  Lordship:  If  it  be  considered  that  some  evangelical  and  apostolical 
histories  of  the  New  Testament  were,  by  the  direetion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  himself,  dedicated 
unto  a  person  of  quality,  and  that  the  noble  person  addressed  witii  one  such  dedication,  enter- 
tained it  with  resentments  that  encouraged  his  dear  Lucilius  to  make  a  second,  the  world  will 
be  satisfied  that  I  do  a  tiling  but  reasonable  and  agreeable,  when  unto  a  narrative  of  many 
evangelical  and  apostolical  affiirs,  I  presume  to  prefix  the  name  of  one  so  excellent  for  love 
to  God  xs  your  lordship  is  known  to  be;  and  one  upon  this  account  only  an  unmeet  subject 
for  the  praises  of  the  obscure  pen  which  now  writes  that  Qnis  Vituperatll  I  do  not,  I  dare 
cot,  80  far  intrude  upon  your  honour,  as  to  ask  your  patronage  unto  all  the  New-English 
principles  and  practices  which  are  found  in  the  character  of  our  celebrated  Eliot;  for  as  the 
distance  of  a  thousand  leagues  has  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  (usual)  orders 
and  manners  of  asking  first  your  allowance  for  what  I  have  openly  entitled  you  unto,  so  the 
renowned  Eliot  is  gone  beyond  any  occasions  for  the  greatest  humane  patronage. 

Hut  that  which  has  procured  unto  your  lordship  the  trouble  of  this  dedication,  is  my  desire 
to  give  you  the  picture  of  one  aged  saint,  lately  gone  to  that  general  assembly,  which  the 
eternal  King  of  Heaven,  by  the  advances  of  your  own  age  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  does 
quickly  summon  your  self  unto:  the  profound  respect  which  our  Eliot  had  for  your  honour, 
will  d(.ubtles.M  he  answered  and  requited  with  your  own  value  for  the  memory  of  such  a 
memoral.le  Christian,  minister,  and  evangelist;  inasmuch  as  your  affections,  like  his,  take  not 
their  incisures  from  these  or  those  matters  of  doubtful  disputation,  but  from  such  an  uni- 
versal piety,  and  charity,  and  holiness,  as  he  w^as  an  instance  of. 

•  Profltablo  Narmtlvos.  r  j 

A  V     III-  [vion. 

t  for  1  l«-li,,v,Hl  It  nil  act  of  Impiety .  to  sco  the  renown  of  sl.ining  aclinns  and  useful  sentiments  stifled  by  obli- 
I  CIialK'iige  tu  reproach. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  527 

No  man  ever  complained  of  it  that,  in  the  works  of  Chrysostom,  we  find  seven  orations 
not  far  asunder  in  commendation  of  Paul :  nor  is  it  any  fault  that  I  have  now  written  one 
in  commendation  of  a  man  whom  a  Pauline  spirit  had  made  illustrious.  In  describing  him, 
I  have  made  but  little  touches  upon  his  parentage  and  family,  because  as  the  truly  great 
Basil  excuses  his  omission  of  those  things,  ia  his  oration  upon  Gordius  the  Martyr,  Ecclesia 
Jucc  tanquam  siipervacua  dimitlit*  But  I  have  related  those  things  of  him  which  cannot  but 
create  a  good  esteem  for  him  in  the  breast  of  your  lordship,  who  are  a  faithful  and  ancient 
witness  against  those  distempers  of  the  world,  whereby  (as  the  blessed  Salvian  lamented  it) 
Cogimur  esse  Viles,  ut  Nohiles  haheamur:f  and  raise  the  sweetness  of  your  thoughts  upon 
your  approaches;  which  may  our  God  make  both  slow  and  sure  unto  that  state  which  cannot 
be  moved.  But  if  I  may  more  ingenuously  confess  the  whole  ground  and  cause  of  this  dedi- 
cation, I  must  own,  'tis  to  pay  a  pari  of  a  debt:  a  debt  under  which  you  have  laid  my  country, 
when  you  did  with  your  own  honourable  hand  present  unto  his  majesty  the  same  account 
which  I  have  here  again  published,  "concerning  the  success  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians 
in  New-England." 

My  Lord:  In  one  Eliot  you  see  what  a  people  it  is  that  you  have  counted  worthy  of  your 
notice,  and  what  a  people  it  is  that  with  ardent  praj'ers  bespeak  the  mercies  of  Heaven  for 
your  noble  family.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  that  a  country  so  full  as  New-England  is  (.»f  what 
is  truly  primitive,  should  not  be  exposed  unto  the  bitterest  enmity  and  calumny  of  those 
that  will  strive  to  entjingle  the  church  in  a  Sardian  unreformedness,  until  our  Lord  Jesus 
do  shortly  "  make  them  know,  that  he  has  loved"  what  they  have  hated,  maligned,  persecuted. 
But  if  the  God  of  New-England  have  inclined  any  great  personage  to  intercede,  or  interpose, 
for  the  prevention  of  the  ruines  which  ill  men  have  designed  for  such  a  country;  or  to  pro- 
cure for  a  people  of  an  Eliot's  complexion  in  religion  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  and  exer- 
cise of  that  religion,  it  is  a  thing  that  calls  for  our  most  sensible  acknowledgments. 

It  is  an  odd  superstition  which  the  Indians  of  this  country  have  among  them,  that  they 
count  it  (on  the  penalty  of  otherwise  never  prospering  more)  necessary  for  them  never  to 
pass  by  the  graves  of  certaia  famous  persons  among  them,  without  laying  and  leaving  some 
token  of  regard  thereupon.  But  we  hope  that  all  true  Protestants  will  count  it  no  more 
than  what  is  equal  and  proper,  that  the  land  which  has  in  it  the  grave  of  such  a  remarkable 
preacher  to  the  Indians  as  our  Eliot,  should  be  treated  with  such  a  love  as  a  Jerusalem 
uses  to  find  from  them  that  are  to  prosper. 

Upon  that  score,  then,  let  my  lord  accept  a  present  from  and  for  a  remote  corner  in  the 
New  World,  where  God  is  praised  on  your  behalf;  a  small  present,  made  by  the  hand  of  a 
rude  American,  who  has  nothing  to  recommend  him  unto  your  lordship,  except  this,  that  he 
is  the  son  of  one  whom  you  have  admitted  unto  your  favours;  and  that  he  is  ambitious  to 
wear  the  title  of. 

My  Lord,  your  Lordsliip's  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

Cotton  Mather. 

*  These  things  the  Church  overlooks  as  superfluities. 

t  We  are  compelled  to  condescend  to  be  mean,  in  order  to  be  deemed  noble. 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  was  a  very  surprising  as  well  as  undoubted  accident  which  happened  within  the  memory 
of  millions  yet  alive,  when  (as  the  learned  Hornius  has  given  us  the  relation)  certain  shep- 
herds upon  mount  Neho,  following  part  of  their  straggling  flock,  at  length  came  to  a  valley, 
the  prodigious  depths  and  rocks  whereof  rendred  it  almost  inaccessible;  in  which  there  was 
a  cave  of  inexpressible  swei-tness,  aiid  in  that  cave  was  a  sepulchre  that  had  very  difliciilt 
characters  upon  it.  The  patriarchs  of  the  Maronites  thereabouts  inhabiting  procured  some 
learned  persons  to  take  notice  and  make  report  of  this  curiosity,  who  found  the  inscription  of 
the  grave-stone  to  be,  in  the  Hebrew  language  and  letter, "Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord." 

The  Jews,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Roman  Catholics  thereabouts,  were  altogether  by  the  ears 
for  the  possession  of  this  rarity,  but  the  Turks  as  quickly  laid  claim  unto  it,  and  strongly 
guarded  it.  Nevertheless,  the  Jesuites  found  a  way  by  tricks  and  bribes  to  engage  the  Turk- 
ish gunrds  into  a  conspiracy  with  them  for  the  transporting  of  the  inclosed  and  renowned 
ashes  into  Europe;  but  when  they  opened  the  grave,  there  was  no  body,  nor  so  much  as  a 
relick  there.  While  they  were  under  the  confusion  of  this  disappointment,  a  Turkish  gen- 
oral  came  upon  them,  and  cut  them  all  to  pieces;  therewithal  taking  a  course  never  to  have 
that  place  visited  any  more.  But  the  scholars  of  the  Orient  presently  made  this  a  theme 
which  they  t:ilked  and  wrote  much  upon:  and  whether  this  were  the  true  sefl'lchke 
OF  Moses,  was  a  question  upon  which  many  books  were  published. 

The  world  would  now  count  me  very  absurd  if,  after  this,  I  should  say  that  I  had  found 
the  SEPULCHRE  OF  MosEs  in  America:  but  I  have  certainly  here  found  Moses  himself;  we 
have  had  amc>ng  us  one  appearing  in  the  spirit  of  a  Moses;  and  it  is  not  the  grave,  but  the 
life  of  such  a  Moses,  that  we  value  our  selves  upon  being  the  owners  of. 

Having  im|)lored  the  assistance  and  acceptance  of  that  God  whose  blessed  word  has  told 
us,  ''The  righteous  shall  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance,"  I  am  attempting  to  write  the 
life  of  a  righteous  person,  concerning  whom  all  things  but  the  meanness  of  the  writer  invite 
the  reader  to  expect  nothing  save  what  is  truly  extraordinary.  It  is  the  life  of  one  who  has 
better  and  greater  things  to  be  athrmed  of  him,  than  could  ever  be  reported  concerning  any 
of  those  famous  men  which  have  been  celebrated  by  the  pens  of  a  Plutarch,  a  Pliny  a  Laer- 
tius,  an  Eunapius,  or  in  any  Pagan  histories.  It  is  the  life  of  one  whose  character  might 
very  agreeably  be  looked  for  among  the  collections  of  a  Dorotheus,  or  the  orations  of  a 
Nazian/en;  or  is  worthy  at  least  of  nothing  less  than  the  exquisite  stile  of  a  Melchior  Adam 
to  elerni/.e  it. 

If  it  be,  as  it  is,  .1  true  assertion,  "that  the  least  exercise  of  true  faith,  or  love,  towards 
God,  in  Christ,  is  a  more  glorious  thing  than  all  the  triumphs  of  a  Caesar,"  there  must  be 
Bomi-thing  very  considerable  in  the  life  of  one  who  spent  several  scores  of  years  in  such 
exercises;  and  of  one  in  the  mention  of  whose  atchievements  we  may  also  recount,  that  he 
fought  the  devil  in  (once)  his  American  territories,  till  he  had  recovered  no  small  party  of 
his  old  sul.jects  and  vassals  out  of  his  cruel  hands;  it  would  be  as  unreasonable  as  unprojil- 
allr.  for  posterity  to  bury  the  memory  of  such  a  person  in  the  dust  of  that  obscurity  and 
ol)Iivion  which  has  covered  the  names  of  the  heroes  who  died  before  the  days  of  Agamemnon. 


OK,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  529 


PRELIMINARY  L 
THE  BIRTH,  AGE,  AND  FAMILY  OF  MR  ELIOT. 

The  inspired  Moses,  relating  the  lives  of  those  Ante-Diluvian  Patriarchs  in  whom  the  Church 
of  God  and  line  of  Christ  was  continued,  through  the  first  sixteen  hundred  years  of  time,  recites 
little  but  their  birth,  and  their  age,  and  their  death,  and  their  sons  and  daughters.  If  those  articles 
would  satisfie  the  appetites  and  enquiries  of  such  as  come  to  read  the  hfe  of  our  Eliot,  we  shall  soon 
have  dispatched  the  work  now  upon  our  hands. 

The  age,  with  the  death  of  this  worthy  man,  has  been  already  terminated,  in  the  ninetieth  year 
of  the  present  century,  and  the  eighty-si.xth  year  of  his  own  pilgrimage.  And  for  his  birth,  it  was 
at  a  town  in  England,  the  name  whereof  I  cannot  presently  recover;  nor  is  it  necessary  for  me  to 
look  back  so  far  as  the  place  of  his  nativity ;  any  more  than  it  is  for  me  to  recite  the  vertuea  of  his 
parentage,  of  which  he  said,  Vix  ea  nostra  voco;*  though  indeed  the  pious  education  which  they 
gave  him,  caused  him  in  his  age  to  write  these  words:  "  I  do  see  that  it  was  a  great  favour  of  God 
unto  me,  to  season  my  first  times  with  the  fear  of  God,  the  word,  and  prayer." 

The  Atlantick  Ocean,  like  a  river  of  Lethe,  may  easily  cause  us  to  forget  many  of  the  things 
that  happened  on  the  other  side.  Indeed,  the  nativity  of  such  a  man  were  an  honour  worthy  the 
contention  of  as  many  places  as  laid  their  claims  unto  the  famous  Homer's:  but  whatever  places 
may  challenge  a  share  in  the  reputation  of  having  enjoyed  the  first  breath  of  our  Eliot,  it  is  New- 
England  that  with  most  right  can  call  him  her's;  his  best  breath,  and  afterwards  his  last  breath 
was  h^re ;  and  here  'twas  that  God  bestowed  upon  him  sons  and  daughters. 

He  came  to  New-England  in  the  month  of  November,  A.  D.  1G31,  among  those  blessed  old 
planters  which  laid  the  foundations  of  a  remarkable  country,  devoted  unto  the  exercise  of  the  Prot- 
estant religion,  in  its  purest  and  highest  reformation.  He  left  behind  him  in  England  a  vertuous 
young  gentlewoman,  whom  he  had  pursued  and  purposed  a  marriage  unto ;  and  she  coming  hither 
the  year  following,  that  marriage  was  consummated  in  the  month  of  October,  A.  D.  1632. 

This  ipife  of  his  youth  lived  with  him  until  she  became  to  him  also  the  staff  of  his  age;  and 
she  left  him  not  until  about  three  or  four  years  before  his  own  departure  to  those  heavenly  regions 
where  they  now  together  see  light.  She  was  a  woman  very  eminent,  both  for  holiness  and  use- 
fulness, and  she  excelled  most  of  the  "daughters  that  have  done  vertuously."  Her  name  was 
Anne,  and  gracious  was  her  nature.  God  made  her  a  rich  blessing,  not  only  to  her  family,  but 
also  to  her  neighbourhood;  and  when  at  last  she  died,  I  heard  and  saw  her  aged  husband,  who 
else  very  rarely  wept,  yet  now  with  tears  over  the  coffin,  before  the  good  people,  a  vast  confluence 
of  which  were  come  to  her  funeral,  say,  "Here  lies  my  dear,  faithful,  pious,  prudent,  prayerful  wife; 
I  shall  go  to  her,  and  she  not  return  to  me."  My  reader  will  of  his  own  accord  excuse  me  from 
bestowing  any  further  epitaphs  upon  that  gracious  woman. 

By  her  did  God  give  him  six  worthy  children — children  of  a  character  which  may  for  ever  stop 
the  mouths  of  those  antichristian  blasphemers,  who  have  set  a  false  brand  of  disaster  and  infamy 
on  the  offspring  of  a  married  clergy.  His  first-born  was  a  daughter,  born  September  17,  A.  C.  1633. 
This  gentlewoman  is  yet  alive,  and  one  well  approved  for  her  piety  and  gravity.  His  next  was  a 
son,  born  August  31,  A.  C.  1636.  He  bore  his  father's  name,  and  had  his  father's  grace.  He  was 
a  person  of  notable  accomplishments,  and  a  lively,  zealous,  acute  preacher,  not  only  to  the  English 
at  New- Cambridge,  but  also  to  the  Indians  thereabout.  He  grew  so  fast,  that  he  was  found  ripe 
for  Heaven  many  years  ago;  and  upon  his  death-bed  uttered  such  penetrating  things  as  could  pro- 
ceed from  none  but  one  upon  the  borders  and  confines  of  eternal  glory.  It  is  pity  that  so  many  of 
them  are  forgotten;  but  one  of  them,  I  think,  we  have  cause  to  remember:  "Well,"  said  he,  "my 
dear  friends,  there  is  a  dark  day  coming  upon  New-England:  and  in  so  dark  a  day,  I  pray,  how 
will  you  provide  for  your  own  security!  My  counsel  to  you  is,  get  an  interest  in  the  blessed  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  and  that  will  carry  you  to  the  world's  end."     His  third  was  also  a  son,  born  Decem- 

*  I  can  hardly  call  them  mine. 

Vol.  I.— 84 


^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

b*r  20  A  C  IfiSR  •  him  h.-  cnlle.l  Jos.-ph.  This  person  hath  been  a  pastor  to  the  church  at  Guil- 
ford 'hh  fourth  was  a  Samuel,  born  June  22,  A.  C.  1G41,  who  died  a  most  lovely  young  man, 
eminent  for  learning  and  coodne«.  a  fellow  of  the  colledge,  and  a  candidate  of  the  ministry.  H.3 
fifth  was  an  Aaron,  born  February  19.  A.  C.  1613,  who.  though  he  died  very  young,  yet  first  man- 
Ifr.ted  ••  many  good  thing's  towards  the  Lord  God  of  Israel."  His  last  was  a  Benjamin,  born  Jan- 
UBr>'  29  A  C.  1C4G.  Of  all  these  three  it  may  be  said,  as  it  was  of  Ilaran,  "  They  died  before  their 
father'""'  but  it  may  also  be  written  over  their  graves, "  All  these  died  in  faith."  By  the  pious  design 
of  their  fatlier.  they  were  all  consecrated  unto  the  service  of  God  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel;  but 
God  Mw  meet  rniher  to  fetch  them  away,  by  a  death  which  (therefore)  I  dare  not  call  pramature, 
to  glorify  him  in  another  and  a  better  world.  They  all  gave  such  demonstrations  of  their  conver.sioa 
to  God.  that  the  good  old  man  would  sometimes  comfortably  say,  "  I  have  had  six  children,  and  I 
blew  God  for  his  free  grace,  they  are  all  either  with  Christ  or  in  Christ;  and  my  mind  is  now  at 
rej>t  concerning  them."  And  when  some  asked  him  how  he  could  bear  the  death  of  such  excellent 
children,  his  humble  reply  thereto  was  this:  "  My  desire  was  that  they  should  have  served  God  on 
earth  ;  but  if  God  will  chuse  to  have  them  rather  serve  him  in  heaven,  I  have  nothing  to  object 
against  it,  but  his  will  be  done!"  His  Benjamin  was  made  the  "son  of  his  right-hand  ;"  for  the 
invitation  of  the  good  people  at  Roxbury  placed  him  in  the  same  pulpit  with  his  father,  where  he 
was  his  assistant  for  many  years ;  there  they  had  a  proof  of  him,  "  that  as  a  son  with  his  father,  he 
served  with  him  in  the  gospel."  But  his  fate  was  like  that  which  the  great  Gregory  Nazianzen 
describes  in  his  discourse  upon  the  death  of  his  honourable  brother,  his  aged  father  being  now  alive 
and  present:  "  My  father  having  laid  up  in  a  better  world  a  rich  inheritance  for  his  children,  sent 
a  son  of  his  before  to  take  possession  of  it." 


PRELIMINARY  II. 

MR.  EF.IOT'S  E.VRLY  CONVEIISION,  S.\CRED  EMPLOYMENT,  AND  JUST  REMOV.\L  INTO  AMERIC.V. 

But  all  that  I  have  hitherto  said,  is  no  more  than  an  entrance  into  the  history  of  our  Eliot. 
Such  an  Enoch  as  he,  must  have  something  more  than  these  things  recorded  of  him;  his  "walk 
with  God"  must  be  more  largely  laid  before  the  world,  as  a  thing  that  would  bespeak  us  all  to  be 
folloipers  no  less  than  we  shall  be  admirers  of  it. 

He  had  not  passed  many  turns  in  the  world,  before  he  knew  the  meaning  of  a  saving  turn  from 
the  vanities  of  an  unregenerate  state  unto  God  in  Christ,  by  a  true  repentance;  he  had  the  singular 
happiness  and  privilege  of  an  early  conversion  from  the  ways  which  original  sin  disposes  all  men 
unto.  One  of  the  principal  instruments  which  the  God  of  heaven  used  in  tingeing  and  filling  the 
mind  of  this  chosen  vessel  with  good  principles,  was  that  venerable  Thomas  Hooker,  whose  name 
in  the  churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  "  as  an  ointment  poured  forth;"  even  that  Hooker  who,  having 
angled  many  scores  of  souls  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  at  last  laid  his  bones  in  our  New-England  ; 
it  was  an  acquaintance  with  him  that  contributed  more  than  a  little  to  the  accomplishment  of  our 
Eliihn  for  that  work  unto  which  the  Most  High  designed  him.  His  liberal  education  having  now 
the  addition  of  religion  to  direct  it  and  improve  it,  it  gave  such  a  biass  to  his  young  soul  as  quickly 
discovered  it  self  in  very  signal  instances.  His  first  appearance  in  the  world,  after  his  education  in 
the  university,  was  in  the  too  difficult  and  unthankful,  but  very  necessary  employment  of  a  school- 
matter,  which  employment  he  discharged  with  a  good  fidelity.  And  as  this  frst  essay  of  his 
improvement  was  no  more  di.«grace  unto  him  than  it  was  unto  the  famous  Hieron,  Whitaker,  Vines, 
and  others,  that  they  thus  began  to  be  serviceable;  so  it  rather  prepared  him  for  the  further  service 
which  his  mind  was  now  set  upon.  He  was  of  worthy  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson's  mind,  that  the  calling 
of  a  minister  was  the  only  one  wherein  a  man  might  be  more  serviceable  to  the  church  of  God 
than  in  that  of  a  school-master;  and.  with  Melchior  Adam,  he  reckoned  the  calling  of  a  school-^ 
master,  J'ulrerulentam,  ac  Molesliasimam  quidem,  scd  Deo  longe  gratissimam  Functionem*  ' 

•  A  dusty  and  disngreenblo  yocalion,  but  by  far  the  most  favoured  of  God. 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  531 

Wherefore,  having  dedicated  himself  unto  God  betimes,  he  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  any  lesser 
way  of  serving  his  Creator  and  Redeemer,  than  the  sacred  ministry  of  the  gospel ;  but,  alas!  where 
should  he  have  opportunities  for  the  exercising  of  it?  The  Laudian,  Grotian,  and  Arminian  faction 
in  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  prosecution  of  their  grand  plot  for  the  reducing  of  England  unto 
a  moderate  sort  of  Popery,  had  pitched  upon  this  as  one  of  their  methods  for  it:  namely,  to  creeple 
as  fast  as  they  could  all  the  learned,  godly,  painful  ministers  of  the  nation;  and  invent  certain  Shib- 
boletks  for  the  detecting  and  the  destroying  of  such  men  as  were  cordial  friends  to  the  reformation. 
'Twas  now  a  time  when  there  were  every  day  multiplied  and  imposed  those  unwarrantable  ceremo- 
nies in  the  worship  of  God  by  which  the  conscience  of  our  considerate  Eliot  counted  the  second 
commandment  notoriously  violated ;  it  was  now  also  a  time  when  some  hundreds  of  those  good 
people  which  had  the  nick-name  of  Puritans  put  upon  them,  transported  themselves,  with  their 
whole  families  and  interests,  into  the  desarts  of  America,  that  they  might  here  peaceably  erect  Con- 
gregational Churches,  and  therein  attend  and  maintain  all  the  pure  institutions  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;  having  the  encouragement  of  royal  charters,  that  they  should  never  have  any  interruption 
in  the  enjoyment  of  those  "  precious  and  pleasant  things."  Here  was  a  prospect  which  quickly 
determined  the  devout  soul  of  our  young  Eliot  unto  a  remove  into  New-England,  while  it  was  yet 
a  "  land  not  sown  ;"  he  quickly  listed  himself  among  those  valiant  soldiers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  cheerfully  encountred  first  the  perils  of  the  Atlantick  Ocean,  and  then  the  fatigues  of  the  New- 
English  wilderness,  that  they  might  have  an  undisturbed  communion  with  him  in  his  appointments 
here.  And  thus  did  he  betimes  procure  himself  the  consolation  of  having  afterwards  and  for  ever 
a  room  in  that  remembrance  of  God,  "I  remember  thee,  the  kindness  of  thy  youth,  and  the  love 
of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after  me  into  the  wilderness." 

On  his  first  arrival  to  New-England,  he  soon  joined  himself  unto  the  church  at  Boston ;  'twas 
church-work  that  was  his  errand  hither.  Mr.  Wilson,  the  pastor  of  thfit  church,  was  gone  back 
into  England,  that  he  might  perfect  the  settlement  of  his  affairs;  and  in  his  absence,  young  Mr. 
Eliot  was  he  that  supplied  his  place.  Upon  the  return  of  Mr.  Wilson,  that  church  was  intending 
to  have  made  Mr.  Eliot  his  collegue  and  their  teacher;  but  it  was  diverted.  Mr.  Eliot  had  engaged 
unto  a  select  number  of  his  pious  and  Christian  friends  in  England  that,  if  they  should  come  into 
these  parts  before  he  should  be  in  the  pastoral  care  of  any  other  people,  he  would  give  himself  to 
them,  and  be  for  their  service.  It  happened  that  these  friends  transported  themselves  hither  the 
year  after  him,  and  chcSe  their  habitation  at  the  town  which  they  called  Roxbury.  A  church  being 
now  gathered  at  this  place,  he  was  in  a  little  while  ordained  unto  the  teaching  and  ruling  of  that 
holy  society.  So,  'twas  in  the  orb  of  that  church  that  we  had  him  as  a  star  fixed  for  very  near 
three-score  years ;  it  only  remains  that  we  now  observe  what  was  his  magnitude  all  this  while,  and 
how  he  performed  his  revolution. 


PART   I. 
OR,    ELIOT    AS    A    CHRISTIAN. 

ARTICLE.  I.— HIS  EMINENT  PIETY. 

Such  was  the  piety  of  our  Eliot,  that,  like  another  Moses,  he  had  upon 
his  face  a  continual  shine^  arising  from  his  uninterrupted  communion  with 
the  Father  of  spirits.  lie  was  indeed  a  "man  of  prayer,"  and  might  say, 
after  the  psalmist,  I  prayer^  as  being  in  a  manner  made  up  of  it.  Could 
the  walls  of  his  old  study  speak,  they  would  even  ravish  us  with  a  rela- 
tion of  the  many  hundred  and  thousand  fervent  prayers  which  he  there 
poured  out  before  the  Lord.  He  not  only  made  it  his  daily  practice  to 
"enter  into  that  closet,  and  shut  his  door,  and  pray  to  his  Father  in  secret," 
but  he  would  not  rarely  set  apart  whole  days  for  prayer  with  fasting  in 


rg2  MAQNALIA    C II RISTI    AMERICANA; 

secret  places  before  the  God  of  heaven.  Prayer  solemnized  with  fasting 
was  indeed  so  agreeable  unto  him,  that  I  ho,ve  sometimes  thought  he 
might  justly  inherit  the  name  of  Johannes  Jejunaior,  or  "John  the  Faster," 
wliieh  for  the  like  reason  was  put  upon  one  of  the  renowned  ancients. 
Kspeciidly  when  there  was  any  remarkable  difliculty  before  him,  he  took 
this  way  to  encounter  and  overcome  it;  being  of  Dr.  Preston's  mind,  "That 
when  we  would  have  any  great  things  to  be  accomplished,  the  best  policy 
is  to  work  by  an  engine  which  the  world  sees  nothing  of."  He  could  say, 
as  the  pious  Kobertson  did  upon  his  death-bed,  "I  thank  God  I  have  loved 
fa.'^ting  and  prayer  with  all  my  heart!"  If  one  would  have  known  what 
that  sacred  thing,  the  spirit  of  prayer^  intends,  in  him  there  might  have 
been  seen  a  most  luculent  and  practical  exposition  of  it.  He  kept  his 
heart  in  a  "frame  for  prayer,"  with  a  marvellous  constancy ;  and  was  con- 
tinually provoking  all  that  were  about  him  thereunto.  When  he  heard 
any  considerable  news,  his  usual  and  speedy  reflection  thereupon  would 
be,  "Brethren,  let  us  turn  all  this  into  prayer!"  and  he  was  perpetually 
jogging  the  "wheel  of  prayer,"  both  more  privately  in  the  meetings,  and 
more  publickly  in  the  churches  of  his  neighbourhood.  When  he  came 
to  an  house  that  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with,  he  would  often  say, 
"Come,  let  us  not  have  a  visit  without  a  prayer;  let  us  pray  down  the 
blessing  of  Heaven  on  your  family  before  we  go."  Especially  when  he 
came  into  a  society  of  ministers,  before  he  had  sat  long  wath  them,  they 
would  look  to  hear  him  urging,  "Brethren,  the  Lord  Jesus  takes  much 
notice  of  what  is  done  and  said  among  his  ministers  when  they  are  together; 
come,  let  us  pray  before  we  part!"  and  hence  also  his  whole  hreath  seemed 
in  a  sort  made  up  of  ejaculatory  prayers^  many  scores  of  which  winged 
messengers  he  dispatched  away  to  Heaven,  upon  pious  errands  every  day. 
By  tlifiii  he  bespoke  blessings  upon  almost  every  person  or  affair  that  he 
was  concerned  with ;  and  he  carried  every  thing  to  God  with  some  perti- 
nent hosannahs  or  hallelujahs  over  it.  He  w^as  a  mighty  and  an  happy 
man,  that  had  his  quiver  full  of  these  heavenly  arrows!  and  when  he  was 
never  so  straitly  besieged  by  humane  occurrences,  yet  he  fastned  the 
wishes  of  his  devout  soul  unto  them,  and  very  dexterously  shot  them  up 
to  Heaven  over  the  head  of  all. 

As  he  took  thus  delight  in  speaking  to  the  Almighty  God,  no  less  did 
he  in  speaking  of  him;  but  in  serious  and  savoury  discourses,  he  still  had 
his  "tongue  like  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer."  The  Jesuits  once  at  Nola 
made  a  no  less  i^roHine  than  severe  order,  "that  no  man  should  speak  of 
God  at  all;"  but  this  excellent  person  almost  made  it  an  order  wherever 
he  came,  "to  speak  of  nothing  but  God."  He  was  indeed  sufficiently 
pleasant  and  witty  in  company,  and  he  was  affiible  and  facetious  rather 
than  morose  in  conversation;  but  he  had  a  remarkable  gravity  mixed 
with  it,  and  a  singular  skill  of  raising  some  holy  observation  out  of  what- 
ever matter  of  discourse  lay  before  him ;  nor  would  he  ordinarily  dismiss 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  533 

any  theme  witliout  some  gracious,  divine,  pithy  sentence  thereupon.  Doubt- 
less, he  imposed  it  as  a  laiv  upon  himself,  that  he  would  leave  something 
of  God  and  Heaven^  and  religion^  with  all  that  should  come  a  near  him; 
so  that  in  all  places  his  company  was  attended  with  majesty  and  reverence; 
and  it  was  no  sooner  proper  for  him  to  speak,  but,  like  Mary's  opened  box 
of  ointment,  he  filled  the  whole  room  with  the  perfumes  of  the  graces  in 
his  lips,  and  the  Christian  hearers  tasted  a  greater  sweetness  in  his  well- 
seasoned  speeches,  than  the  illustrious  Homer  ascribed  unto  the  orations 
of  his  Nestor, 

Whose  lip  dropp'd  language  than  sweet  honey,  sweeter  abundance. 

His  conferences  were  like  those  which  Tertullian  affirms  to  have  been 
common  among  the  saints  in  his  days,  Ut  qui  sciret  dominum  audire, — "as 
knowing  that  the  ear  of  God  was  open  to  them  all;"  and  he  managed  his 
rudder  so  as  to  manifest  that  he  was  bound  Heaven-ward  in  his  whole 
communication.  He  had  a  particular  art  at  spirituaUzing  of  earthly  objects,  y 
and  raising  of  Jtigh  tlioughts  from  very  mean  things.  As,  once  going  with 
some  feebleness  and  weariness  up  the  hill  on  which  his  meeting-house 
now  stands,  he  said  unto  the  person  that  led  him,  "This  is  very  like  the 
way  to  heaven,  'tis  up  hill!  the  Lord  by  his  grace  fetch  us  up!"  and 
instantly  spying  a  bush  near  him,  he  as  nimbly  added,  "and  truly  there 
are  thorns  and  briars  in  the  way  too!"  which  instance  I  would  not  have 
singled  out  from  the  many  thousands  of  his  occasional  reflections^  but  only 
that  I  might  suggest  unto  the  good  people  of  Roxbury  something  for  them 
to  think  upon  when  they  are  "going  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord."  It  is 
enough  that,  as  the  friend  of  the  famous  Ursin  could  profess  that  he  never 
went  unto  him  without  coming  away,  aut  doctior,  aid  melior — "either  the 
wiser  or  the  better  from  him" — so,  it  is  an  acknowledgment  which  more 
than  one  friend  of  our  Eliot's  has  made  concerning  him,  "  I  was  never 
with  him  but  I  got  or  might  have  got  some  good  from  him." 

And  hearing  from  the  great  God  was  an  exercise  of  like  satisfaction 
unto  the  soul  of  this  good  man,  with  speaking  either  to  him  or  of  him. 
He  was  a  mighty  student  of  the  sacred  Bible ;  and  it  was  unto  him  as  his 
necessary  food.  He  made  the  Bible  his  companion  and  his  counsellor,  and 
the  holy  lines  of  Scripture  more  enamoured  him  than  the  profane  ones  of 
Tully  ever  did  the  famous  Italian  cardinal.  He  would  not  upon  easy 
terms  have  gone  one  day  together  without  using  a  portion  of  the  Bible  as 
an  antidote  against  the  infection,  of  temptation.  And  he  would  prescribe  it 
unto  others,  with  his  prohatum  est*  upon  it;  as  once  particularly  a  pious 
woman,  vexed  with  a  wicked  husband,  complaining  to  him  that  had  com- 
pany was  all  the  day  still  infesting  of  her  house,  "and  what  should  she 
do?"  he  advised  her,  "Take  the  Holy  Bible  into  your  hand,  when  the  bad 
company  comes,  and  you'll  soon  drive  them  out  of  the  house;"  the  woman 

*  It  has  been  tested. 


g04  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

Tuailc  the  experiment,  and  thereby  cleared  her  house  from  the  haunts  that 
bud  molested  it.  By  the  like  way  it  was  that  he  cleared  his  heart  of  what 
ho  was  loth  to  have  nesting  there.  Moreover,  if  ever  any  man  could,  he 
might  pretend  unto  that  evidence  of  uprightness,  "Lord,  I  have  loved  the 
habiUUiou  of  tiiine  house;"  for  he  not  only  gave  something  more  than  his 
presence  there  twice  on  the  Lord's  days,  and  once  a  fortnight  besides  on 
the  lectures  in  his  own  congregation,  but  he  made  his  weekly  visits  unto 
the  lectures  in  the  neighbouring  towns;  how  often  was  he  seen  at  Boston, 
Charlestown,  Cambridge,  Dorchester,  waiting  upon  the  word  of  God,  in 
recurring  opportunities,  and  counting  "a  day  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord 
better  than  a  thousand!"  It  is  hardly  conceivable  how,  in  the  midst  of  so 
many  studies  and  labours  as  he  was  at  home  engaged  in,  he  could  possibly 
repair  to  so  many  lectures  abroad;  and  herein  he  aimed,  not  only  at  his 
own  edilication,  but  at  the  countenancing  and  encouraging  of  the  lectures 
which  he  went  unto. 

Thus  he  took  heed  tliat  he  might  hear,  and  he  took  as  much  heed  how 
be  heard;  he  set  himself  as  in  the  presence  of  the  eternal  God,  as  the  great 
Constantine  used  of  old  in  the  assemblies  where  he  came,  and  said,  "  I  will 
bear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak ;"  he  expressed  a  diligent  attention, 
by  a  watchful  and  wakeful  posture,  and  by  turning  to  the  texts  quoted  by 
the  preacher;  he  expressed  a  suitable  affection  by  feeding  on  what  was 
delivered,  and  accompanying  it  with  hands  and  eyes  devoutly  elevated; 
and  they  whose  good  hap  'twas  to  go  home  with  him,  were  sure  of  having 
another  sermon  by  the  way  until  their  very  "hearts  burned  in  them." 
Lactantius  truly  said,  Xon  est  vera  Meligio,  qiice  cum  Templo  relinquitur  ;'^'  but 
our  Eliot  always  carried  much  oi  religion  with  him  from  the  house  of  God. 
In  a  word,  he  was  one  who  lived  in  heaven  while  he  ivas  on  earth;  and 
there  is  no  more  than  pure  justice  in  our  endeavours  that  he  should  live 
on  earth  after  he  is  in  heaven.     We  cannot  say  that  we  ever  saw  him  walk- 
ing any  whither  but  he  was  therein  "walking  with  God;"  wherever  he 
sal,  he  had  God  by  him,  and  it  was  in  the  everlasting  arms  of  God  that 
he  skpt  at  night.     Methoughts  he  a  little  discovered  his  heavenly  way  of 
living,  when  walking  one  day  in  his  garden,  he  plucked  up  a  weed  that  he 
saw  now  and  then  growing  there,  at  which  a  friend  pleasantly  said  unto 
him,  "Sir,  you  tell  us  we  must  be  heavenly-minded;"  but  he  immediately 
replied,  "It  is  true;  and  this  is  no  impediment  unto  tluit,  for  were  I  sure 
to  go  to  heaven  to-morrow,  I  would  do  what  I  do  to-day."     From  such  a 
frame  of  spirit  it  was  that  once  in  a  visit,  finding  a  merchant  in  his  count- 
ing house,  where  he  saw  books  of  business  only  on  his  table,  but  all  his 
books  of  devotion  on  the  shelf,  he  gave  this  advice  unto  him:  "Sir,  here  is 
earth  on  the  table,  and  heaven  on  the  shelf;  pray  don't  sit  so  much  at  the 
tiible  a.s  altogether  to  forget  the  shelf;  let  not  earth  by  any  means  thrust 
heaven  out  of  your  mind." 

•  Thul  iit  not  true  religion,  which  wo  leave  behind  us  in  Ihc  sunctuarj'. 


OR,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  535 

Indeed,  I  cannot  give  a  fuller  description  of  him,  than  what  was  in  a 
paraphrase  that  I  have  heard  himself  to  make  upon  that  scripture,  "Our 
conversation  is  in  heaven."     I  writ  from  him  as  he  uttered  it: 

"  Behold,"  said  he,  "the  ancient  and  excellent  character  of  a  true  Christian;  'tis  that  which 
Peter  calls  'holiness  in  all  manner  of  conversation;'  you  shall  not  find  a  Christian  out  of  the 
way  of  godly  conversation.  For,  first,  a  seventh  part  of  our  time  is  all  spent  in  heaven,  when 
we  are  duly  zealous  for,  and  zealous  on  the  Sabbath  of  God.  Besides,  God  has  written  on 
the  he.id  of  the  Sabbath,  remember,  which  looks  both  forwards  and  backwards,  and  thus  a 
good  part  of  the  week  will  be  spent  in  sabbatizing.  Well,  but  for  the  rest  of  our  time! 
Why,  we  shall  have  that  spent  in  heaven,  ere  we  have  done.  For,  secondly,  we  have  many 
days  for  both  fasting  and  thanksgiving  in  our  pilgrimage;  and  here  are  so  many  Sabbaths 
more.  Moreover,  thirdly,  we  have  our  lectures  every  week ;  and  pious  people  won't  miss 
them,  if  they  can  help  it.  Furthermore,  fourthly,  we  have  our  private  meetings,  wherein  we 
pray,  and  sing,  and  repeat  sermons,  and  confer  together  about  the  things  of  God;  and  being 
now  come  thus  far,  we  are  in  heaven  almost  every  day.  But  a  little  farther,  fifthly,  we  per- 
form family-duties  every  day ;  we  have  our  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  wherein  having 
read  the  Scriptures  to  our  families,  we  call  upon  the  name  of  God,  and  ever  now  and  then 
carefully  catechise  those  that  are  under  our  charge.  Sixthly,  we  shall  also  have  our  daily 
devotions  in  our  closets;  wherein  unto  supplication  before  the  Lord,  we  shall  add  some 
serious  meditation  upon  his  word:  a  David  will  be  at  this  work  no  less  than  thrice  a  day. 
Seventhly,  we  have  likewise  many  scores  of  ejaculations  in  a  day ;  and  these  we  have,  like 
Nehemiah,  in  whatever  place  we  come  into.  Eighthly  we  have  our  occasional  thoughts  and 
our  occasional  talks  upon  spiritual  matters;  and  we  have  our  occasional  acts  of  charity, 
wherein  we  do  like  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  every  day.  Ninthly,  in  our  callings,  in  our 
civil  callings,  we  keep  up  heavenly  frames ;  we  buy  and  sell,  and  toil ;  yea,  we  eat  and  drink, 
with  some  eye  both  to  the  command  and  the  honour  of  God  in  all.  Behold,  I  have  not  now 
left  an  inch  of  time  to  be  carnal ;  it  is  all  engrossed  for  heaven.  And  yet,  lest  here  should 
not  be  enough,  lastly,  we  have  our  spiritual  warfare.  We  arc  always  encountring  the 
enemies  of  our  souls,  which  continually  raises  our  hearts  unto  our  Helper  and  Leader  in  the 
heavens.  Let  no  man  say,  "Tis  impossible  to  live  at  this  rate;'  for  we  have  known  some 
live  thus;  and  others  that  have  written  of  such  a  life  have  but  spun  a  web  out  of  their 
own  blessed  experiences.  New-England  has  example  of  this  life:  though,  alas!  'tis  to  be 
lamented  that  the  distractions  of  the  world,  in  too  many  professors,  do  becloud  the  beauty 
of  an  heavenly  conversation.  In  fine,  our  employment  lies  in  heaven.  In  the  morning,  if 
we  ask,  'Where  am  I  to  be  to  day]'  our  souls  must  answer,  'In  heaven.'  In  the  evening, 
if  we  ask,  'Where  have  I  been  to-day?'  our  souls  may  answer,  'In  heaven.'  If  thou  art  a 
believer,  thou  art  no  stranger  to  heaven  while  thou  livest;  and  when  thou  diest,  heaven  will 
be  no  strange  place  to  thee;  no,  thou  hast  been  there  a  thousand  times  before." 

In  this  language  have  I  heard  him  express  himself;  and  he  did  what 
he  said;  he  was  a  Boniface  as  well  as  a  Benedict;  and  he  was  one  of  those 

Qui  faciendo  docent,  qucB  facienda  docent.*  m  m 

It  might  be  said  of  him,  as  that  writer  characterises  Origen,  Quemad- 
modum  docuit,  sic  vixit,  et  quemadrtiodum  vixit  sic  docuit.f 

ARTICLE  II.— HIS  PARTICULAR  CARE  AND  ZEAL  ABOUT  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 

This  was  the  piety,  this  the  holiness  of  our  Eliot;  but  among  the  many 
instances  in  which  his  holiness  was  remarkable,  I  must  not  omit  his  exact 
"remembrance  of  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy." 

*  Who  teach  by  doing,  what  we  ought  to  do,  +  As  he  taught,  he  lived ;  and  as  he  lived,  he  taught. 


ggg  MAGNA  LI  A    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

It  has  been  truly  and  justly  observed,  that  our  whole  religion  fares 
accordin"-  to  our  Sabbaths,  that  poor  Sabbaths  make  poor  Christians,  and 
that  a  strictness  in  our  Sabbaths  inspires  a  vigour  into  all  our  other  duties. 
Our  P'liot  knew  this,  and  it  was  a  most  exemplary  zeal  that  he  acknowl- 
edged the  Sabbath  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  withal.  Ilad  he  been  asked, 
JServasti  Doviinicum?^  he  could  have  made  a  right  Christian  primitive 
answer  thereunto.  The  sun  did  not  set,  the  evening  before  the  Sabbath, 
till  he  hatl  begun  his  preparation  for  it;  and  when  the  Lord's  day  came, 
you  might  have  seen  "John  in  the  spirit"  every  week.  Every  day  was  a 
sort  of  Sahhath  to  him,  but  the  Sabbath-day  was  a  kind,  a  type,  a  taste  of 
Heaven  with  him.  Ke  laboured  that  he  might  on  this  high  day  have  no 
words  or  thowjlds  but  such  as  were  agreeable  thereunto;  he  then  allowed 
in  himself  no  actions  but  those  of  a  raised  soul.  One  should  hear  nothing 
dropping  from  his  lips  on  this  day  but  the  milk  and  honey  of  the  country, 
in  which  there  yet  "  remains  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God ;"  and  if  he  beheld 
in  any  person  whatsoever,  whether  old  or  young,  any  profanation  of  this 
day,  iae  would  be  sure  to  bestow  lively  rebukes  upon  it.  And  hence  also 
unto  the  general  engagements  of  a  covenant  with  God,  which  it  was  his 
desire  to  bring  the  Indians  into,  he  added  a  particular  article,  wherein  they 
bind  themselves,  mehquontamunat  Sabbath,  pahketeaunat  tohsohke  pomanta- 
mog;  i.  e.  "to  remember  the  Sabbath-day,  to  keep  it  holy,  as  long  as  we  live." 
The  mention  of  this  gives  me  an  opportunity,  not  only  to  recommend  our 
departed  Eliot,  but  also  to  vindicate  another  great  man  unto  the  churches 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  reverend  and  renowned  Owen,  in  his  elab- 
orate excrcitations  on  the  Lord's  day,  had  let  fall  such  a  passage  as  this: 

"I  judge  that  the  observation  of  the  Lord's  day  is  to  be  commensurate  unto  the  use  of 
our  natural  strength  on  any  oilier  day — from  morning  to  night.  The  Lord's  day  is  to  be 
set  apart  unto  the  ends  of  an  holy  rest  unto  God,  by  every  one  according  as  his  natural 
strength  will  enable  him  to  employ  himself  in  his  lawful  occasions  any  other  day  of  the  week." 

This  passage  gave  some  scandal  unto  several  very  learned  and  pious 
men ;  among  whom  our  Eliot  was  one ;  whereupon,  with  his  usual  zeal, 
gravity  and  sanctity,  he  wrote  unto  the  doctor  his  opinion  thereabout; 
who  returned  unto  him  an  answer  full  of  respect,  some  part  whereof  I 
shall  here  transcribe: 

"As  to  what  concerns  the  'natural  strength  of  man,'  (saith  he)  either  I  was  under  some 
mistake  in  my  expression,  or  you  seem  to  be  so,  in  your  apprehension.  I  never  thought,  and 
I  hope  I  have  not  said,  (for  I  cannot  find  it,)  that  the  continuance  of  the  Sabbath  is  to  be 
commensurate  unto  the  natural  strength  of  man,  but  only  that  it  is  an  alloivahle  mean  of 
men's  continuance  in  Sabl)ath  duties;  wiiich  I  suppose  you  will  not  deny,  lest  you  should 
c.Tst  th.-  consciences  of  profe.ssors  into  inextricable  diHicnlties, 

"When  first  I  engaged  in  that  work,  I  intended  not  to  have  spoken  one  word  about  the 

practical  observ.-ition  of  the  day;  but  only  to  have  endeavoured  the  revival  of  a  truth,  which 

at  present  is  despised  and  contemned  among  us,  and  strenuously  opposed  by  sundry  divines 

of  the  United  Provinces,  who  call  the  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath,  Figmentum  Anglicanujn.j 

•  Have  you  .IricUy  obwrvcd  the  Lord's  day  t  ^  An  Anglican  notion. 


I 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  537 

Upon  the  desire  of  some  learned  men  in  these  parts  it  was  that  I  undertook  the  vindication 
of  it.  Having  novi^  discharged  the  debt,  which  in  this  matter  I  owed  unto  the  truth  and 
church  of  God,  though  not  as  I  ought,  yet  with  such  composition  as  I  hope  through  tlie  inter- 
position of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  might  find  acceptance  with  God  and  his  saints,  I  suppose 
I  shall  not  again  engage  on  that  subject. 

"I  suppose  there  is  scarce  any  one  alive  in  the  world  who  hath  more  reproaches  cast  upon 
him  than  I  have;  though  hitherto  God  has  been  pleased  in  some  measure  to  support  my 
spirit  under  them.  I  still  relieved  myself  by  this,  that  my  poor  endeavours  have  found 
acceptance  with  the  churches  of  Christ:  but  my  holy,  wise,  and  gracious  Father  sees  it  need- 
ful to  try  me  in  this  matter  also;  and  what  I  have  received  from  yoix  (which  it  may  be  con- 
tains not  your  sense  alone)  hath  printed  deeper,  and  left  a  greater  impression  upon  my  mind, 
than  all  the  virulent  revilings  and  false  accusations  I  have  met  withal  from  my  professed 
adversaries.  I  do  acknowledge  unto  you  that  I  have  a  dry  and  barren  spirit,  and  I  do  heart- 
ily beg  your  prayers  that  the  Holy  One  would,  notwithstanding  all  my  sinful  provocations, 
water  me  from  above;  but  that  I  should  now  be  apprehended  to  have  given  a  wound  unto  holi- 
ness in  the  churches,  it  is  one  of  the  saddest  frowns  in  the  cloudy  brows  of  Divine  Providence. 

"The  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath  I  have  asserted,  though  not  as  it  should  be  done,  yet  as 
well  as  I  could;  the  observation  of  it  in  holy  duties  unto  the  utmost  of  the  strength  for  thera 
which  God  shall  be  pleased  to  give  us,  I  have  pleaded  for;  the  necessity  also  of  a  serious 
preparation  for  it  in  sundry  previous  duties,  I  have  declared.  But  now  to  meet  with  severe 
expressions — it  may  be  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  vigour  should  hereby  be  given  to  my  for- 
mer discouragements,  and  that  there  is  a  call  in  it  to  surcease  from  these  kinds  of  labours." 

I  have  transcribed  the  more  of  this  letter,  because  it  not  only  discovers 
the  concern  which  our  Eliot  had  for  the  Sabbath  of  God,  but  also  it  may- 
contribute  unto  the  world's  good  reception  and  perusal  of  a  "golden 
book"  on  that  subject,  written  by  one  of  the  most  eminent  persons  which 
the   English  nation  has  been  adorned  with. 

ARTICLE  m.— HIS  EXEMPLARY  MORTIFICATION. 

Thus  did  Eliot  endeavour  to  live  unto  God ;  but  how  much  at  the  same 
time  did  he  die  unto  all  the  world? 

It  were  impossible  to  finish  the  lively  picture  of  this  pious  and  holy 
Eliot,  without  some  touches  upon  that  mortification  which  accompanied 
him  all  his  days;  for  never  did  I  see  a  person  more  mortified  unto  all  the 
pleasures  of  this  life,  or  more  unwilling  to  moult  the  wings  of  an  heaven- 
born  soul  in  the  dirty  puddles  of  carnal  and  sensual  delights.  We  are 
all  of  us  compounded  of  those  two  things,  the  m,an  and  the  beast;  but  so 
powerful  was  the  man  in  this  holy  person,  that  it  kept  the  beast  ever  tyed 
with  a  short  tedder,  and  suppressed  the  irregular  calcitrations  of  it.  He 
became  so  nailed  unto  the  Cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  the  grand- 
eurs of  this  world  were  unto  him  just  what  they  would  be  to  a  dying 
man;  and  he  maintained  an  almost  unparalleled  indifferency  toward  all 
the  pomps  which  mankind  is  too  generally  flattered  and  enchanted  with. 

The  "lust  of  the  flesh"  he  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  the  least  pam- 
pering or  indulging  of:  but  he  persecuted  it  with  a  continual  antiiiathy, 
being  upon  higher  principles  than  Tully  was  acquainted  withal  of  his 
mind,  Nan  est  dignus  nomine  hominiSy  qui  unum  diem  totuni  velit  es3e  in  isto 


ggg  MAGNALIA    CnRISTI    AMERICANA; 

genere  voluptah's*  The  sleep  that  he  allowed  himself,  cheated  him  not  of 
Lis  morning  hours;  but  he  reckoned  the  morning  no  less  a  friend  unto  the 
(fraccs  than  the  mmcs.  lie  would  call  upon  students,  "I  pray  look  to 
it  that  you  be  morning  birds."  And  for  many  more  than  a  score  of  years 
before  he  died,  he  removed  his  lodging  into  his  study,  on  purpose  that, 
being  there  alone,  he  might  enjoy  his  early  mornings  without  giving  the 
disturbance  of  the  least  noise  to  any  of  his  friends,  whose  affections  to 
him  else  might  have  been  ready  to  have  called  "Master,  spare  thy  self." 
The  meat  upon  which  he  lived  was  a  cibus  simplex, — "an  homely  but  an 
wholesome  diet."  Eich  varieties,  costly  viands,  and  poinant  sauces,  came 
not  upon  his  oicn  table,  and  when  he  found  them  on  other  men's,  he  rarely 
tasted  of  them.  One  dish,  and  a  plain  one,  was  his  dinner;  and  when 
invited  unto  a  feast,  I  have  seen  him  sit  magnifying  of  God  for  the  plenty 
which  his  people  in  this  wilderness  were  within  a  few  years  arisen  to;  but 
not  more  than  a  bit  or  two  of  all  the  dainties  taken  into  his  mouth  all  the 
while.  And  for  a  supper,  he  had  learned  of  his  loved  and  blessed  patron, 
old  Mr.  Cotton,  either  wholly  to  omit  it,  or  to  make  a  small  sup  or 
two  the  utmost  of  it.  The  drijik  which  he  still  used  was  very  small;  he 
cared  not  for  ivines  or  drayns,  and  I  believe  he  never  once  in  all  his  life 
knew  what  it  was  to  feel  so  much  as  a  noxious  fume  in  his  head  from  any 
of  them ;  good,  clear  water  was  more  j^^^cious,  as  well  as  more  usual  with 
him,  than  any  of  those  liquors  With  which  men  do  so  frequently  spoil 
their  own  healths,  while  perhaps  they  DRINK  those  of  other  men.  When 
at  a  stranger's  house  in  the  summer  time,  he  has  been  entertained  with  a 
glass,  which  they  told  him  was  of  water  and  wine,  he  has  with  a  com- 
plaisant gravity  replyed  unto  this  purpose:  "Wine,  'tis  a  noble,  generous 
liquor,  and  we  should  be  humbly  thankful  for  it;  but,  as  I  remember, 
water  was  made  before  it!"  So  abstemious  was  he;  and  he  found  that, 
Carere  siiavitatibus  istis,-\  his  abstinence  had  more  siveetness  in  it,  than  any  of 
the  sweeOs  which  he  abstained  from;  and  so  willing  he  was  to  have  others 
partake  with  him  in  that  sweetness,  that  when  he  has  thought  the  counte- 
nance of  a  minister  has  looked  as  if  he  had  made  much  of  himself,  he 
has  gone  to  him  with  that  speech,  "Study  mortification,  brother,  study 
mortification!"  and  he  made  all  his  addresses  with  a  becoming  majesty. 

The  "lust  of  the  eye"  was  put  out  by  him  in  such  a  manner,  that  it 
was  in  a  manner  all  one  with  him  to  be  rich  or  poor.  It  could  not  be  said 
of  him,  "that  he  sought  great  things  for  himself;"  but  what  estate  he 
became  owner  of,  was  from  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  husbandry  and 
industry  of  some  in  his  iiimily,  rather  than  from  any  endeavours  of  his 
own.  Once  when  there  stood  several  kine  of  his  own  before  his  door,  his 
wife,  to  try  him,  asked  him,  "Whose  they  were?"  and  she  found  that  he 
knew  nothing  of  them,     lie  could  not  endure  to  plunge  himself  into  secu- 

•  IIo  iH  unworthy  of  tho  nftmc  of  man,  who  would  be  willing  to  spend  a  whole  day  in  that  sort  of  pleasure, 
t  To  abstain  from  these  swoota. 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  539 

lar  designs  and  affairs,  but  accounted  Sacerdos  in  foro  *  as  worthy  of  cas- 
tigation  as  Mercator  in  Templo  ;f  he  thought  that  minister  and  market-man 
were  not  unisons,  and  that  the  earth  was  no  place  for  Aaron's  holy  mitre 
to  be  laid  upon.  It  was  the  usage  of  most  parishes  in  the  country  to  have 
an  annual  rate  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry,  adjusted  commonly 
by  the  select-men  of  the  towns;  which,  though  it  raised  not  any  exuber- 
ant salaries  for  the  ministers,  who  also  seldom  received  all  that  the  people 
had  contracted  for,  nevertheless  in  many  places  it  prevented  sore  tempta- 
tions from  befalling  those  that  were  "labouring  in  the  word  and  doctrine;" 
who  must  else  often  have  experienced  the  truth  of  Luther's  observation, 
Duriter  profecto  et  misere  viverent  Evangelii  Ministri,  si  ex  Libra  pojxdi  con- 
trihutione  essent  sustentandi-X  However,  for  his  part,  he  propounded  that 
what  stipend  he  had,  should  be  raised  by  contribution;  and  from  the  same 
temper  it  was,  that  a  few  years  before  his  dissolution,  being  left  without 
an  assistant  in  his  ministry,  he  pressed  his  congregation  to  furnish  them- 
selves with  another  pastor;  and  in  his  application  to  them,  he  told  them, 
"'Tis  possible  you  may  think  the  burden  of  maintaining  two  ministers 
may  be  too  heavy  for  you ;  but  I  deliver  you  from  that  fear ;  I  do  here 
give  back  my  salary  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  now,  brethren,  you 
may  fix  that  upon  any  man  that  God  shall  make  a  pastor  for  you,"  But 
his  church,  with  an  handsome  reply,  assured  him  that  they  would  count 
his  very  presence  worth  a  salary,  when  he  should  be  so  superanuated  as 
to  do  no  further  service  for  them. 

And  as  for  the  "pride  of  life,"  the  life  of  it  was  most  exemplarily  extin- 
guished in  him.  The  humility  of  his  heart  made  him  higher  by  the  head 
than  the  rest  of  the  people.  His  habit  and  spirit  were  both  such  as 
declared  liim  to  be  among  the  lowly,  whom  God  has  most  respect  unto. 
His  apparel  was  without  any  ornament,  except  that  of  humility,  which  the 
apostle  elegantly  compares  to  a  knot  of  comely  ribbons,  in  the  text  where 
he  bids  us  to  be  cloathed  with  it;  any  other  flanting  ribbons  on  those  that 
came  in  his  way  he  would  ingeniously  animadvert  upon;  and  seeing  some 
scholars  once  he  thought  a  little  too  gaudy  in  their  cloaths,  Humiliamini, 
Juvenes,  Humiliamini,%  was  his  immediate  compliment  unto  them.  Had 
you  seen  him  with  his  leathern  girdle  (for  such  an  one  he  wore)  about  his 
loins,  you  would  almost  have  thought  what  Herod  feared,  "That  John 
Baptist  was  come  to  life  again."  In  short,  he  was  in  all  regards  a  Nazar- 
ite  indeed;  unless  in  this  one,  that  long  hair  was  always  very  loathsome 
to  him ;  he  was  an  acute  Ramist,  but  yet  he  professed  himself  a  lover  of  a 
Trichotomy.  Doubtless,  it  may  be  lawful  for  us  to  accommodate  the  length 
of  our  hair  unto  the  modest  customs  which  vary  in  the  Churches  of  God; 
and  it  may  be  lawful  for  them  that  have  not  enough  of  their  own  hair  for 
their  own  health,  to  supply  themselves  according  to  the  sober  modes  of 

•  A  priest  in  politics.  +  A  money-changer  in  the  temple. 

X  The  ministers  of  the  gospel  would  lead  a  hard,  wretched  life,  if  they  depended  for  subsistence  tm  the  volun- 
tary  contributions  of  the  people.  §  Humble  yourselves,  my  young  friends,  humble  yourselves. 


cjQ  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

the  places  they  live;  but  the  apostle  tells  us,  "Nature  teaches  us  that  if 
a  man  have  long  hair,  'tis  a  shame  to  him;"  where,  by  nature,  can  be 
meant  no  other  than  the  difference  of  sex,  as  the  word  elsewhere  is  used. 

Thus  Mr.  P^liot  thought  that  for  men  to  wear  their  hair  with  a  luxurious, 
delicate  fiuminine  prolixity;  or  for  them  to  preserve  no  plain  distinction 
of  their  sex  by  the  hair  of  their  head  and  face ;  and  much  more  for  men 
thus  to  ili.sli<mrc  themselves  with  hair  that  is  none  of  their  oion;  and,  most 
of  all  for  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  ruffle  it  in  excesses  of  this  kind;  may 
prove  more  than  we  are  well  aware  displeasing  to  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
The  hair  of  them  that  professed  religion,  long  before  his  death,  grew  too 
long  for  him  to  swallow;  and  he  would  express  himself  continually  with 
a  boiling  zeal  concerning  it,  until  at  last  he  gave  over,  with  some  regret 
complaining,  "The  lust  is  become  insuperable!"  I  know  not  whether 
that  horrible  distemper  prevailing  in  some  European  countries  known  by 
the  name  of  Plica  Pohnica*  wherein  the  hair  of  people  matted  into  ugly 
and  filthy  forms,  like  snakes  upon  their  heads,  which  whosoever  cut  off, 
presently  fell  blind  or  mad — I  say,  I  know  not  whether  this  disease  was 
more  odious  in  it  self  than  the  sweeter,  neater,  but  prolix  locks  of  many 
people  were  to  our  Eliot.  He  was  indeed  one  priscis  moribusf  as  well  as 
antiqua  fide;X  and  he  might  be  allowed  somewhat  even  of  severity  in  this 
matter  on  that  account. 

ARTICLE  IV.— HIS   EXQUISITE  CHARITY. 

He  that  will  write  of  Eliot,  must  write  of  charity,  or  say  nothing.  His 
charity  was  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  bright  constellation  of  his 
vertues,  and  the  rays  of  it  were  wonderfully  various  and  extensive. 

His  liberality  to  pious  uses,  whether  publick  or  private,  went  much 
beyond  the  proportions  of  his  little  estate  in  the  world.  Many  hundreds 
of  pounds  did  he  freely  bestow  upon  the  poor;  and  he  would,  with  a  very 
forcible  importunity,  press  his  neighbours  to  join  with  him  in  such  benefi- 
cences. It  was  a  marvellous  alacrity  with  which  he  imbraced  all  oppor- 
tunities of  relieving  any  that  were  miserable;  and  the  good  people  of 
lloxbury  doubtless  cannot  remember  (but  the  righteous  God  will!)  how 
often,  and  with  what  ardors,  with  what  arguments,  he  became  a  beggar  to 
them  for  collections  in  their  assemblies,  to  support  such  needy  objects  as 
had  fallen  under  his  observation.  The  poor  counted  him  their  father,  and 
repaired  still  unto  him  with  a  filial  confidence  in  their  necessities;  and 
they  were  more  than  seven  or  eight,  or  indeed  than  so  many  scores,  who 
received  \\\q\v  lyortions  of  his  bounty.  Like  that  worthy  and  famous  Eng- 
lish general,  he  could  not  perswade  himself  "that  he  had  any  thing  but 
what  he  gave  away,"  but  he  drove  a  mighty  trade  at  such  exercises  as  he 
thought  would  furnish  him  with  hills  of  exchange,  which  he  hoped  "after 
many  days"  to  find  the  comfort  of;  and  yet,  after  all,  he  would  say,  like 

*  Tho  Polonlan  plait.  +  Of  primitive  manners,  J  Ancient  fidelity. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  54X 

one  of  the  most  cliaritable  souls  that  ever  lived  in  the  world,  "that  looking 
over  his  acounts,  he  could  no  where  find  the  God  of  heaven  charged  a 
debtor  there."  He  did  not  put  off  his  charity  to  be  put  in  his  last  will,  as 
many  who  therein  shew  that  their  charity  is  against  their  ivill;  but  he  was 
his  own  administrator ;  he  made  his  own  hands  his  executors,  and  his  own 
eyes  his  overseers.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  liberal  men  are  often  long- 
lived  men;  so  do  they  after  many  days  find  the  hread  with  which  they 
have  been  willing  to  keep  other  men  alive.  The  great  age  of  our  Eliot 
was  but  agreeable  to  this  remark;  and  when  his  age  had  unfitted  him  for 
almost  all  employments,  and  bereaved  him  of  those  gifts  and  parts  which 
once  he  had  been  accomplished  with,  being  asked,  "how  he  did?"  he 
Avould  sometimes  answer,  "Alas,  I  have  lost  everything;  my  understand- 
ing leaves  me,  my  memory  fails  me,  my  utterance  fails  me;  but,  I  thank 
God,  my  charity  \\o\diS  out  still;  I  find  that  rather  grows  than  fails!"  And 
I  make  no  question,  that  at  his  death,  his  happy  soul  was  received  and 
welcomed  into  the  "everlasting  habitations,"  by  many  scores  got  thither 
before  him,  of  such  as  his  charity  had  been  liberal  unto. 

But  besides  these  more  substantial  expressions  of  his  charity,  he  made 
the  odours  of  that  grace  yet  more  fragrant  unto  all  that  were  about  him, 
by  that  pittifulness  and  that  peo.ceahleness  which  rendered  him  yet  further 
amiable.  If  any  of  his  neighbourhood  were  in  distress,  he  was  like  a 
"brother  born  for  their  adversity,"  he  would  visit  them,  and  comfort  them 
with  a  most  fraternal  sympathy ;  yea,  'tis  not  easy  to  recount  how  many 
whole  days  of  prayer  and  fasting  he  has  got  his  neighbours  to  keep  with 
him,  on  the  behalf  of  those  whose  calamities  he  found  himself  touched 
withal.  It  was  an  extreme  satisfaction  to  him  that  his  wife  had  attained 
unto  a  considerable  skill  in  physick  and  chyrurgery,  which  enabled  her  to 
dispense  many  safe,  good,  and  useful  medicines  unto  the  poor  that  had 
occasion  for  them;  and  some  hundreds  of  sick  and  weak  and  maimed 
people  owed  praises  to  God  for  the  benefit  which  therein  they  freely 
received  of  her.  The  good  gentleman  her  husband  would  still  be  casting 
oyl  into  the  flame  of  that  charit}^,  wherein  she  was  of  her  own  accord 
abundantly  forward  thus  to  be  doing  of  good  unto  all;  and  he  would  urge 
her  to  be  serviceable  unto  the  worst  enemies  that  he  had  in  the  world. 
Never  had  any  man  fewer  enemies  than  he!  but  once  having  delivered 
something  in  his  ministry  which  displeased  one  of  his  hearers,  the  man 
did  passionately  abuse  him  for  it,  and  this  both  with  speeches  and  witli 
writings  that  reviled  him.  Yet  it  happening  not  long  after  that  this  man 
gave  himself  a  very  dangerous  wound,  Mr.  Eliot  immediately  sends  his 
wife  to  cure  him;  who  did  accordingly.  When  the  man  was  well,  he 
came  to  thank  her:  but  she  took  no  rewards;  and  this  good  man  made 
him  stay  and  eat  with  him,  taking  no  notice  of  all  the  calumnies  with 
which  he  had  loaded  him;  but  by  this  carriage  he  mollified  and  conquered 
the  stomach  of  his  reviler. 


542 


MAG  N  ALIA    CHRIS  TI    AMERICANA; 


lie  was  also  a  great  enemy  to  all  contention,  and  would  ring  aloud  cour- 
fiu  bell  wherever  he  saw  the//r5  of  animosity.  When  he  heard  any  min- 
isters complain  that  such  and  such  in  their  flocks  were  too  difficult  for 
them,  the  strain  of  his  answer  still  was,  "Brother,  compass  them!"  and 
"  brother,  learn  the  meaning  of  those  three  little  words,  hear,  forbear,  for- 
givey  Yea,  his  inclinations  iov  peace,  indeed,  sometimes  almost  made  him 
to  sacrifice  ri'jht  it  self.  When  there  was  laid  before  an  assembly  of  min- 
isters a  bundle  of  papers,  which  contained  certain  matters  of  difference 
and  contention  between  some  people  which  our  Eliot  thought  should 
rather  unite,  with  an  amnesty  upon  all  their  former  quarrels,  he  (with  some 
imitation  of  what  Constantine  did  upon  the  like  occasion)  hastily  threw 
the  papers  into  the  fire  before  them  all,  and,  with  a  zeal  for  peace  as  hot 
as  that  fire,  said  immediately,  "Brethren,  wonder  not  at  what  I  have  done; 
I  did  it  on  my  knees  this  morning  before  I  came  among  you."  Such  an 
excess  (if  it  were  one)  flowed  from  his  charitable  inclinations  to  be  found 
among  those  peace-makers  which,  by  following  the  example  of  that  Man 
who  is  our  peace,  come  to  be  called,  "the  children  of  God."  Very  wor- 
thily might  he  be  called  an  Irenceus,  as  being  all  for  peace;  and  the  com- 
mendation which  Epiphanius  gives  unto  the  ancient  of  that  name,  did 
belong  unto  our  Eliot:  he  was  "a  most  blessed  and  a  most  holy  man." 
He  disliked  all  sorts  of  bravery:  but  3''et  with  an  ingenious  note  upon  the 
Greek  word  in  Col.  iii.  15,  he  propounded,  "that  peace  might  brave  it 
among  us."  In  short,  wherever  he  came,  it  was  like  another  old  John, 
with  solemn  and  earnest  perswasives  to  love;  and  when  he  could  say  little 
else,  he  would  give  that  charge,  "My  children,  love  one  another!" 

Finally,  'twas  his  charity  which  disposed  him  to  continual  apprecations 
for,  and  benedictions  on  those  that  he  met  withal ;  he  had  an  heart  full  of 
good  wishes,  and  a  mouth  full  of  kind  blessings  for  them.  And  he  often 
made  his  expressions  very  wittily  agreeable  to  the  circumstances  which  he 
saw  the  persons  in.  Sometimes  when  he  came  into  a  family,  he  would 
call  for  all  the  young  people  in  it,  that  so  he  might  very  distinctly  lay  his 
holy  hands  upon  every  one  of  them,  and  bespeak  the  mercies  of  Heaven 
for  them  all. 

ART.  v.— SOME  SPECIAL  ATTAINMENTS,  THAT  WERE  THE  EFFECTS  OF  HIS  PIETY  AND  CHARITY. 

But  what  was  the  effect  of  this  exemplary  piety  and  charity  in  our 
Eliot?  It  will  be  no  wonder  to  my  reader,  if  I  tell  him  that  this  good 
man  "walked  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance  all  the  day  long."  I 
believe  he  had  a  continual  assurance  of  the  divine  love,  marvellously  seal- 
ing, strengthening,  and  refreshing  of  him,  for  many  lustres  of  years  before 
he  died;  and  for  this  cause,  the  fear  of  death  was  extirpated  out  of  his 
heavenly  soul,  more  than  out  of  most  men  alive.  Had  our  blessed  Jesus 
at  any  time  sent  his  waggons  to  fetch  this  old  Jacob  away,  he  would  have 
gone  withcnit  tlie  least  reluctancies.     Labouring  once  under  a  fever  and 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  54.3 

ague,  a  visitant  asked  him,  "how  lie  did?"  and  he  replyed,  "Yery  well, 
but  anon  I  expect  a  paroxism,"  Said  the  visitant,  "Sir,  fear  not;"  but 
unto  that  he  answered,  "Fear!  no,  no;  I  been't  afraid,  I  thank  God,  I 
been't  afraid  to  die!"  Dying  would  not  have  been  any  more  to  him,  than 
sleeping  to  a  weary  man. 

And  another  excellency  which  accompanied  this  courage  and  comfort 
in  him  was,  a  wonderful  resignation  to  the  will  of  God  in  all  events. 
There  were  sore  afflictions  that  sometimes  befel  him,  especially  when  he 
followed  some  of  his  hopeful  and  worthy  sons — two  or  three  desirable 
preachers  of  the  gospel — to  their  graves.  But  he  sacrificed  them,  like 
another  Abraham,  with  such  a  sacred  indifferency,  as  made  all  the  specta- 
tors to  say,  "this  could  not  be  done  without  the  fear  of  God."  Yea,  he 
bore  all  his  trials  with  an  admirable  patience,  and  seemed  loth  to  have  any 
will  of  his  own,  that  should  not  be  wholly  melted  and  moulded  into  the 
will  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  Once  being  in  a  boat  at  sea,  a  larger  vessel 
unhappily  over  run  and  over  set  that  little  one,  which  had  no  small  con- 
cerns (because  Eliot's)  in  the  bottom  of  it;  he  immediately  sunk  without 
any  expectation  of  ever  "going  to  heaven  any  other  way;"  and  when  he 
imagined  that  he  had  but  one  breath  more  to  draw  in  the  world,  it  was 
this,  "the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done!"  But  it  was  "the  will  of  the  Lord" 
that  he  should  survive  the  danger;  for  he  was  rescued  by  the  help  that 
was  then  at  hand;  and  he  that  had  long  been  like  Moses  in  every  thing 
else,  was  now  "drawn  out  of  the  waters."  Which  gives  me  opportunity 
to  mention  one  remarkable  event  that  had  some  relation  hereunto.  This 
accident  happened  in  the  time  of  our  Indian  wars,  when  some  furious  Eng- 
lish people  that  clamoured  for  the  extirpation  of  the  praying  Indians  which 
were  in  subjection  unto  us,  as  well  as  the  Pagan  Indians  that  were  in  hos- 
tility against  us,  vented  a  very  wicked  rage  at  our  holy  Eliot,  because  of 
his  concernment  for  the  Indians ;  and  one  profane  monster  hearing  how 
narrowly  Mr.  Eliot  escaped  from  drowning,  'tis  said,  he  wished  this  man 
of  God  had  then  been  drowned.  But  within  a  few  days  that  woful  man, 
by  a  strange  disaster,  was  drowned  in  that  very  place  where  Mr.  Eliot  had 
received  his  deliverance. 

There  was  indeed  a  certain  health  of  soul  which  he  arrived  unto ;  and 
he  kept  in  a  blessed  measure  clear  of  those  distempers  which  too  often  dis- 
order the  most  of  men.  But  the  God  of  heaven  favoured  him  with  some- 
thing that  was  yet  more  extraordinary !  By  getting  and  keeping  near  to 
God,  and  by  dwelling  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty,  he  contracted 
a  more  exquisite  sense  of  mind  than  what  is  usual  among  other  professors 
of  Christianity ;  he  sometimes  felt  a  lively  touch  of  God  upon  his  refined 
and  exalted  spirit,  which  were  not  in  any  paper  of  ours  laivful  or  ea^y  to 
be  uttered;  and  he  was  admitted  unto  a  singular  familiarity  with  the 
"Holy  One  of  Israel."  Hence  it  was,  that  as  bodies  of  a  rare  and  fine 
constitution  vf'iW  forebode  the  changes  of  the  weather,  so  the  sublimed  soul 


544  MAG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

of  our  Eliot  oacn  had  strauge  forchodiriffs  of  things  that  were  to  come.  I 
liave  been  astonished  at  some  of  his  predictions,  that  were  both  of  a  more 
personal  and  of  a  more  general  application,  and  were  followed  with  exact 
accomplishments.  If  he  said  of  any  affair,  "I  cannot  bless  it!"  it  was  a 
worse  omen  to  it  than  the  most  inauspicious  presages  in  the  world;  but 
sometimes,  after  he  had  been  with  God  in  prayer  about  a  thing,  he  was 
able  successfully  to  foretel,  "I  have  set  a  mark  upon  it;  it  will  do  well!" 
I  shall  never  forget  that  when  England  and  Holland  were  plunged  into 
the  unhapj)v  war,  which  the  more  sensible  Protestants  every  where  had 
but  sorrowful  apprehensions  of,  our  Eliot  being  (in  the  height  and  heat 
of  the  war)  privately  asked,  "What  news  we  might  look  for  next?" 
answered,  unto  the  surprize  of  the  enquirer,  "Our  next  news  will  be  a 
peace  between  the  two  Protestant  nations;  God  knows  I  pray  for  it  every 
day;  and  I  am  verily  perswaded  we  shall  hear  of  it  speedily!"  And  it 
came  to  pass  accordingly. 

It  is  to  be  confessed  that  the  written  word  of  God  is  to  be  regarded 
as  the  perfect  and  only  rule  of  our  lives ;  that  in  all  articles  of  religion, 
if  men  "speak  not  according  to  this  word,  there  is  no  light  in  them;"  and 
that  it  is  no  warrantable  or  convenient  thing  for  Christians  ordinarily  to 
look  for  such  inspirations  as  directed  the  prophets  that  were  the  pen-men 
of  the  Scriptures.  Nevertheless,  there  are  some  uncommon  instances  of 
communion  and  fruition  which  in  our  days  the  sovereign  God  here  and 
there  favours  a  good  man  withal;  and  they  are  very  heavenly  persons — 
persons  well  purified  from  the  fceculeyicies  of  sensuality,  and  persons  better 
purged  from  the  leaven  of  envy  and  malice  and  intolerable  pride,  than 
usually  those  vain  pretenders  to  revelations,  the  Quakers,  are,  that  are 
made  partakers  of  these  divine  dainties.  Now,  such  an  one  was  our  Eliot; 
and  for  this,  "worthy  to  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance." 

It  would  not  be  improper  under  this  file  to  lodge  the  singular  and  sur- 
prising successes  of  his  prayers  !  for  they  were  such,  that  in  our  distresses 
we  still  repaired  unto  him,  under  that  encouragement,  "He  is  a  prophet, 
and  he  shall  pray  for  thee,  and  thou  shalt  live."  I  shall  single  out  but 
one  from  the  piany  that  might  be  mentioned. 

There  was  a  godly  gentleman  of  Charlestown,  one  Mr.  Foster,  who  with 
his  son  was  taken  captive  by  Turkish  enemies.  Much  prayer  was 
employed,  both  privately  and  publickly,  by  the  good  people  here,  for  the 
redemption  of  that  gentleman;  but  we  were  at  last  informed  that  the 
bloody  ])rince  in  whose  dominions  he  was  now  a  slave,  was  resolved  that 
in  his  life  time  no  prisoner  should  be  released;  and  so  the  distressed 
friends  of  this  prisoner  now  concluded  "our  hope  is  lost!"  Well,  upon 
this,  Mr.  Eliot,  in  some  of  his  next  prayers,  before  a  very  solemn  congre- 
gation, very  broadly  begged,  "Heavenly  Father,  work  for  the  redemption 
of  thy  poor  servant  Foster;  and  if  the  prince  which  detains  him  will  not, 
as  they  say,  dismiss  him  as  long  as  himself  lives,  Lord,  we  pray  thee  to 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  545 

kill  that  cruel  prince;  kill  him,  and  glorify  thy  self  upon  him!"  And 
now,  behold  the  answer :  the  poor  captived  gentleman  quickly  returns  to 
us  that  had  been  mourning  for  him  as  a  lost  man,  and  brings  us  news  that 
the  prince  which  had  hitherto  held  him,  was  come  to  an  untimely  death,  by 
which  means  he  was  now  set  at  liberty. 


PART  II. 
OR,    ELIOT    AS    A    MINISTER. 

ARTICLE.  I— HIS  MINISTERIAL  ACCOMPLISHMENTS, 

The  Grace  of  God,  which  we  have  seen  so  illustriously  endowing  and 
adorning  of  our  Eliot,  as  well  qualified  him  for,  as  disposed  him  to  the 
employment  wherein  he  spent  about  six  decads  of  his  years;  which  was 
"the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel." 
This  was  the  work  to  which  he  applied  himself;  and  he  undertook  it,  I 
believe,  with  as  right  thoughts  of  it  and  as  good  ends  in  it  as  ever  any  man 
in  our  days  was  acted  with.  He  looked  upon  the  conduct  of  a  church  as 
a  thing  no  less  dangerous  than  important,  and  attended  with  so  many  diflS- 
culties,  temptations,  and  humiliations,  as  that  nothing  but  a  call  from  the 
Son  of  God  could  have  encouraged  him  unto  the  susception  of  it.  He 
saw  that  jfe/i  and  hlood  would  find  it  no  very  pleasant  thing  to  be  obliged 
unto  the  oversight  of  a  number,  that  by  a  solemn  covenant  should  be  listed 
among  the  voluntiers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  that  it  was  no  easy  thing 
to  feed  the  souls  of  such  a  people,  and  of  the  children  and  the  neighbours, 
which  were  to  be  brought  into  the  same  sheepfold  with  them;  to  bear 
their  manners  with  all  patience,  not  being  by  any  of  their  infirmities  dis- 
couraged from  teaching  of  them,  and  from  watching  and  praying  over 
them;  to  value  them  highly,  as  "the  flock  which  God  has  purchased  with 
his  own  blood,"  notwithstanding  all  their  miscarriages;  and  in  all  to 
exaniine  the  rule  of  Scripture  for  the  warrant  of  whatever  shall  be  done: 
and  to  reniember  the  day  of  judgment,  wherein  an  account  must  be  given 
of  all  that  lias  been  done;  having  in  the  mean  time  no  expectation  of  the 
riches  and  grandeurs  which  accompany  a  worldly  domination.  It  was 
herewithal  his  opinion,  "that  (as  the  great  Owen  expresses  it)  notwith- 
standing all  the  countenance  that  is  given  to  an}^  church  by  the  publiclc 
magistracy,  yet  whilst  we  are  in  this  world,  those  who  will  fliithfully  dis- 
charge their  duty,  as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  shall  have  need  to  be  pre- 
pared for  sufterings;"  and  it  was  in  a  sense  of  these  things  that  he  gave 
himself  up  to  the  sacred  ministry.  A  stranger  to  regeneration  can  be  but 
poorly  accomplished  for  such  a  ministry;  very  truly  says  the  incompar- 
able Alsted,  Impii  qyddain  Homines  egregie  videntur  callere  'ra.  dsoXoynixsva, 
revera  tamen  ilia  Cognitio  Rerum  Theologicarum  est  aSsoXoyo^,  quia  fieri  non 
YoL.  I.— 35 


546 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


poU'st  id  Cogiu'tio  vere  Tlieolojica,  hahitet  in  Corde  non  Theologo*  And  how- 
ever God  may  jirosper  the  sermons  of  such  a  man  for  the  advantage  of 
his  church:  however  the  building  of  the  ark  may  be  helped  on  by  such 
carpenters  as  perish  in  the  flood;  and  the  Tyrians  may  do  some  ivoric 
about  the  temple,  who  arrive  to  no  worship  in  the  inner-courts  thereof; 
and,  as  Austin  expressed  it,  a  stone-cutter  may  convey  water  into  a  garden, 
without  having  himself  any  advantage  of  it;  nevertheless,  the  unsanctified 
minister,  how  gifted,  how  able  soever  he  may  be,  must  have  it  still  said 
unto  him,  "Thou  lackest  one  thing!"  And  that  one  thing  our  Eliot  had. 
But  the  one  thing  was  not  all/  as,  indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  enough. 
God  furnished  him  with  a  good  measure  of  learning  too,  which  made  him 
capable  to  "divide  the  word  aright."  He  was  a  most  acute  grammarian; 
and  understood  very  well  the  languages  which  God  first  wrote  his  Holy 
Bible  in.  He  had  a  good  insight  into  all  the  other  liberal  arts,  and  made 
little  Si/stems  of  them  for  the  use  of  certain  Indians,  whose  exactor  educa- 
cation  he  was  desirous  of.  But,  above  all,  he  had  a  most  eminent  skill  in 
theology;  and  that  which  profane  scoffers  reproached,  as  the  disgrace  of 
the  blessed  Alting,  (all  of  whose  works  always  weigh  down  the  purest 
gold,)  was  the  honour  of  our  Eliot,  namely,  to  be  Scrijyturariiis  T]ieologus,\ 
or  "one  mighty  in  the  Word;"  which  enables  him  to  convince  gainsayers, 
and  on  many  occasions  to  show  himself,  "a  workman  that  needed  not 
be  ashamed." 

In  short,  he  came  in  some  degree,  like  another  Bezaleel  or  Aholiah, 
unto  the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  And  from  one  particularity  in  that 
part  of  his  learning  which  lay  in  the  affairs  of  the  tabernacle,  it  was,  that 
in  a  little  book  of  his  we  have  those  lines  which,  for  a  certain  cause,  I 
now  transcribe:  "Oh  that  the  Lord  would  put  it  (says  he)  into  the  heart 
of  some  of  his  religious  and  learned  servants,  to  take  such  pains  about 
the  Hebrew  language  as  to  fit  it  for  universal  use!  Considering  that, 
above  all  languages  spoken  by  the  lip  of  man,  it  is  most  capable  to  be 
enlarged,  and  fitted  to  express  all  things  and  motions  and  notions,  that 
our  humane  intellect  is  capable  of  in  this  mortal  life — considering  also 
that  it  is  the  invention  of  God  himself^and  what  one  is  fitter  to  be  the 
universal  language,  than  that  which  it  pleased  our  Lord  Jesus  to  make 
use  of,  when  he  spake  from  heaven  unto  Paul!" 

In  fine,  though  we  have  had  greater  scholars  than  he,  yet  he  hath  often 
made  me  think  of  Mr.  Samuel  Ward's  observation:  "In  observing,  I  have 
observed  and  found  that  divers  great  clerks  have  had  but  little  fruit  of 
their  ministry,  but  hardly  any  truly  zealous  man  of  God  (though  of  lesser 
gifls)  but  have  had  much  comfort  of  their  labours  in  their  own  and  bor- 
dering parishes;  being  in  this  likened  by  Gregory  to  the  iron  on  the 
smith's  anvil,  sparkling  round  about." 

♦  Some  Irreligious  men  grow  beautifully  ournest  about  some  matters  of  Theology,  while  in  real  truth  their 
undentandlnff  of  Ihfin.ls  essentiaUy  untheological ;  because  true  theological  understamling  can  only  exist  in  a 
Christian  heart.  ^  ^  Bi^,g  xiieologian. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  547 

\ 

ARTICLE  11.— HIS  FAMILY-GOVERNMENT. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  reciting  and  requiring  qualifications  of  a  gospel 
minister,  gives  order  that  be  be  "the  husband  of  one  wife,  and  one  that 
ruletli  well  his  own  house,  having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all  grav- 
ity." It  seems  that  a  man's  carriage  in  his  own  house  is  a  part^  or  at  least 
a  sign^  of  his  due  deportment  in  the  house  of  God  :  and  then,  I  am  sure, 
our  Eliot's  was  very  exemplary.  That  "one  wife"  which  was  given  to 
him  truly //-om  the  Lord^  he  loved,  prized,  cherished,  with  a  kindness  that 
notably  represented  the  compassion  which  he  (thereby)  taught  his  church 
to  expect  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  after  he  had  lived  with  her 
for  more  than  half  an  hundred  years,  he  followed  her  to  the  grave  with 
lamentations  beyond  those  which  the  Jews,  from  the  figure  of  a  letter  in 
the  text,  affirm  that  Abraham  deplored  his  aged  Sarah  with;  her  depart- 
ure made  a  deeper  impression  upon  him  than  what  any  common  affliction 
could.  His  whole  conversation  with  her  had  that  sweetness^  and  that  grav- 
ity and  modesty  beautifying  it,  that  every  one  called  them  Zachary  and  Eliz- 
abeth. His  family  was  a  little  Bethel  for  the  worship  of  God  constantly 
and  exactly  maintained  in  it;  and  unto  the  daily  prayers  of  the  family, 
his  manner  w^as  to  prefix  the  reading  of  the  Scripture;  which  being  done, 
it  was  also  his  manner  to  make  his  young  people  to  chuse  a  certain  pas- 
sage in  the  chapter,  and  give  him  some  observation  of  their  own  upon  it. 
By  this  method  he  did  mightily  sharpen  and  improve,  as  well  as  try  their 
understandings,  and  endeavour  to  make  them  "wise  unto  salvation."  He 
was  likewise  very  strict  in  the  education  of  his  children,  and  more  careful 
fo  mend  any  error  in  their  hearts  and  lives,  than  he  could  have  been  to 
cure  a  hleynish  in  their  bodies.  No  exorbitancies  or  extravagancies  could 
find  a  room  under  his  roof,  nor  was  his  house  any  other  than  a  school  of 
piety ;  one  might  have  there  seen  a  perpetual  mixture  of  a  Spartan  and  a 
Christian  discipline.  Whatever  decay  there  might  be  upon  family-religion 
among  us,  as  for  our  Eliot,  we  "knew  him,  that  he  would  command  his 
children,  and  his  household  after  him,  that  they  should  keep  the  way  of 
the  Lord." 

ARTICLE  III.— HIS  WAY  OF  PREACHING. 

Such  was  he  in  his  lesser  family!  and  in  his  greater  family,  he  mani- 
fested still  more  of  his  regards  to  the  rule  of  a  gospel-ministry.  To  his 
congregation,  he  was  a  preacher  that  made  it  his  care,  to  "give  every  one 
their  meat  in  due  season."  It  was  food  and  not  froth,  which  in  his  publick 
sermons  he  entertained  the  souls  of  his  people  with ;  he  did  not  starve 
them  with  empty  and  windy  speculations,  or  with  such  things  as  Animum 
non  dant,  quia  non  hahent;^  much  less  did  he  kill  them  with  such  poyson 
as  is  too  commonly  exposed  by  the  Arminian  and  Socinian  doctors  that 
have  too  often  sat  in  Moses's  chair.    His  way  of  preaching  was  very  plain; 

•  Impart  no  life,  because  they  have  none. 


g^g  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

SO  that  tbe  very  Iambs  might  wade  into  his  discourses  on  those  texts  and 
themes  wherein  eh>phnnts  might  swim;  and  herewithal,  it  was  very  pow- 
erful; liis  delivery  wius  always  very  graceful  and  grateful;  but  when  he 
was  to  use  reproofs  and  warnings  against  any  sin,  his  voice  would  rise 
into  a  warmth  which  liad  in  it  very  much  of  energy  as  well  as  decency; 
he  would  sound  the  trumpets  of  God  against  all  vice,  with  a  most  pene- 
trating liveliness,  and  make  his  pulpit  another  Mount  Sinai  for  the  flashes 
of  lightning  therein  displayed  against  the  breaches  of  the  law  given  upon 
that  burning  mountain.  And  I  observed  that  there  was  usually  a  special 
fervour  in  the  rebukes  whicli  he  bestowed  upon  carnality — a  carnal  frame 
and  life  in  professors  of  religion  ;  when  he  was  to  brand  the  earthly-mind- 
edness  of  church-members,  and  the  allowance  and  the  indulgence  which 
they  often  gave  unto  themselves  in  sensual  delights,  here  he  was  a  right 
Boanerges;  he  then  spoke,  as  it  was  said  one  of  the  ancients  did,  Quot 
verba  tot  Fulmina — as  many  thunderbolts  as  words. 

It  was  another  property  of  his  preaching,  that  there  was  evermore  much 
of  Christ  in  it;  and  with  Paul  he  could  say,  "I  determined  to  know  noth- 
ing but  Jesus  Christ,"  having  that  blessed  name  in  his  discourses  with  a 
frequency  like  that  with  which  Paul  mentions  it  in  his  epistles.  As  it  was 
noted  of  Dr.  Bodly,  that  whatever  subject  he  were  upon,  in  the  applica- 
tion still  his  use  of  it  would  be,  "to  drive  men  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ:" 
in  like  manner,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  the  loadstone  which  gave  a 
touch  to  all  the  sermons  of  our  Eliot;  a  glorious,  precious,  lovely  Christ, 
was  the  point  of  heaven  which  they  still  verged  unto.  From  this  inclina- 
tion it  was,  that  although  he  printed  several  English  books  before  he  dyed, 
yet  his  heart  seemed  not  so  much  in  any  of  them,  as  in  that  serious  and 
savoury  book  of  his,  entituled,  "  The  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  in  tlie  Holy 
History  of  Jesus  Christ.''^  From  hence  also  it  was  that  he  would  give  that 
advice  to  young  preachers,  "Pray  let  there  be  much  of  Christ  in  your 
ministry;"  and  when  he  had  heard  a  sermon  which  had  any  special  relish 
of  a  blessed  Jesus  in  it,  he  would  say  thereupon,  "0  blessed  be  God,  that 
we  have  Christ  so  much  and  so  well  preached  in  poor  New-England!" 

Moreover,  he  liked  no  preaching  but  what  had  been  zvell  studied  for; 
and  he  would  very  much  commend  a  sermon  which  he  could  perceive  had 
required  some  good  thinkinj  and  reading  in  the  author  of  it.  I  have  been 
present  when  he  has  unto  a  preacher  then  just  come  home  from  the  assem- 
bly with  him  thus  expressed  himself:  "Brother,  there  was  oyl  required 
for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary ;  but  it  must  be  beaten  oyl.  I  praise  God 
that  I  saw  your  oyl  so  well  beaten  to  day ;  the  Lord  help  us  always  by 
good  study  to  beat  our  oyl,  that  there  may  be  no  knots  in  our  sermons 
left  undissolved,  and  that  there  may  a  clear  light  be  thereby  given  in  the 
house  of  God!"  And  yet  he  likewise  looked  for  something  in  a  sermoji 
beside  and  beyond  the  meer  study  of  man;  he  was  for  having  the  Spirit 
of  God,  breathing  in  it  and  with  it ;  and  he  was  for  speaking  those  things. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  549 

from  those  impressions  and  with  tfiose  affections,  which  might  compel  the 
hearer  to  say,  "The  spirit  of  God  was  here!"  I  have  heard  him  complain, 
"It  is  a  sad  thing  when  a  sermon  shall  have  that  one  thing,  the  Spirit  of 
God^  wanting  in  it." 

ARTICLE  IV.— HIS  CARES  ABOUT  THE  CHILDREN  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 

But  he  remembered  that  he  had  lambs  in  his  flock,  and  like. another 
David  he  could  not  endure  to  see  the  lion  seize  upon  any  of  them.  He 
always  had  a  mighty  concern  upon  his  mind  for  little  children;  it  was  an 
affectionate  stroke  in  one  of  the  little  papers  which  he  published  for  them, 
"Sure  Christ  is  not  willing  to  lose  his  lambs;"  and  I  have  cause  to  remem- 
ber with  what  an  hearty,  fervent,  zealous  application,  he  addressed  him- 
self, when  in  the  name  of  the  neighbour  pastors  and  churches  he  gave  me 
"the  right  hand  of  their  fellowship"  at  my  ordination,  and  said,  "Brother, 
art  thou  a  lover  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  Then,  I  pray,  feed  his  lambs." 

One  thing  whereof  he  was  very  desirous  for  poor  children  was  the 
covenanting  of  them;  he  was  very  solicitous  that  the  lambs  might  pass 
under  the  Lord's  "ty thing  rod,"  and  be  brought  under  the  "bond  of  the 
covenant."  He  very  openly  and  earnestly  maintained  the  cause  of  infant- 
baptism,  against  a  sort  of  persons  risen  since  the  reformation,  (among 
which  indeed  there  are  many  godly  men  that  were  dear  to  the  soul  of  our 
Eliot,)  who  forget  tliat  in  the  gospel  church  state,  as  well  as  in  the  Jew- 
ish, "the  promise  is  to  believers  and  their  children:"  and  are  unwill- 
ing to  reckon  children  among  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ:  or  to  grant 
that  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven:"  or  to  know  that  the  most 
undoubted  records  of  antiquity  affirm  infent-baptism  to  have  been  an  usage 
in  all  the  primitive  churches ;  that  even  before  the  early  days  of  Nazianzen, 
Chrj'SOstom,  Basil,  Athanasius,  Epiphanius,  in  the  Greek,  and  Ambrose, 
Jerom,  Austin,  in  the  Latin  church — all  of  which  give  glorious  testimo- 
nies for  infant-baptism — even  Cyprian,  before  these,  assures  us  that  in  his 
days  there  was  no  doubt  of  it;  and  Origen  before  him  could  say,  "  'Twas 
from  the  apostles  that  the  church  took  up  the  baptism  of  infants;"  and 
Clemens  Romanus  before  him  could  say,  "That  children  should  be  reci- 
pients of  the  discipline  of  Christ;"  besides  what  plain  evidence  we  have 
in  Irenseus  and  Justin  Martyr;  and  that  the  very  arguments  with  which  some 
of  the  ancients  did  superstitiously  advise  the  delay  of  baptism,  do  at  the 
same  time  confess  the  divine  right  of  infants  in  it.  Our  Eliot  could  by 
no  means  look  upon  the  infants  of  godly  men  as  unholy  and  unbelievers^ 
and  unfit  subjects  to  have  upon  them  a  mark  of  dedication  to  the  Lord. 

Wherefore,  when  there  was  brought  among  us  a  book  of  pious  Mr. 
Norcott's,  whereby  some  became  disposed  to,  or  confirmed  in  a  prejudice 
against  Pa^do  baptism,  it  was  not  long  before  Mr.  Eliot  published  a  little 
answer  thereunto;  the  first  lines  whereof  presently  discovered  what  a 
temper  he  wrote  it  with;  says  he,  "The  book  speaks  with  the  voice  of  a 


lU  L»l     1111,111    tiiai,        \.tiniiv/u  uj^v-ii^^    *wA     v^ ^.  >  ^ — .  -     - 

a  person  of  a  different  perswasion  from  himself  with  more  sweetness 
kindness  than  he,  when  he  saw  Aliquid  Ghristi*  or  the  fear  of  God 


ggA  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMEEICANA; 

lamb,  and  I  think  the  author  is  a  godly,  though  erring  brother;  but  he 
acts  the  cause  of  a  roaring  lion,  who  by  all  crafty  ways  seeketh  to  devour 
the  poor  lambs  of  the  flock  of  Christ."  And  so  he  goes  on  to  plead  the 
cause  of  them  that  ''cannot  speak  for  themselves."  No  man  could  enter- 
tain 
and 

prevailing  in  them;  he  could  uphold  a  most  intimate  correspondence  with 
such  a  man  as  Mr.  Jessey,  as  long  as  he  lived ;  and  yet  he  knew  how  to 
be  an  hammer  upon  their  unhappy  errors. 

But  having  once  baptized  the  children  of  his  neighbours,  he  did  not,  as 
too  many  ministers  do,  think  that  he  had  now  done  with  them.  Ni); 
another  thing  wherein  he  was  very  laborious  for  poor  children  was,  the 
catechising  of  them;  he  kept  up  the  great  ordinance -of  catechising,  both 
publickly  and  privately,  and  spent  in  it  a  world  of  time.  About  the  end 
of  the  second  century,  before  there  had  in  the  least  begun  to  start  up  ncuj 
officers  in  the  church  of  God,  we  find  there  were  persons  called  unto  the 
office  of  publick  teaching,  who  were  not  pastors,  not  rulers,  not  called 
unto  the  administration  of  other  ordinances;  those  in  the  church  of  Alex- 
andria were  of  a  special  remark  and  renown  for  their  abilities  this  way; 
and  their  employment  was  to  explain  and  defend  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion  unto  all  with  whom  they  could  be  concerned.  Here 
was  the  catechist,  with  reference  unto  whom  the  apostle  says,  "Let  the 
catechised  communicate  unto  him  in  all  good  things."  Now,  though  some 
think  a  teacher,  purely  as  such,  hath  no  right  unto  farther  church  admin- 
istrations, any  more  than  the  Rabbis  or  doctors  among  the  Jews  had  to 
"offer  sacrifices  in  the  temple;"  yet  he  who  is  called  to  be  a  teacher,  may 
at  the  same  time  also  be  called  to  be  an  elder;  and  being  now  a  teaching  elder, 
he  becomes  interested  in  the  whole  government  of  the  church;  he  has  the 
power  of  all  sacred  administrations.  It  is  the  latter  and  more  com  pleat  and 
perfect  character,  which  the  churches  of  New-England  have  still  acknowl- 
edged in  their  teachers;  and  such  a  teaching  elder  did  our  Eliot  remem- 
ber himself  to  be.  He  thought  himself  under  a  particular  obligation  to 
be  that  officer  which  the  apostle  calls  in  1  Cor.  iv.  15,  "An  instructor  of 
the  young;"  nor  was  he  ashamed,  any  more  than  some  of  the  worthiest 
men  among  the  ancients  were,  to  be  called  a  catechist.  He  would  observe 
upon  Joh.  xxi.  15,  "That  the  care  of  the  lambs,  is  one  third  part  of  the 
charge  over  the  Church  of  God."  It  would  be  incredible  if  I  should 
relate  what  pains  he  took  to  keep  up  the  blessed  echo's  of  truth  between 
himself  and  the  young  people  of  his 'congregation ;  and  what  prudence 
he  used  in  suiting  of  his  catechisms  to  the  age  and  strength  of  his  little 
catechumens.  But  one  thing  I  must  observe,  which  is,  that  although  there 
may  be  (as  one  has  computed)  no  less  than  five  hundred  catechisms 
extant,  yet  Mr.  Eliot  gave  himself  the  travail  of  adding  to  their  number, 

•  Something  Christ-like. 


OE,    THE    niSTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  551 

by  composing  of  some  further  catechisms,  which  were  more  particularly 
designed  as  an  antidote  for  his  own  people  against  the  contagion  of  such 
errors  as  might  threaten  any  peculiar  danger  to  them.  And  the  effect  and 
success  of  this  catechising,  bore  "proportion  to  the  indefatigable  industry 
with  which  he  prosecuted  it;  it  is  a  loell principled loeople  that  he  has  left 
behind  him.  As  when  certain  Jesuits  were  sent  among  the  Waldenses  to 
corrupt  their  children,  they  returned  with  much  disappointment  and  con- 
fusion, because  the  children  of  seven  years  old  were  well  principled  enough 
to  encounter  the  most  learned  of  them  all ;  so,  if  any  seducers  were  let  loose 
to  ivolve  it  among  the  good  people  of  Roxbury,  I  am  confident  they  would 
find  as  little  prey  in  that  well-instructed  place,  as  in  any  part  of  all  the 
country;  no  civil  penalties  would  signify  so  much  to  save  any  people 
from  the  snares  of  busy  hereticks,  as  the  unwearied  catechising  of  one 
Eliot  has  done  to  preserve  his  people  from  the  gangren  of  ill  opinions. 

There  is  a  third  instance  of  his  regards  to  the  welfare  of  the  poor  chil- 
dren under  his  charge:  and  that  is,  his  perpetual  resolution  and  activity 
to  support  a  good  school  in  the  town  that  belonged  unto  him.  A  gram- 
mar-school he  would  always  have  upon  the  place,  whatever  it  cost  him; 
and  he  importuned  all  other  places  to  have  the  like.  I  cannot  forget  the 
ardour  with  which  I  once  heard  him  pray,  in  a  synod  of  these  churches 
which  met  at  Boston  to  consider  "how  the-  miscarriages  which  were  among 
us  might  be  prevented ;"  I  say,  with  what  fervour  he  uttered  an  expres- 
sion to  this  purpose:  "Lord,  for  schools  every  where  among  us!  That 
our  schools  may  flourish !  That  every  member  of  this  assembly  may  go 
home,  and  procure  a  good  school  to  be  encouraged  in  the  town  where  he 
lives  I  That  before  we  die,  we  may  be  so  happy  as  to  see  a  good  school 
encouraged  in  every  plantation  of  the  country."  God  so  blessed  his 
endeavours,  that  Roxbury  could  not  live  quietly  without  a  free  school  in 
the  town;  and  the  issue  of  it  has  been  one  thing,  which  has  made  me 
almost  put  the  title  of  Schola  Illustris  upon  that  little  nursery;  that  is, 
that  Roxbury  has  afforded  more  scholars — first  for  the  coUedge,  and  then 
for  the  publick' — than  any  town  of  its  bigness,  or,  if  I  mistake  not,  of 
twice  its  bigness  in  all  New-England.  From  the  spring  of  the  school  at 
Roxbury,  there  have  run  a  large  number  of  the  "streams  which  have 
made  glad  this  whole  city  of  God."  I  perswade  my  self  that  the  good 
people  of  Roxbury  will  for  ever  scorn  to  begrutch  the  cost,  or  to  permit 
the  deatli  of  a  school  which  God  has  made  such  an  honour  to  them ;  and 
this  the  rather,  because  their  deceased  Eliot  has  left  them  a  fair  part  of 
his  estate  for  the  maintaining  of  the  school  in  Roxbury;  and  I  hope,  or 
at  least  I  wish,  that  the  ministers  of  New-England  may  be  as  ungainsay- 
ably  importunate  with  their  people  as  Mr.  Eliot  was  with  his,  for  schools 
which  may  seasonably  tinge  the  young  souls  of  the  rising  generation. 
A  want  of  education  for  them,  is  the  blackest  and  saddest  of  all  the  bad 
omens  that  are  upon  us. 


gg2  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMEKICANA; 

ARTICLE  V.-mS  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE. 

It  yet  more  endears  unto  ns  the  memory  of  our  Eliot  that  he  was  not 
only  an  evangelical  minister,  but  also  a  true  New-English  one;  he  was  a 
Protestant  and  a  Puritan,  and  one  very  full  of  that  spirit  which  actuated 
tlie  first  planters  of  this  country  in  their  peaceable  secession  from  the  unwar- 
rantable things  elsewhere  imposed  upon  their  consciences.  The  judgment 
and  practice  of  one  that  readily  underwent  all  the  misery  attending  the 
infancy  of  this  plantation,  for  the  sake  of  a  true  church  order,  is  a  thing 
which  we  young  people  should  count  worthy  to  be  enquired  after;  and 
since  avc  saw  him  so  well  "behaving  himself  in  the  house  of  God,"  it  can- 
not but  be  worth  while  to  know  what  he  thought  about  the  frame,  and 
form,  and  constitution  of  that  blessed  house. 

He  was  a  modest,  humble,  but  very  reasonable  non-conformist  unto  the 
ceremonies  which  have  been  such  unhappy  apples  of  strife  in  the  Church 
of  England;  otherwise  the  dismal  thickets  of  America  had  never  seen 
such  a  person  in  them. 

It  afflicted  him  to  see  these,  and  more  such  as  these,  things  continued 
in  the  Church  of  England,  by  the  artifice  of  certain  persons  who  were 
loth  to  have  the  reformation  carried  on  unto  those  further  degrees  which 
the  most  eminent  of  the  first  reformers  had  in  their  holy  designs. 

We  see  what  ivas  not  his  opinion !  But  let  us  hear  what  it  was.  It 
was  his  as  well  as  his  master,  the  great  Eamus's  principle,  "that  in  the 
reformation  of  churches,  to  be  now  endeavoured,  things  ought  to  be 
reduced  unto  the  order  wherein  we  find  them  at  their  primitive,  original, 
apostolical  institution."  And  in  pursuance  of  this  principle,  he  justly 
espoused  that  way  of  church-government  which  we  call  the  congrega- 
tional; he  was  fully  perswaded,  that  the  church  state  which  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  instituted  in  the  New-Testament,  is,  "In  a  congregation 
or  society  of  professed  believers,  agreeing  and  assembling  together  among 
themselves,  with  officers  of  divine  appointment  for  the  celebration  of 
evangelical  ordinances,  and  their  own  mutual  edification;"  for  he  saw  it 
must  be  a  cruel  hardship  used  upon  the  Scriptures,  to  make  them  so  much 
as  lisp  the  least  intimation  of  any  other  church-state  prescribed  unto  us; 
and  he  could  assert,  "That  no  approved  writers,  for  the  space  of  two  hun- 
dred years  after  Christ,  make  any  mention  of  any  other  organical,  visible, 
professing  church,  but  that  only  which  is  congregational."  He  looked 
upon  the  congregational  way  as  a  largess  of  divine  bounty  bestowed  by 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  on  his  people,  that  followed  him  into  this  wilder- 
ness, with  a  peculiar  zeal  for  communion  with  him  in  his  pure  Avorship 
here.  He  perceived  in  it  a  sweet  sort  of  temperament,  between  rigid  Pres- 
byterianism  and  hrelling  Brownism;  so  that  on  the  one  side,  the  liberties 
of  the  people  are  not  oppressed  and  overlaid ;  on  the  other  side,  the  author- 
ity of  the  ciders  is  not  rendred  insignificant,  but  a  due  balance  is  herein 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  553 

kept  upon  them  both,  and  hence  lie  closed  with  our  "platform  of  church- 
discipline,"  as  being  the  nearest  of  what  he  had  yet  seen  to  the  directions 
of  Heaven. 

He  could  not  comprehend  that  this  church-state  can  arise  from  any- 
other  formal  cause,  but  the  consent,  concurrence,  confederation  of  those 
concerned  in  it;  he  looked  upon  a  relation  unto  a  church,  as  not  a  natural, 
or  a  violent,  but  a  voluntary  thing,  and  so  that  it  is  to  be  entred  no  other- 
wise than  by  an  holy  covenant,  or,  as  the  Scripture  speaks,  by  "giving 
our  selves  first  unto  the  Lord,  and  then  one  unto  another."  He  could 
not  think  that  baptism  alone  was  to  be  accounted  the  coMse,  but  rather  the 
effect,  of  church  member-ship;  inasmuch  as,  upon  the  dissolution  of  the 
church  to  which  a  man  belongs,  his  haptism  would  not  become  a  nullity: 
nor  that  meer  profession  would  render  men  members  of  this  or  that  church; 
for  then  it  would  be  impossible  to  cut  off"  a  corrupt  member  from  that 
body  politic:  nor  that  meer  cohabitation  would  make  church  members; 
for  then  the  vilest  infidels  would  be  actually  incorporated  with  us.  And 
a  covenant  was  all  that  he  now  saw  remaining  in  the  inventory. 

But  for  the  subjects  to  be  admitted  by  churches  unto  all  the  privileges 
of  this  fellowship  with  them,  he  thought  they  ought  to  be  such  as  a  trying 
charity,  or  a  charitable  tryal,  should  pronounce  regenerate.  He  found  the 
first  churches  of  the  gospel  mentioned  in  the  Scripture  to  be  "churches 
of  saints;"  and  that  the  apostles  writing  to  them,  still  acknowledge  them 
to  be  holy  brethren,  and  such  as  were  made  "meet  for  to  be  partakers  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light;"  and  that  a  main  end  of  church-fel- 
lowship, is  to  represent  unto  the  world  the  qualifications  of  those  that 
shall  "ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord,  and  stand  in  his  holy  place  for 
ever."  He  would  therefore  have  Bona  Mens,  and  Purum  pectus,  and 
Vita  Innocens,*  required,  as  Lactantius  tells  us  they  were  in  his  days,  of;' 
all  communicants  at  the  table  of  the  Lord;  and,  with  holy  Chrysostom,  he' 
would  sooner  have  given  his  heart  blood,  than  the  cup  of  the  Lord  unto  such 
as  had  not  the  hopeful  marks  of  our  Lord's  disciples  on  them.  The 
churches  of  New-England  still  retain  a  custom  which  the  great  Justin 
Martyr,  in  the  second  century,  assures  us  to  have  been  in  the  primitive 
churches  of  his  time;  namely,  "To  examine  those  they  receive,  not  only 
about  their  perswasion,  but  also  whether  they  have  attained  unto  a  work 
of  grace  upon  their  souls."  In  the  prosecution  hereof,  besides  the  enqui- 
ries of  the  elders  into  the  Icnowledge,  and  belief,  and  conversation  of  them 
that  offer  themselves  unto  church-fellowship,  it  is  expected,  though  I  hope 
not  with  any  severity  of  imposition,  that  in  the  addresses  which  they  make 
to  the  churches,  they  give  ivritten,  if  not  oral  account,  of  what  impressions  the 
regenerating  word  of  God  has  had  upon  their  souls.  This  was  a  custom  which 
this  holy  man  had  a  marvellous  esteem  and  value  for ;  and  I  have  taken  from 
his  mouth  such  as  these  expressions  very  publickly  delivered  thereabouts: 

•  A  good  mind,  a  pure  heart,  and  a  spotless  life. 


554  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"  It  is  matter,"  mid  he, "  of  jjreiit  tliaiil<fuliies.s,  tiiat  wc  have  Christ  confessed  in  our  churches, 
by  sucli  as  we  receive  to  full  comnniiiioii  there.  They  open  the  works  of  Christ  in  their 
hearts,. and  the  relation  thereof  is  an  eminent  confession  of  our  Lord;  e.xperienced  faints 
can  gather  more  than  a  little  from  it.  It  is  indeed  an  ordinance  of  wonderful  benefit;  the 
Lord  phiiited  many  vineyards  in  the  first  settlement  of  this  country,  and  there  were  many 
noble  vines  in  them;  it  was  their  hcavenly-mindedness  which  disposed  them  to  this  exercise, 
and  by  the  upholding  of  it  the  churches  are  still  filled  with  noble  vines;  it  mightily  main- 
tains purity  of  churches.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian,  'With  the  mouth  confession  is 
made  unto  salvation.'  As  among  the  Jews,  usually  mo.st  men  did  once  in  their  life  celebrate 
a  jubilee,  thus  this  confession  of  Christ  is  methinks  a  sort  of  jubilee;  and  every  good  man 
among  us  is  at  lea.st  once  in  his  life  called  unto  it.  It  is  a  thing  that  gives  great  glory  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  younger  converts  are  thereby  exceedingly  edifyed ;  and  the  souls 
of  devout  Christians  are  hereby  very  much  ingratiated  one  unto  onother.  The  devil  knows 
what  he  does,  when  he  thrusts  so  hard  to  get  this  custom  out  of  our  churches.  For  my  part, 
I  would  say  in  this  case,  'Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan;  thou  givest  an  horrible  ofTence  unto 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  Let  us  keep  up  this  ordinance  with  all  gentleness;  and  where  we 
sec  the  least  spark  of  grace  held  forth,  let  us  prize  it  more  than  all  the  wit  in  the  w'orld." 

There  were  especially  two  things  which  he  was  loth  to  see^  and  yet 
feared  he  saw,  falling  in  the  churches  of  New-England.  One  was,  a  thor- 
ough establishment  of  ruling  elders  in  our  churches;  which  he  thought 
sufficiently  warranted  by  the  apostles'  mention  of,  "elders  that  rule  well, 
who  yet  labour  not  in  word  and  doctrine."  He  was  very  desirous  to  have 
prudent  and  gracious  men  set  over  our  churches,  for  the  assistance  of  their 
pastors  in  the  church  acts  that  concern  the  admission  and  exclusion  of 
members,  and  the  inspection  of  the  conversation  led  by  the  communicant, 
and  the  instruction  of  their  several  families,  and  the  visitation  of  the  afflicted 
in  their  flock,  over  which  they  should  preside.  Such  "helps  in  govern- 
ments" had  he  himself  been  blessed  withal;  the  last  of  which  was  the 
well-deserving  Elder  Bowles;  and  of  him  did  this  good  man,  in  a  speech 
to  a  synod  of  all  the  churches  in  this  colony,  take  occasion  to  say,  "There 
is  my  brother  Bowles,  the  godly  elder  of  our  church  at  Roxburj^,  God 
helps  him  to  do  great  things  among  us!"  Had  all  our  pastors  been  so 
well  accommodated,  it  is  possible  there  would  be  more  encouragement 
given  to  such  an  office  as  that  of  ruling  elders. 

But  the  mention  of  a  Synod  brings  to  mind  another  thing,  which  he 
wa-s  concerned  that  we  might  never  want;  and  that  is,  a  frequent  repeti- 
tion of  needful  synods  in  our  churches.  For  though  he  had  a  deep  and  a 
due  care  to  preserve  the  "rights  of  particular  churches,"  yet  he  thought 
all  the  churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  their  ujiion  in  what  they  jjro- 
fess,  in  what  they  intend,  and  in  what  they  enjoy,  so  compacted  into  one 
body  mystical,  as  that  all  the  several  particular  churches  every  where 
should  act  with  a  regard  unto  the  good  of  the  whole,  and  unto  the  com- 
mon advice  and  council  of  the  neighbourhood;  which  cannot  be  done 
always  by  letters  missive  like  those  that  passed  between  Corinth  and  Rome 
in  the  early  days  of  Christianity;  but  it  requires  a  convention  of  the 
churches  in  synods,  by  their  delegates  and  messengers.     He  did  not  count 


OK,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  555 

churclies  to  be  so  independent,  as  that  tliey  can  always  discharge  their  whole 
duty,,  and  yet  not  act  in  conjunction  with  neighbour  churches;  nor  would 
he  be  of  any  church  that  will  not  acknowledge  it  self  accountable  to  rightly 
composed  synods,  which  may  have  occasion  to  enquire  into  the  circum- 
stances of  it;  he  saw  the  main  interest  and  business  of  churches  might 
quickly  come  to  be  utterly  lost,  if  synods  were  not  called  for  the  repairing 
of  inconveniences,  and  he  was  much  in  contriving  for  the  regular  and 
repeated  meeting  of  such  assemblies. 

He  wished  for  councils  to  suppress  all  damnable  heresies  or  pernicious 
opinions  that  might  ever  arise  among  us;  for  councils  to  extinguish  all 
dangerous  divisions  and  scandalous  contentions  which  might  ever  begin 
to  flame  in  our  borders;  for  councils  to  rectify  all  male-administrations 
in  the  midst  of  us,  or  to  recover  any  particular  churches  out  of  any  dis- 
orders which  they  may  be  plunged  into:  for  councils  to  enquire  into  the 
love,  the  peace,  the  holiness  maintained  by  the  several  churches;  in  fine, 
for  councils  to  send  forth  fit  labourers  into  those  parts  of  our  Lord's  har- 
vest which  are  without  the  gospel  of  God.  He  beheld  an  apostolical  pre- 
cept and  pattern  for  such  councils;  and  when  such  councils  convened  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  consent  of  several  churches 
concerned  in  mutual  communion,  have  declared,  explained,  recommended 
the  mind  of  God  from  his  word  unto  us,  he.  reckoned  a  truth  so  deliv- 
ered, challenged  an  observation  from  the  particular  churches  with  a  very 
great  authority. 

He  therefore  printed  a  little  book  wearing  this  title:  "  The  Divine  Man- 
agement  of  Gospel  Churches  hy  the  Ordinance  of  Councils,  constituted  in  order 
according  to  the  iScrijitures,  which  may  be  a  means  of  uniting  those  tu!o  holy 
and  eminent  piarties,  the  Prebyterians  and  the  Congregational."  It  is  a 
remarkable  concession  made  by  the  incomparable  Jurieu,  who  is  not  reck- 
oned a  Congregational  man,  in  his  "  Traite  de  V  Unite  de  VEglise^''  That 
the  "apostolical  churches  lived  not  in  any  confederation  for  mutual 
dependence.  The  grand  equipage  of  Metropolitans,  of  Primates,  of 
Exarchs,  of  Patriarchs,  was  yet  unknown ;  nor  does  it  any  more  appear 
to  us  that  the  churches  then  had  their  provincial,  national,  and  oecumen- 
ical synods;  every  church  was  its  own  mistress,  and  independent  on  any 
other."  But,  on  the  other  side,  our  Eliot,  who  was  no  Presbyterian,  con- 
ceived synods  to  be  the  institutions  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  "apos- 
tolical churches  themselves"  acknowledging  a  stamp  of  "divine  right" 
upon  them. 

Such  as  these  were  the  sentiments  of  our  Eliot;  and  his  deserved  repu- 
tation in  the  churches  of  New-England,  is  that  which  has  caused  me  to 
foresee  some  advantage  and  benefit  arising  unto  the  concerns  of  the  gos- 
pel, by  so  large  a  recitation  as  I  have  now  made  thereof. 

The  reader  has  now  seen  an  able  minister  of  the  New-Testament. 

*  Treatise  on  the  Unity  of  the  Churcli, 


g-g  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

PART    III. 

OR,    ELIOT    AS    AN    EVANGELIST. 

TilK  titles  of  a  Christian  and  of  a  minister  have  rendred  our  Eliot  con- 
siderable ;  but  there  is  one  memorable  title  more,  bj  which  he  has  been 
8i«Tnalized  unto  us.  An  honourable  person  did  once  in  print  put  the  name 
of  an  evangelist  upon  him;  whereupon,  in  a  letter  of  his  to  that  person, 
afterwards  printed,  his  expressions  were,  "There  is  a  redundancy  where 
you  put  the  title  of  Evangelist  upon  me;  I  beseech  you  suppress  all  such 
things;  let  us  do  and  speak  and  carry  all  things  with  humility;  it  is  the 
Lord  who  hath  done  what  is  done;  and  it  is  most  becoming  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  lift  up  him,  and  lay  our  selves  low;  I  wish  that  word 
could  be  obliterated."  My  reader  sees  what  a  caution  Mr.  Eliot  long 
since  entred  against  our  giving  him  the  title  of  an  evangelist;  but  his 
death  has  now  made  it  safe,  and  his  life  had  long  made  it  just,  for  us  to 
acknowledge  him  with  such  a  title.  I  know  not  whither  that  of  an  evan- 
gelist, or  one  separated  for  the  employment  of  preaching  the  gospel  in 
such  places  whereunto  churches  have  hitherto  been  gathered,  be  not  an 
office  that  should  be  continued  in  our  days;  but  this  I  know,  that  our 
Eliot  very  notably  did  the  service  and  husiness  of  such  an  officer. 

Cambden  could  not  reach  the  height  of  his  conceit  who  bore  in  his 
shield  a  salvage  of  America,  with  his  hand  pointing  to  the  sun,  and  this 
motto:  Mihi  Accessu^  Tihi  Recessu.*  Eeader,  prepare  to  behold  this 
device  illustrated! 

T  The  natives  of  the  country  now  possessed  by  the  New-Englanders 
had  been  forlorn  and  wretched  heathen  ever  since  their  first  herding  here ; 
and  though  we  know  not  when  or  hoio  those  Indians  first  became  inhabit- 
ants of  this  mighty  continent,  yet  we  may  guess  that  probably  the  devil 
decoyed  those  miserable  salvages  hither,  in  hopes  that  the  gospel  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  never  come  here  to  destroy  or  disturb  his  abso- 
lute empire  over  them.  But  our  Eliot  was  in  such  ill  terms  with  the  devil, 
as  to  alarm  him  with  sounding  the  silver  trumpets  of  Heaven  in  his  ter- 
ritories, and  make  some  noble  and  zealous  attempts  towards  ousting  him 
of  ancient  possessions  here.  There  were,  I  think,  twenty  several  nations 
(if  I  may  call  them  so)  of  Indians  upon  that  spot  of  ground  which  fell 
under  the  influence  of  our  Three  United  Colonies;  and  our  Eliot  was  will- 
ing to  rescue  as  many  of  them  as  he  could  from  that  old  usurping  land- 
hrd  of  America,  who  is,  "by  the  wrath  of  God,  the  prince  of  this  world." 

I  cannot  find  that  any  besides  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  first  moved  him 
to  the  blessed  work  of  evangelizing  these  perishing  Indians;  it  was  that 
Holy  Spirit  which  laid  before  his  mind  the  idea  of  that  which  was  on  the 
seal  of  the  Massachuset  colony :  a  poor  Indian  having  a  label  going  from 

*  As  I  approncli,  thou  rgcedeat. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  557 

Ms  mouthy  ivith  a  COME  OVER  AND  HELP  US.  It  was  the  spirit  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  which  enkindled  in  him  a  pitty  for  the  dark  souls  of  these 
natives,  whom  the  "god  of  this  world  had  blinded,"  through  all  the  by- 
past  ages.  He  was  none  of  those  that  make  "the  salvation  of  the  heathen" 
an  article  of  their  creed;  but  (setting  aside  the  unrevealed  and  extraor- 
dinary steps  which  the  "  Holy  One  of  Israel"  may  take  out  of  his  usual 
paths)  he  thought  men  to  be  lost  if  our  gospel  be  hidden  from  them ;  and 
he  was  of  the  same  opinion  with  one  of  the  ancients,  who  said,  "Some 
have  endeavoured  to  prove  Plato  a  Christian  till  they  prove  themselves 
little  better  than  heathens."  It  is  indeed  a  principle  in  the  Turkish 
Alcoran,  that  "let  a  man's  religion  be  what  it  will,  he  shall  be  saved,  if 
he  conscientiously  live  up  to  the  rules  of  it:"  but  our  Eliot  was  no  Mahom- 
etan. He  could  most  heartily  subscribe  to  that  passage  in  the  articles  of 
the  Church  of  England,  "They  are  to  be  held  accursed  who  presume  to 
say,  that  everj^  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which  he  professeth, 
so  that  he  be  diligent  to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law  and  light  of 
nature;  for  Holy  Scripture  doth  set  out  unto  us  only  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  whereby  men  must  be  saved."  And  it  astonished  him  to  see  many 
dissembling  subscribers  of  those  articles,  while  they  have  grown  up  to  such 
a  phrensy  as  to  deny  peremptorily  all  church  state,  and  all  salvation  to  all 
that  are  not  under  Diocesan  Bishops,  yet  at  the  same  time  to  grant  that  the 
heathen  might  be  saved  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
But  when  this  charitable  pitty  had  once  began  to  flame,  there  was  a 
concurrence  of  many  things  to  cast  oyl  into  it.  All  the  good  men  in  the 
country  were  glad  of  his  engagement  in  such  an  undertaking;  the  minis- 
ters especially  encouraged  him,  and  those  in  the  neighbourhood  kindly 
supplyed  his  place,  and  performed  his  work  in  part  for  him  at  Roxbury, 
while  he  was  abroad  labouring  among  them  that  were  without  Hereunto 
he  was  further  awakened  by  those  expressions  in  the  royal  charter,  in  the 
assurance  and  protection  whereof  this  wilderness  was  first  peopled ;  namely, 
"To  win  and  incite  the  natives  of  that  country  to  the  knowledge  and 
obedience  of  the  only  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind,  and  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  in  our  royal  intention,  and  the  adventurer's  free  profession  is 
the  principal  end  of  the  plantation."  And  the  remarkable  zeal  of  the 
Romish  missionaries,  "compassing  sea  and  land,  that  they  might  make  pro- 
selytes," made  his  devout  soul  think  of  it  with  a  further  disdain,  that  we 
should  come  any  whit  beliind  in  our  care  to  evangelize  the  Indians  whom 
we  dwelt  among.  Lastly,  when  he  had  well  begun  this  evangelical  busi- 
ness, the  good  God,  in  an  answer  to  his  prayers,  mercifully  stirred  up  a 
liberal  contribution  among  the  godly  people  in  England  for  the  promoting 
of  it;  by  means  whereof  a  considerable  estate  and  income  was  at  length 
entrusted  in  the  hands  of  an  honourable  corporation,  by  whom  it  is  to  this 
day  very  carefully  employed  in  the  Christian  service  which  it  was  designed 
for.     And  then,  in  short,  inasmuch  as  our  Lord  Jesus  had  bestowed  on 


568 


M  AON  ALIA    CIIEISTI    AMEKICANA; 


US,  our  Eliot  was  gratefully  and  generously  desirous  to  obtain  for  Lirn 
"the  heatlieu  lor  an  inheritance,  and  the  utmost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a 
possession." 

The  exemplary  charity  of  this  excellent  person  in  this  important  affiiir, 
will  not  be  seen  in  its  due  lustres,  unless  we  make  some  reflections  upon 
several  circumstances  which  he  beheld  these  forlorn  Indians  in.  Know, 
then,  that  these  doleful  creatures  are  the  veriest  ruines  of  manldnd  which 
are  to  be  found  any  where  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  No  such  estates 
are  to  be  expected  among  them,  as  have  been  the  halts  which  the  pretended 
converters  in  other  countries  have  snapped  at.  One  might  see  among 
them  what  an  hard  master  the  devil  is  to  the  most  devoted  of  his  vassals! 
These  abject  creatures  live  in  a  country  full  of  mines;  we  have  already 
made  entrance  upon  our  iron;  and  in  the  very  surface  of  the  ground 
among  us,  it  is  thought  there  lies  copper  enough  to  supply  all  this  world; 
besides  other  mines  hereafter  to  be  exposed;  but  our  shiftless  Indians 
were  never  owners  of  so  much  as  a  knife  till  we  come  among  them ;  their 
name  for  an  English  man  was  a  Knife-man ;  stone  was  instead  of  metal 
for  their  tools:  and  for  their  coins,  they  have  only  little  beads  with  holes 
in  them  to  string  them  upon  a  bracelet,  whereof  some  are  white;  and  of 
these  there  go  six  for  a  penny;  some  are  black  or  blue;  and  of  these,  go 
three  for  a  penny:  this  wampam,  as  they  call  it,  is  made  of  the  shell-fish 
which  lies  upon  the  sea-coast  continually. 

They  live  in  a  country  where  ive  now  have  all  the  conveniencies  of 
human  life:  but  as  for  thern^  their  housing  is  nothing  but  a  few  mats  tyed 
about  poles  fastened  in  the  earth,  where  a  good  fre  is  their  hed-chthes  iu 
the  coldest  seasons;  their  clothing  is  but  skin  of  a  beast,  covering  their 
hind-])arts,  their  fore-parts  having  but  a  little  apron,  where  nature  calls 
for  secrecy;  their  did  has  not  a  greater  dainty  than  their  Xohehick — that 
is,  a  spoonful  of  their  parched  meal,  with  a  spoonful  of  water,  which  will 
strengthen  them  to  travel  a  day  together;  except  we  should  mention  the 
flesh  of  deers,  bears,  mose,  rakoons,  and  the  like,  which  they  have  w^hcn 
they  can  catch  them;  as  also  a  little  fish,  which,  if  they  would  preserve, 
it  was  by  drying,  not  by  salting;  for  they  had  not  a  grain  of  salt  in  the 
world,  I  think,  till  we  bestowed  it  on  them,  l^he'w  physich  is,  excepting  a 
few  odd  specificks,  which  some  of  them  encounter  certain  cases  with,  noth- 
ing hardly  but  an  hot-house  or  a  powaw;  their  hot-house  is  a  little  cave, 
about  eight  foot  over,  where,  after  they  have  terribly  heated  it,  a  crew  of 
them  go  sit  and  sweat  and  smoke  for  an  hour  together,  and  then  imme- 
diately run  into  some  very  cold  adjacent  brook,  without  the  least  mischief 
to  them;  it  is  this  way  they  recover  themselves  from  some  diseases,  par- 
ticularly from  the  French;  but  in  most  of  their  dangerous  distempers,  it 
is  a  poicaiv  that  must  be  sent  for;  that  is,  a  priest,  who  has  more  famili- 
arity with  Satan  than  his  neighbours;  this  conjurer  comes  and  roars,  and 
howls,  and  uses  magical  ceremonies  over  the  sick  man,  and  will  be  well 


.       OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  559 

paid  for  it  when  he  has  done;  if  this  don't  effect  the  cure,  the  "man's  time 
is  come,  and  there's  an  end." 

They  live  in  a  country  full  of  the  best  ship-timber  under  heaven:  but 
never  saw  a  ship  till  some  came  from  Europe  hither;  and  then  they  were 
scared  out  of  their  wits  to  see  the  monster  come  sailing  in,  and  spitting  fire 
with  a  mighty  noise  out  of  her  floating  side ;  they  cross  the  water  in  can- 
oes, made  sometimes  of  trees,  which  they  burn  and  hew,  till  they  have 
hollowed  them;  and  sometimes  of  barks,  which  they  stitch  into  a  light 
sort  of  a  vessel,  to  be  easily  carried  over  land;  if  they  overset,  it  is  but  a 
little  paddling  like  a  dog,  and  they  are  soon  where  tliey  were. 

Their  way  of  living  is  infinitely  barbarous:  the  men  are  most  abomin- 
ably slothful;  making  their  poor  squaws,  or  wives,  to  plant  and  dress, 
and  barn  and  beat  their  corn,  and  build  their  wigwams  for  them:  which 
perhaps  may  be  the  reason  of  their  extraordinary  ease  in  childbirth.  In 
the  mean  time,  their  chief  employment,  when  they'll  condescend  unto  any, 
is  that  of  hunting ;  wherein  they'll  go  out  some  scores,  if  not  hundreds 
of  them  in  a  company,  driving  all  before  them. 

They  continue  in  a  place  till  they  have  burnt  up  all  the  wood  there- 
abouts, and  then  they  pluck  up  stakes;  to  follow  the  icood^  which  they 
cannot  fetch  home  unto  themselves;  hence  when  they  enquire  about  the 
English,  "Why  come  the}^ hither?"  they  have  themselves  very  learnedly 
determined  the  case,  "'Twas  because  we  wanted  firing."  No  arts  are 
understood  among  them,  except  just  so  far  as  to  maintain  their  brutish 
conversation,  which  is  little  more  than  is  to  be  found  among  the  very 
bevers  upon  our  streams. 

Their  division  of  time  is  by  sleeps,  and  moons,  and  winters;  and,  by 
lodging  abroad,  they  have  somewhat  observed  the  motions  of  the  stars; 
among  which  it  has  been  surprising  unto  me  to  find  that  they  have  always 
called  "Charles's  Wain"  by  the  name  of  Paukunnawaw,  or  the  Bear, 
which  is  the  name  whereby  Europeans  also  have  distinguished  it.  More- 
over, they  have  little,  if  any,  traditions  among  them  worthy  of  our  notice; 
and  reading  and  writing  is  altogether  unknown  to  them,  though  there  is 
a  rock  or  two  in  the  country  that  has  unaccountable  characters  engraved 
upon  it.  All  the  religion  they  have  amounts  unto  thus  much:  they 
believe  that  there  are  many  gods,  who  made  and  own  the  several  nations 
of  the  world;  of  which  a  certain  great  God  in  the  south-west  regions  of 
heaven  bears  the  greatest  figure.  They  believe  that  every  remarkable 
creature  has  a  peculiar  god  within  it  or  about  it:  there  is  with  them  a 
Sun  God,  a  Moon  God,  and  the  like;  and  they  cannot  conceive  but  that 
the  fire  must  be  a  kind  of  a  god,  inasmuch  as  a  sjoarh  of  it  will  soon  pro- 
duce very  strange  eifects.  They  believe  that  when  any  good  or  ill  hap- 
pens to  them,  there  is  the  favour  or  the  anger  of  a  god  expressed  in  it- 
and  hence,  as  in  a  time  of  calamity,  they  keep  a  dance,  or  a  day  of  extrav- 
agant ridiculous  devotions  to  their  god ;  so  in  a  time  of  prosperity  they 


f-gQ  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

likewise  have  ^  feast,  wherein  thev  also  make  presents  one  unto  another. 
Finally,  they  believe  that  their  chief  god  {Kaulantoivit)  made  a  man  and  a 
woman'  of  a  stone;  which,  upon  dislike,  he  broke  to  pieces,  and  made 
another  man  and  woman  of  a  tree,  which  were  the  fountains  of  mankind; 
and  that  we  all  have  in  us  immortal  souls,  which,  if  we  were  godly,  shall 
•TO  to  a  splendid  entertainment  with  Kautantowit,  but  otherwise  must 
wander  about  in  restless  horror  for  ever.  But  if  you  say  to  them  any 
thing  of  a  resurrection,  they  will  reply  upon  you,  "I  shall  never  believe 
it!"  And  when  they  have  any  weighty  undertaking  before  them,  it  is  an 
usual  thing  for  them  to  have  their  assemblies,  wherein,  after  the  usage  of 
some  diabolical  rites,  a  devil  appears  unto  them,  to  inform  them  and 
advise  them  about  their  circumstances;  and  sometimes  there  are  odd 
events  of  their  making  these  applications  to  the  devil.  For  instance,  it 
is  particularly  aflirmed  that  the  Indians,  in  their  wars  with  us,  finding  a 
sore  inconvenience  by  our  dogs,  which  would  make  a  sad  yelling  if  in 
the  night  they  scented  the  approaches  of  them,  they  sacrificed  a  dog  to 
the  devil ;  after  which  no  English  dog  would  bark  at  an  Indian  for  divers 
months  ensuing.  This  was  the  miserable  people  which  our  Eliot  pro- 
pounded unto  himself  to  teach  and  save!  And  he  had  a  double  work 
incumbent  on  him;  he  was  to  make  men  of  them,  ere  he  could  hope  to 
see  them  saints;  they  must  be  civilized  ere  they  could  be  Cliristianized ;  he 
could  not,  as  Gregory  once  of  our  nation,  see  any  thing  angelical  to 
bespeak  his  labours  for  their  eternal  welfare:  all  among  them  was  diahol- 
ical.  To  think  on  raising  a  number  of  these  hedious  creatures  unto  the 
elevations  of  our  holy  religion,  must  argue  more  than  common  or  little 
sentiments  in  the  undertaker;  but  the  faith  of  an  Eliot  could  encounter  it! 
I  confess  that  was  one — I  cannot  call  it  so  much  guess  as  wish — where- 
in he  was  willing  a  little  to  indulge  himself;  and  that  was,  "that  our 
Indians  are  the  posterity  of  the  dispersed  and  rejected  Israelites,  concern- 
ing whom  our  God  has  promised,  that  they  shall  yet  be  saved  by  the 
deliverer  coming  to  turn  away  ungodliness  from  them."  He  saw  the 
Indians  using  many  parables  in  their  discourses ;  much  given  to  anointing 
of  their  heads;  much  delighted  in  dancing,  especially  after  victories;  com- 
puting their  times  by  nights  and  months;  giving  dowries  for  wives,  and 
causing  their  women  to  "dwell  by  themselves,"  at  certain  seasons,  for 
secret  causes;  and  accustoming  themselves  to  grievous  mournings  a,nd  yell- 
ings  for  the  dead;  all  which  were  usual  things  among  the  Israelites, 
They  have,  too,  a  great  unkindness  for  our  sivine;  but  I  suppose  that  is 
because  our  hogs  devour  the  clams  which  are  a  dainty  with  them.  He 
also  saw  some  learned  men  looking  for  the  lost  Israelites  among  the 
Indians  in  America,  and  counting  that  they  had  thoroiv-good  reasons  for 
doing  so.  And  a  few  small  arguments,  or  indeed  but  conjectures,  jaeeting 
with  a  favourable  disposition  in  the  hearer,  will  carry  some  conviction  with 
them;   especially  if  a  report  of  a  Menasseh  hen  Israel  be  to  back  them. 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ,       561 

He  saw  likewise  the  judgments  threatened  unto  the  Israelites  of  old, 
strangely  fulfilled  upon  our  Indians;  particularly  that  "Ye  shall  eat  the 
flesh  of  your  sons,"  which  is  done  with  exquisite  cruelties  upon  the  pris- 
oners that  they  take  from  one  another  in  their  battles.  Moreover,  it  is  a 
prophesy  in  Deuteronomy  xxviii.  68,  "The  Lord  shall  bring  thee  into 
Egypt  again  with  ships,  by  the  way  whereof  I  spake  unto  thee,  thou  shalt 
see  it  no  more  again ;  and  there  shall  ye  be  sold  unto  your  enemies,  and 
no  man  shall  buy  you."  This  did  our  Eliot  imagine  accomplished,  when 
the  captives  taken  by  us  in  our  late  wars  upon  them,  were  sent  to  be  sold 
in  the  coasts  lying  not  very  remote  from  Egypt  on  the  Mediterranean  sea, 
and  scarce  any  chapmen  would  offer  to  take  them  off.  Being  upon  such  as 
these  accounts  not  unwilling,  if  it  were  possible,  to  have  the  Indians  found 
Israelites,  they  were,  you  may  be  sure,  not  a  whit  the  less  "beloved  for 
their  (supposed)  father's  sake;"  and  the  fatigues  of  his  travails  went  on  the 
more  cheerfully,  or  at  least  the  more  hopefully^  because  of  such  possibilities. 
The  first  step  which  he  judged  necessary  now  to  be  taken  by  him,  was 
to  learn  the  Indian  language;  for  he  saw  them  so  stupid  and  senseless, 
that  they  would  never  do  so  much  as  enquire  after  the  religion  of  the 
strangers  now  come  into  their  country,  much  less  would  they  so  far  imi- 
tate us  as  to  leave  off  their  beastly  way  of  living,  that  they  might  be  par- 
takers of  any  spiritual  advantage  by  us:  unless  we  could  first  address 
them  in  a  language  of  their  own.  Behold,  new  diflSculties  to  be  sur- 
mounted by  our  indefatigable  Eliot!  He  hires  a  native  to  teach  him  this 
exotick  language,  and,  with  a  laborious  care  and  skill,  reduces  it  into  a 
grammar,  which  afterwards  he  published.  There  is  a  letter  or  two  of 
our  alphabet,  which  the  Indians  never  had  in  theirs;  though  there  were 
enough  of  the  dog  in  their  temper^  there  can  scarce  be  found  an  R  in  their 
language,  (any  more  than  in  the  language  of  the  Chinese  or  of  the  Green- 
landers,)  save  that  the  Indians  to  the  northward,  who  have  a  peculiar  dia- 
lect, pronounce  an  R  where  an  iV^is  pronounced  by  our  Indians;  but  if 
their  alphabet  be  short,  I  am  sure  the  words  composed  of  it  are  long 
enough  to  tire  the  patience  of  any  scholar  in  the  world ;  they  are  Sesqui- 
pedcdia  Verha,"^  of  which  their  linguo  is  composed;  one  would  think  they 
had  been  growing  ever  since  Babel  unto  the  dimensions  to  which  they  are 
now  extended.  For  instance,  if  my  reader  will  count  how  many  letters 
there  are  in  this  one  word,  Nimimatchekodtantamooonganunnonash,  when 
he  has  done,  for  his  reward,  I'll  tell  him  it  signifies  no  more  in  English 
than  oicr  lusts;  and  if  I  were  to  translate,  our  loves,  it  must  be  nothing- 
shorter  than  Nooivommitammooonlcanunonnash.  Or,  to  give  my  reader  a 
longer  word  than  either  of  these,  Kummog'kodonattoottummooetiteaongan- 
nunnonash  is  in  English  our  question:  but  I  pray,  sir,  count  the  letters! 
Nor  do  we  find  in  all  this  language  the  least  affinity  to,  or  derivation  from 
any  European  speech  that  we  are  acquainted  with.     I  know  not  what 

*  Interminable  words. 

Vol.  1.-36 


562 


MAGNA  LI  A    C  II  R  I  S  T  I    AMERICANA; 


thoughts  it  will  produce  in  my  reader,  when  I  inform  him  that  once,  find- 
ing that  the  JJicmons  in  a  possessed  young  woman  understood  the  Latin, 
and  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages,  my  curiosity  led  me  to  make  trial  of 
this  Indian  lau<Tuagc,  and  the  Diemons  did  seem  as  if  they  did  not  under- 
stand it.  This  tedious  language  our  Eliot  (the  anagram  of  whose  name 
was  Toile)  quickly  became  a  master  of;  he  employed  a  pregnant  and 
witty  Indian,  who  also  spoke  English  well,  for  his  assistance  in  it;  and 
compiling  some  discourses  by  his  help,  he  wovild  single  out  a  word,  a 
noun,  a  verb,  and  pursue  it  through  all  its  variations:  having  finished  his 
grammar,  at  the  close  he  writes,  "Prayers  and  pains  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus  will  do  any  thing!"  and  being  by  his  prayers  and  pains  thus 
furnished,  he  set  himself  in  the  year  1646  to  preach  the  gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  among  these  desolate  outcasts. 

T"  It  remains  that  I  lay  before  the  world  the  remarkable  conduct  and 
success  of  this  famous  man,  in  his  great  aifair;  and  I  shall  endeavour  to 
do  it  by  Englishing  and  reprinting  a  letter,  sent  a  while  since  by  my 
father  unto  his  learned  and  renowned  correspondent,  the  venerable  Dr. 
Leusden  at  Utrecht:  which  letter  has  already  been  published,  if  I  mistake 
not,  in  four  or  five  divers  languages,  I  find  it  particularly  published  by 
the  most  excellent  Jurieu,  at  the  end  of  a  pastoral  letter;  and  this  reflec- 
tion then  worthily  made  upon  it:  Cette  Lettre  doit  opportorune  tres  grande 
consolation,  a  toides,  les  bonnes  ames^  qui  sont  alterees  de  justice,  et  qui  sont 
enflammees  du  zeh  de  la  gloire  de  Dieu.*  I  therefore  perswade  my  self  thnt 
the  republication  of  it  will  not  be  ungrateful  unto  many  good  souls  in  our 
nation,  who  have  a  due  thirst  and  zeal  for  such  things  as  are  mentioned  in 
it;  and  when  that  is  done,  I  shall  presume  to  make  some  annotations  for 
the  illustration  of  sundry  memorable  things  therein  pointed  at. 

A    LETTER 

CONCERNING  THE    SUCCESS  OF    THE    GOSPEL    AMONGST    THE    INDIANS    IN    NEW-ENGLAND. 

WRITTEN  BY  MR.  INCREASE  MATHER, 

Minister  of  the  Word  of  God  at  Boston,  and  Ecctor  of  the  Collcdge  at   Catnhridge  in   Neio^ 
England,  to  Dr.  John  Leusden,  Hebrew  Professor  in  the    University  of  Utrecht. 

TRANSLATKD   OUT    OF    LATIN   INTO    ENGLISH. 

WoRTirv  AND  MUCH  HONOURED  SiR:  Your  leltiTS  were  vci^y  grateful  to  me,  O  by  which 
I  understand  that  you  and  others  in  your  famous  University  of  Utrecht  desire  to  be  informed 

(').  The  success  of  the  gospel  in  the  East-Indies. — After  the  writing  of  this  letter,  there  came 
one  to  my  hnnda  from  tlie  famous  Dr.  Leiisilen,  together  with  a  new  and  fair  edition  of  his  Hebrew 
PsaUer,  dodicolcd  unto  the  name  of  my  absent  parent.  He  therein  informs  me,  that  our  example 
had  awakened  the  Dutch  to  mnke  some  noble  attempts  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  in  the  East- 
Indies;  besides  what  memorable  things  were  done  by  the  excellent  Robert  Junius,  in  Formosa,  fifiy 
years  ago. 

He  also  infonns  me,  that  in  and  near  the  island  of  Ceylon,  the  Dutch  pastors  have  baptized  about 
three  hundred  thousand  of  the  Eastern  Indians;  for  although  the  ministers  are  utterly  ignorant  of 

•  Ttiivt  letter  ouKht  to  minister  great  consolation  to  all  those  holy  souls,  which  are  stayed  on  justice,  and  bum 
with  zi'ol  for  tlio  glory  of  God. 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  553 

concerning  the  converted  Indians  in  America:  take  therefore  a  true  account  of  them  in  a 
few  words. 

It  is  above  forty  years  since  that  truly  godly  man  Mr.  John  Eliot,  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Rocksborough,  (about  a  mile  from  Boston  in  New-England,)  being  warmed  with  a  holy  zeal 
of  converting  the  Americans,  set  himself  to  learn  the  Indian  tongue,  that  he  might  more 
easily  and  successfully  (^)  open  to  them  the  mysteries  of  the  gospel,  upon  account  of  which 

their  language,  yet  there  are  school-masters  who  teach  them  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  the  Ten 
Commandments,  a  Morning  Prayer,  an  Evening  Prayer,  a  Blessing  before  meat,  and  another 
after;  and  the  minister  in  his  visits  being  assured  by  the  master,  who  of  them  has  learned  all  of 
them  seven  things,  he  thereupon  counts  they  have  such  a  perfect  number  of  attainments  that  he 
presently  baptizes  them. 

The  pious  reader  will  doubtless,  bless  God  for  this  ;  but  he  will  easily  see  that  one  of  our  converted 
Indians  has  cost  more  pains  than  many  of  those  ;  more  thorough  work  has  been  made  with  them. 

(°).  Mr.  Eliofs  way  of  Opening  the  Mysteries  of  the  Gospel  to  our  Indians. — It  was  in  the  year 
1646  that  Mr.  Eliot,  accompanied  by  three  more,  gave  a  visit  unto  an  assembly  of  Indians,  of  whom 
he  desired  a  meeting  at  such  a  time  and  place,  that  he  might  lay  before  them  the  things  of  their 
eternal  peace.  After  a  serious  prayer,  he  gave  them  a  sermon  which  continued  about  a  quarter 
above  an  hour,  and  contained  the  principal  articles  of  the  Christian  religion,  applying  all  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  Indians  present.  Having  done,  he  asked  of  them,  whether  they  understood?  and  with 
a  general  reply  they  answered,  they  understood  all.  He  then  began  what  was  his  usual  method 
afterwards  in  treating  with  them  ;  that  is,  he  caused  them  to  propound  such  questions  as  they  pleased 
unto  himself;  and  he  gave  wise  and  good  answers  to  them  all.  Their  questions  would  often,  though 
not  always,  refer  to  what  he  had  newly  preached ;  and  he  this  way  not  only  made  a  proof  of  their 
profiting  by  his  ministry,  but  also  gave  an  edge  to  what  he  delivered  unto  them.  Some  of  their 
questions  would  be  a  little  philosophical,  and  required  a  good  measure  of  learning  in  the  minister 
concerned  with  them ;  but  for  this  our  Eliot  wanted  not.  He  would  also  put  proper  questions  unto 
them,  and  at  one  of  his  first  exercises  with  them,  he  made  the  young  ones  capable  of  regarding 
those  three  questions: 

Q.   1.  Who  made  you  and  all  the  world? 

Q.  2.  Who  do  you  look  should  save  you  from  sin  and  hellt 

Q.  3.  How  many  commandments  has  the  Lord  given  you  to  keep'' 

It  was  his  wisdom  that  he  began  with  them  upon  such  principles  as  they  themselves  had  already 
some  notions  of;  such  as  that  of  an  heaven  for  good,  and  hell  for  bad  people  when  they  died.  It 
broke  his  gracious  heart  within  him  to  see  what  floods  of  tears  fell  from  the  eyes  of  several  among 
those  degenerate  salvages  at  the  first  addresses  which  he  made  unto  them  ;  yea,  from  the  very  worst 
of  them  all.  He  was  very  inquisitive  to  learn  who  were  the  Powawes — that  is,  the  sorcerers  and 
seducers  that  maintained  the  worship  of  the  devil  in  any  of  their  societies ;  and  having  in  one  of 
his  first  journeys  to  them  found  out  one  of  those  wretches,  he  made  the  Indian  come  unto  him,  and 
said,  "  Whether  do  you  suppose  God  or  Chepian  (i.  e.  the  devil)  to  be  the  author  of  all  good?'' 
The  conjurer  answered,  "God."  Upon  this  he  added,  with  a  stern  countenance,  "  Why  do  you 
pray  to  Chepian  then?"  And  the  poor  man  was  not  able  to  stand  or  speak  before  him ;  but  at  last 
made  promises  of  reformation. 

The  text  which  he  first  preached  upon,  was  that  in  Ezek.  xxxvii.  9,  10,  "That  by  prophesying 
to  the  wind,  the  wind  came,  and  the  dry  bones  lived:"  And  it  was  an  observation  made  by  one 
who  then  justly  confessed  there  was  not  much  weight  in  it,  that  the  word  which  the  Indians  use  for 
wind  is  wauban,  and  an  Indian  of  that  name  was  one  of  the  first  that  here  zealously  promoted  the 
conversion  of  his  neighbours.  But  having  tlius  entred  upon  the  teaching  of  these  poor  creatures, 
it  is  incredible  how  much  time,  toil,  and  hardship,  he  underwent  in  the  prosecution  of  this  undertak- 
ing ;  how  many  weary  days  and  nights  rolled  over  him ;  how  many  tiresome  journeys  he  endured  ; 
and  how  many  terrible  dangers  he  had  experience  of  If  you  briefly  would  know  what  he  felt,  and 
what  carried  him  through  all,  take  it  in  his  own  words  in  a  letter  to  the  Honourable  Mr.  Winslow. 
Says  he,  "  I  have  not  been  dry,  night  nor  day,  from  the  third  day  of  the  week  unto  the  sixth,  but  so 
travelled,  and  at  night  pull  off  my  boots,  wring  my  stockings,  and  on  with  them  again,  and  so  con- 


M^  MAQNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA-, 

he  has  bocn  (and  not  undeservedly)  ealled,  "the  Apostle  of  the  American  Indians."  This 
reverend  person,  not  without  very  <freat  labour,  translated  the  whole  Bible  into  tlie  Indian 
tongue;  C)  he  translated  also  several  English  treatises  of  practical  divinity  and  catechisms 
into  their  language.  Above  twenty  six  years  ago  he  gathered  a  church  of  converted  Indians 
in  a  town  called  Natick;(*)  these  Indians  confessed  their  sins  with  tears,  and  professed 

tinue.  Bui  God  steps  in  and  helps.  I  have  considered  the  word  of  God  in  2  Tim.  ii.  3:  '  Endure 
hardship  bs  a  good  soldier  of  Christ.'" 

(*).  Jfit  translating  the  Bible,  and  other  books  of  piety,  into  the  Indian  tongue. — One  of  his 
remarkable  cares  for  these  illiterate  Indians  was  to  bring  them  into  the  use  of  schools  and  books. 
He  quickly  procured  the  benefit  of  schools  for  them  ;  wherein  they  profited  so  much,  that  not  only 
very  ninny  of  them  quickly  came  to  read  and  write  but  also  several  arrived  unto  a  liberal  education 
in  our  colledge,  and  one  or  two  of  them  took  their  degree  with  the  rest  of  our  graduates.  And  for 
books,  it  was  his  chief  desire  that  the  Sacred  Scriptures  might  not  in  an  unknown  tongue  be  locked 
or  hidden  from  them ;  very  hateful  and  hellish  did  the  policy  of  Popery  appear  to  him  on  this 
account:  our  Eliot  was  very  unlike  to  that  Franciscan  who,  writing  into  Europe,  gloried  much  how 
many  thousands  of  Indians  he  had  converted;  but  added,  "that  he  desired  his  friends  would  send 
him  the  book  called  the  Bible;  for  he  had  heard  of  there  being  such  a  book  in  Europe,  which  might 
be  of  some  use  to  him."  No:  our  Eliot  found  he  could  not  live  without  a  Bible  himself;  he  would 
have  parted  with  all  his  estate,  sooner  than  have  lost  a  leaf  of  it;  and  he  knew  it  would  be  of  more 
than  some  use  unto  the  Indians  too;  he  therefore  with  a  vast  labour  translated  the  Holy  Bible  into 
the  Indian  language.  Behold,  ye  Americans,  the  greatest  honour  that  ever  you  were  partakers  of! 
This  Bible  was  printed  here  at  our  Cambridge ;  and  it  is  the  only  Bible  that  ever  was  printed  in  all 
America,  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  world.  The  whole  translation  he  writ  with  but  one  pen  ; 
which  pen,  had  it  not  been  lost,  would  have  certainly  deserved  a  richer  case  than  was  bestowed 
upon  that  pen  with  which  Holland  writ  his  translation  of  Plutarch.  The  Bible  being  justly  made 
the  leader  of  all  the  rest,  a  little  Indian  library  quickly  followed:  for  besides  primers,  and  grammars, 
and  some  other  such  composures,  we  quickly  had  "  The  Practice  of  Piety"  in  the  Indian  tongues 
and  the  Reverend  Richard  Baxter's  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted."  He  also  translated  some  of  Mr. 
Shepard's  composures;  and  such  catechisms  likewise  as  there  was  occasion  fo.r.  It  cannot  but  be 
hoped  that  some  fsh  were  to  be  made  alive,  since  the  "  waters  of  the  sanctuary"  thus  came  unto  them. 

(*).  His  gathering  of  a  Church  at  Natick. — The  Indians  that  had  felt  the  impressions  of  his 
ministry,  were  quickly  distinguished  by  the  name  of  "praying  Indians;"  and  these  praying  Indians 
as  quickly  were  for  a  more  decent  and  English- way  of  living,  and  they  desired  a  more  fixed  cohab- 
itation. At  several  places  did  they  now  combine  and  settle ;  but  the  place  of  greatest  name  among 
their  towns,  is  that  of  Natick. 

Here  it  was  that,  in  the  year  1651,  those  that  had  heretofore  lived  like  the  wild  beasts  in  the 
wilderness,  now  compacted  themselves  into«a  town  ;  and  they  first  applied  themselves  to  the  forming 
of  their  civil  government.  Our  General  Court,  notwithstanding  their  exact  study  to  keep  these 
Indians  very  sensible  of  their  being  subject  unto  the  English  empire,  yet  had  allowed  them  their 
Bmaller  court.s,  wherein  they  might  govern  their  own  smaller  cases  and  concerns,  after  their  own 
particular  modes,  and  might  have  their  town-orders,  if  I  may  call  them  so,  peculiar  to  themselves. 
With  respect  hereunto  Mr.  Eliot,  on  a  solemn  fast,  made  a  publick  vow, "  that  seeing  these  Indians 
were  not  prepossessed  with  any  forms  of  government,  he  would  instruct  them  into  such  a  form  as  we 
had  written  in  the  word  of  God,  that  so  they  might  be  a  people  in  all  things  ruled  by  the  Lord." 
Accordingly,  he  expounded  unto  them  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Exodus;  and  then  they  chose 
rulers  of  hundreds,  of  fifties,  of  tens:  and  therewithal  entred  into  this  covenant: 

»\Vc  nre  the  sons  of  Adam;  we  and  our  forofiilhers  have  ii  long  time  been  lo.^t  in  our  sins;  but  now  the  morcv 
of  ti.«  Lord  brKHinetl.  to  (Ind  us  out  a-ain ;  tluToforu  the  grace  of  Christ  helping  us,  we  do  give  our  selves  :.nd  our 
ch.ldn..!.  u..to  <;.«!,  to  1,.,  l.i„  ,,..o,>lt..  He  .hall  n.lo  us  in  all  our  affairs  ;  the  Lord  is  our  Jud?e,  the  Lord  is  our 
Law-giver,  the  Lord  .s  our  King;  He  will  save  us;  and  tho  wisdom  which  God  has  taught  u^  in  his  book  sh:dl 
guide  u«.  Oh,  Jehovah!  teach  ux  wisdom  ;  send  thy  Spirit  into  our  hearts;  take  us  to  bo  thy  people,  and  let  us 
take  Iheo  to  be  our  (Jod." 

Such  an  opinion  about  the  p.-rfrtion  of  the  Scripture  had  he,  that  he  thus  expressed  himself  upon 
this  occasion :  "  God  will  bring  nations  into  distress  and  perplexity,  that  so  they  may  be  forced  unto 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  565 

their  faith  in  Christ,  and  afterwards  they  and  their  children  were  baptized,  and  they  were 
solemnly  joined  together  in  a  church-covenant;  the  stiid  Mr.  Eliot  was  the  first  that  admin- 
istred  the  Lord's  Supper  to  them.  The  pastor  of  that  church  now  is  an  Indian :  his  name 
is  Daniel.  Besides  this  church  at  Naticlj^  among  our  inhabitants  in  the  Massachusets  Colony 
there  are  four  Indian  assemblies,  (^)  where  the  name  of  the  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  is 

the  Scriptures;  all  governments  will  be  shaken,  that  men  may  be  forced  at  length  to  pitch  upon  that 
firm  foundation,  the  Word  of  God." 

The  little  towns  of  these  Indians  being  pitched  upon  this  foundation,  they  utterly  abandoned  that 
poligamy  which  had  heretofore  been  common  among  them  ;  they  made  severe  laws  against  fornica- 
tion, drunkenness,  and  Sabbath-breakmg,  and  other  immorahties;  and  they  next  began  to  lament 
after  the  establishment  of  a  church-order  among  them,  and  after  the  several  ordinances  and  privi- 
leges of  a  church-communion.  The  churches  of  New-England  have  usually  been  very  strict  in 
their  admissions  to  church-fellowship,  and  required  very  signal  demonstrations  of  a  repenting  and  a 
believing  soul,  before  they  thought  men  fit  subjects  to  be  entrusted  with  "  the  rights  of  the  kingdom 
of  Heaven."  But  they  seemed  rather  to  augment  than  abate  their  usual  strictness  when  the  exam- 
ination of  the  Indians  was  to  be  performed.  A  day  was  therefore  set  apart,  which  they  called, 
Natootomahteakesuk,  or  a  "day  for  asking  questions,"  when  the  ministers  of  the  adjacent  churches, 
assisted  with  all  the  best  interpreters  that  could  be  had,  publickly  examined  a  good  number  of  these 
Indians  about  their  attainments,  both  in  knoioledge  and  in  vertue.  And  notwithstanding  the  great 
Batisfaction  then  received,  our  churches  being  willing  to  proceed  surely,  and  therefore  slowly,  in 
raising  them  up  to  a  church-state,  which  might  be  comprehended  in  our  consociations,  the  Indians 
were  afterwards  called  in  considerable  assemblies  convened  for  that  purpose,  to  make  open  confes- 
sions of  their  faith  in  God  and  Christ,  and  of  the  efficacy  which  his  word  had  upon  them  for  their 
conversion  to  him;  which  confessions  being  taken  in  writing  from  their  mouths  by  able  interpreters 
were  scanned  by  the  people  of  God,  and  found  much  acceptance  with  them. 

I  need  pass  no  further  censure  upon  them  than  what  is  given  by  my  grandfather,  the  well-known 
Richard  Mather,  in  an  epistle  of  his  published  on  this  occasion.  Says  he:  "There  is  so  much  of 
God's  work  among  them,  as  that  I  cannot  but  count  it  a  great  evil — yea,  a  great  injury  to  God  and 
his  goodness,  for  any  to  make  light  of  it.  To  see  and  hear  Indians  opening  their  mouths,  and  lift- 
ing up  their  hands  and  eyes  in  prayer  to  the  living  God,  calling  on  him  by  his  name  Jehovah,  in  the 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  this  for  a  good  while  together;  to  see  and  hear  them  exhorting  one 
another  from  the  word  of  God ;  to  see  and  hear  them  confessing  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus,  and 
their  own  sinfulness;  sure  this  is  more  than  usual!  And  though  they  spoke  in  a  language  of  which 
many  of  us  understood  but  little,  yet  we  that  were  present  that  day,  we  saw  and  heard  them  perform 
the  duties  mentioned  with  such  grave  and  sober  countenances,  with  such  comely  reverence  in  their 
gesture,  and  their  whole  carriage,  and  with  such  plenty  of  tears  trickling  down  the  cheeks  of  some  of 
them,  as  did  argue  to  us  that  they  spake  with  the  holy  fear  of  God,  and  it  much  affected  our  hearts." 

At  length  was  a  church-state  settled  among  them  :  they  entred,  as  our  churches  do,  into  an  holy 
covenant,  wherein  they  "  gave  themselves,  first  unto  the  Lord,  and  then  .unto  one  another,"  to  attend 
the  rules,  and  helps,  and  expect  the  blessing  of  the  everlasting  gospel;  and  Mr.  Eliot,  having  a  mis- 
sion from  the  churcli  of  Roxbury  unto  the  work  of  the  Lord  Christ  among  the  Indians,  conceived 
himself  sufficiently  authorized  unto  the  performing  of  all  church-work  about  them;  grounding  it  on 
Acts  xiii.  1,  2,  3,  4;  and  he  accordingly  administred,  first  the  baptism,  and  then  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord  unto  them. 

(').  The  Hindrances  and  Obstructions  that  the  devil  gave  unto  him. — We  find  four  assemblies 
of  "praying  Indians,"  besides  that  of  Natick,  in  our  neighbourhood.  But  why  no  more?  Truly, 
not  because  our  Eliot  was  wanting  in  his  offers  and  labours  for  there  good;  but  because  many  of 
the  obdurate  infidels  would  not  receive  the  gospel  of  salvation.  In  one  of  his  letters,  I  find  him 
giving  this  ill-report,  with  such  a  good  reason  for  it:  "Lyn-Indians  are  all  naught,  save  one,  who 
sometimes  comes  to  hear  the  word;  and  the  reason  why  they  are  bad,  is  principally  because  their 
sachim  is  naught,  and  careth  not  to  pray  unto  God."  Indeed,  the  sachiins,  or  princes,  of  the  Indians 
generally  did  all  they  could  that  their  subjects  mia^t  not  entertain  the  gospel ;  the  devils  having  the 
sachims  on  their  side,  thereby  kept  their  possession  of  the  people  too.  Their  pauwaws  or  clergy- 
men did  much  to  maintain  the  interest  of  the  devils  in  this  wilderness;  those  "children  of  the  devil 


k^^  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

solemnly  called  upon;  these  asscniMies  have  some  American  preachers.     Mr.  Eliot  formerly 
•used  to  preach  to  them  once  every  fortnight,  hut  now  he  is  weakned  with  labours  and  old 

and  rnemies  of  all  righteousness,"  did  not  "cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord,"  but  ih.-ir 
BBchims  or  nineiistrates  did  more  towards  it;  for  they  would  presently  raise  a  storm  of  peisecution 
upon  any  of  their  vassals  that  should  pray  unto  the  eternal  God. 

The  ground  of  this  conduct  in  them  was  an  odd  fear  that  religion  would  abridge  ihein  of  the 
tyranny  which  they  had  been  used  unto;  they  always,  like  the  devil,  held  their  people  in  a  most 
absolute  servitude,  and  ruled  by  no  law  but  their  will,  which  left  the  poor  slaves  nothing  that  they 
could  call  their  own.  They  now  suspected  that  religion  would  put  a  bridle  upon  such  usurpn lions, 
and  oblige  them  to  a  more  equal  and  humane  way  of  government;  they  therefore,  some  of  them, 
had  the  impudence  to  address  the  English,  that  no  motions  about  the  Christian  religion  might  ever 
be  made  unto  them  ;  and  Mr.  Eliot  sometimes  in  the  wilderness,  without  the  company  or  assistance 
of  any  other  English-man,  has  been  treated  in  a  very  threatening  and  barbarous  manner  by  some 
of  these  tyrants;  but  God  inspired  him  with  so  much  resolution  as  to  tell  them,  "I  am  about  the 
work  of  the  great  God,  and  my  God  is  with  me ;  so  that  I  fear  neither  you,  nor  all  the  sachims  in 
the  country  ;  I'll  go  on,  and  do  you  touch  me,  if  you  dare!"  Upon  which  the  stoutest  of  them  have 
shrunk  and  fell  before  him.  And  one  of  ihem  he  at  length  conquered  by  preaching  unto  him  a  ser- 
mon upon  the  temptations  of  our  Lord ;  particularly  the  temptation  fetched  from  the  kingdoms  and 
glories  of  the  world. 

The  little  kingdom  and  glories  of  the  great  men  among  the  Indians,  was  a  powerful  obstacle  to 
the  success  of  Mr.  Eliot's  ministry;  and  it  is  observable  that  several  of  those  nations  which  thus 
refused  the  gospel,  quickly  afterwards  were  so  devil-driven  as  to  begin  an  unjust  and  bloody  war 
upon  the  English,  which  issued  in  their  speedy  and  utter  extirpation  from  the  face  of  God's  earth. 
It  was  particularly  remarked  in  Philip,  the  ring-leader  of  the  most  calamitous  war  that  ever  they 
made  upon  us  ;  our  Eliot  made  a  tender  of  the  everlasting  salvation  to  that  king;  but  the  monster 
entertained  it  with  contempt  and  anger,  and,  after  the  Indian  mode  of  joining  signs  with  words, 
he  took  a  button  upon  the  coat  of  the  reverend  man,  adding,  "  That  he  cared  for  his  gospel,  just  as 
,  much  as  he  cared  for  thnt  button."  The  world  has  heard  what  a  terrible  ruine  soon  came  upon 
that  monarch  and  upon  ;ill  his  people.  It  was  not  long  before  the  hand  which  now  writes,  upon  a 
certain  occasion,  took  off  the  jaw  from  the  exposed  skull  of  that  blasphemous  leviathan  ;  and  the 
renowned  Samuel  Lee  hath  since  been  a  pastor  to  an  English  congregation,  sounding  and  showing 
the  praises  of  Heaven  upon  that  very  spot  of  ground  where  Philip  and  his  Indians  were  lately  wor- 
shipping of  the  devil. 

Sometimes  the  more  immediate  hand  of  God,  by  cutting  off  the  principal  opposers  of  the  gospel 
among  the  Indians,  made  way  for  Mr.  Eliot's  ministry.  As  I  remember,  he  relates  that  an  associ- 
ation of  profane  Indians  near  our  Weymouth  set  themselves  to  deter  and  seduce  the  neighbour 
Indians  from  the  "  right  ways  of  the  Lord."  But  God  quickly  sent  the  small-pox  among  them, 
which  like  a  great  plague  soon  swept  them  away,  and  thereby  engaged  the  rest  unto  himself  I  need 
only  to  add,  that  one  attempt  made  by  the  devil  to  prejudice  the  Pagans  against  the  gospel,  had 
Bomeihing  in  it  extraordinary.  While  Mr.  Eliot  was  preaching  of  Christ  unto  the  other  Indians,  a 
Damon  appeared  unto  a  prince  of  the  Eastern-Indians,  in  a  shape  that  had  some  resemblance  of 
Mr.  Eliot  or  of  an  English  minister,  pretending  to  be  "  the  English-man's  God."  The  spectre 
commanded  him,"  to  forbear  the  drinking  of  rum,"  and  "to  observe  the  Sabbath  day,"  and  "to 
deal  justly  with  his  neighbours,"  all  which  things  had  been  inculcated  in  Mr.  Eliot's  ministry  ;  prom- 
ising therewithal  unto  him,  that  if  he  did  so,  at  his  death  his  soul  should  ascend  unto  an  happy 
place ;  otherwise,  descend  unto  miseries ;  but  the  apparition  all  the  while  never  said  one  word  about 
Chri.^t,  which  was  the  main  subject  of  Mr.  Eliot's  ministry.  The  sachim  received  such  an  impres- 
sion from  the  apparition,  that  he  dealt  justly  with  all  men,  except  in  the  bloody  tragedies  and  cruel- 
ties he  afterwards  committed  on  the  English  in  our  wars;  he  kept  the  Sabbath-day  hke  a  fast, 
frequently  attending  in  our  congregations;  he  would  not  meddle  with  any  rum,  though  usually  his 
country-men  had  rather  die  than  undergo"  such  a  piece  of  self-denial ;  that  liquor  has  meerly 
enchanted  them.  At  last,  and  not  long  since,  thi|  Damon  appeared  again  unto  this  Pagan,  requir- 
ing him  to  kill  himself,  and  a.'^suring  him  that  he  should  revive  in  a  day  or  two,  never  °to  die  any 
more.  H,.  thereupon  divers  times  attempted  it,  but  his  friends  very  carefully  prevented  it.  How- 
ever, at  length  he  found  a  fair  opportunity  for  this  foul  business,  and  hanged  himself;  you  may  be 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  567 

age,  being  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  preacheth  not  to  the  Indians  oftener  than 
once  in  two  montlis. 

There  is  another  church,  consisting  only  of  converted  Indians,  about  fifty  miles  from  hence, 
in  an  Indian  town  called  Masliippaug:  the  first  pastor  of  that  church  was  an  English  man, 
who,  being  skilful  in  the  American  language,  preached  the  gospel  to  them  in  their  own  tongue. 
This  English  pastor  is  dead,  and  instead  of  him,  that  church  has  an  Indian-preacher.(^) 

There  are,  besides  that,  five  assemblies  of  Indians  professing  the  name  of  Christ,  not  far 

sure,  without  the  expected  resurrection.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  what  a  stumbling  block  was  here  laid 
before  the  miserable  Indians. 

(').  The  Indian  Churches  at  Mashyppaug,  and  elsewhere. — The  same  spirit  which  acted  Mr. 
Eliot,  quickly  inspired  others  eiewhere  to  prosecute  the  work  of  rescuing  the  poor  Indians  out  of 
their  worse  than  Egyptian-darkness,  in  which  evil  angels  had  been  so  long  preying  upon  them. 
One  of  these  was  the  godly  and  giacious  Richard  Bourn,  who  soon  saw  a  great  effect  of  his  holy 
labours.  In  the  year  1666  Mr.  Eliot,  accompanied  by  the  honourable  governour  and  several  magis- 
trates and  ministers  of  Plymouth  Colony,  procured  a  vast  assembly  at  Mashippaug;  and  there  a 
good  number  of  Indians  made  confessions  touching  the  knowledge  and  belief  and  regeneration  of 
their  souls,  with  such  understanding  and  affection  as  was  extreamly  grateful  to  the  pious  auditory. 
Yet  such  was  the  strictness  of  the  good  people  in  this  affair,  that  before  they  would  countenance 
the  advancement  of  these  Indians  unto  church-fellowship,  they  ordered  their  confessions  to  be  writ- 
ten, and  sent  unto  all  the  churches  in  the  colony,  for  their  approbation ;  but  so  approved  they  were, 
that  afterwards  the  messengers  of  all  the  churches  giving  their  presence  and  consent,  they  became 
a  church,  and  chose  Mr.  Bourn  to  be  their  pastor;  who  was  then  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Cotton 
ordained  unto  that  office  over  them.  From  hence  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Cotton  went  over  to  an  island 
called  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  God  had  so  succeeded  the  honest  labours  of  some,  and  particularly 
of  the  Mayhew's,  as  that  a  church  was  gathered. 

This  church,  after  fasting  and  prayer,  chose  one  Hiacooms  to  be  their  pastor;  John  Tockinosh, 
an  able  and  a  discreet  Christian,  to  be  their  teacher ;  Joshua  Mummeecheegs  and  John  Nanaso  to 
be  ruling  elders;  and  these  were  then  ordained  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Cotton  thereunto.  Distance 
of  habitation  caused  this  one  church  by  mutual  agreement  afterwards  to  become  two;  the  pastor 
and  one  ruling  elder  taking  one  part,  and  the  teacher  and  one  ruling  elder,  another;  and  at  Nan- 
tucket, another  adjacent  island,  was  another  church  of  Indians  quickly  gathered,  who  chose  an 
Indian,  John  Gibs,  to  be  their  minister.  These  churches  are  so  exact  in  their  admission,  and  so 
solemn  in  their  disciphne,  and  so  serious  in  their  communion,  that  some  of  the  Christian  English  in 
the  neighbourhood,  which  would  have  been  loth  to  have  mixed  with  them  in  a  civil  relation,  yet 
have  gladly  done  it  in  a  sacred  one. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  repeat  what  my  father  has  written  about  the  other  Indian  congregations; 
only  there  having  been  made  mention  of  one  Hiacooms,  I  am  willing  to  annex  a  passage  or  two 
concerning  that  memorable  Indian.  That  Indian  was  a  very  great  instrument  of  bringing  his  Pagan 
and  wretched  neighbours  to  a  saving  acquaintance  with  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  God  gave  him 
the  honour,  not  only  of  so  doing  much  for  some,  but  also  of  suffering  much  from  others  of  those 
unhappy  salvages.  Once  particularly,  this  Hiacooms  received  a  cruel  blow  from  an  Indian  prince, 
which,  if  some  English  had  not  been  there,  might  have  killed  him,  for  his  praying  unto  God.  And 
aftersvards  he  gave  this  account  of  his  trial  in  it:  said  he,  "  I  have  two  hands;  I  had  one  hand  for 
injuries,  and  the  other  for  God;  while  I  did  receive  wrong  with  the  one,  the  other  laid  the  (rreatcr 
hold  on  God." 

Moreover  the  powawes  did  use  to  hector  and  abuse  the  praying  Indians  at  such  a  rate,  as  terrifyed 
others  from  joining  with  them ;  but  once,  when  those  witches  were  bragging  that  they  could  kill  all 
the  praying  Indians,  if  they  would,  Hiacooms  replyed,  "  Let  all  the  powawes  in  the  island  come 
together;  I'll  venture  my  self  in  the  midst  of  them;  let  them  use  all  their  witchcrafts;  with  the 
help  of  God,  I'll  tread  upon  them  all."  By  this  courage,  he  silenced  the  powawes:  but  at  the  same 
time  also  he  heartned  the  people  at  such  a  rate  as  was  truly  wonderful  ;  nor  could  any  of  them  ever 
harm  this  eminent  confessor  afterward  ;  nor  indeed  any  proselyte  which  had  been  by  his  means 
brought  home  to  God  ;  yea,  it  was  observed,  after  this,  that  they  rather  killed  than  cured  all  such 
of  the  heathen  as  would  yet  make  use  of  their  enchantments  for  help  against  their  sicknesses. 


^^  MAGNALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

distant  from  Miisliippaiig,  wliifli  have  Indian  preachers:  (')  John  Cotton,  pastor  of  the 
chun-h  at  I'lynioiith,  (.son  of  my  venerable  fatlier-in-hiw  John  Cotton,  formerly  tlie  famoua 
tcaeher  of  the  ehureh  at  Boston,)  who  made  very  great  progress  in  learning  the  Indian  tongue, 
and  is  very  skilful  in  it;  he  preaches  in  their  own  language  to  the  last  five  mentioned  con- 
gregations every  week.     ^Moreover  of  the  inhabitants  of  Saconet  in  Plymouth  Colony,  there 

C).  Of  Mr.  Eliot's  Fellow-lahourera  in  the  Indian  Work. — So  little  was  the  soul  of  our  Eliot 
infected  with  niiy  envy,  ns  that  lie  longed  for  nothing  more  than  fellow-labourers,  that  might  move 
and  shine  in  the  same  orb  with  himself;  he  made  his  cries  both  to  God  and  man  for  more  labourers 
to  be  thrust  forth  into  the  Indian  harvest ;  and  indeed  it  was  an  harvest  of  so  few  secular  advan- 
toges  and  encouragements,  that  it  must  be  nothing  less  than  a  divine  thrust,  which  could  make 
any  to  labour  in  it.  He  saw  the  answer  of  his  prayers,  in  the  generous  and  vigorous  attempts  made 
by  several  other  most  worthy  preachers  of  the  gospel,  to  gospelize  our  perishing  Indians.  At  the 
writing  of  my  father's  letter,  there  were  four ;  but  the  number  of  them  increases  apace  among  us. 
At  IVInrtha's  Vineyard,  the  old  Mr.  Mayhew,  and  several  of  his  sons  or  grandsons,  have  done  very 
worthily  for  the  souls  of  the  Indians;  there  were,  fifteen  years  ago,  by  computation,  about  fifteen 
hundred  seals  of  their  ministry  upon  that  one  island.  In  Connecticut,  the  holy  and  acute  Mr.  Fitch 
has  made  noble  essays  towards  the  conversion  of  the  Indians;  but,  I  think,  the  prince  he  has  to  deal 
withal,  being  an  obstinate  infidel,  gives  unhappy  remora's  to  the  successes  of  his  ministry.  And 
godly  Mr.  Pierson  has  in  that  colony  deserved  well,  if  I  mistake  not,  upon  the  same  account.  In 
Massachusets  we  see  at  this  day  the  pious  Mr.  Daniel  Gookin,  the  gracious  Mr.  Peter  Thacher,  the 
well  accomplished  and  industrious  Mr.  Grindal  Rawson,  all  of  them  hard  at  work  to  turn  these 
poor  creatures  "from  darkness  unto  light,  and  from  Satan  unto  God."  In  Plymouth  we  have  the 
most  active  Mr.  Samuel  Treat  laying  out  himself  to  save  this  generation ;  and  there  is  one  Mr. 
Tupper,  who  uses  his  laudable  endeavours  for  the  instruction  of  them. 

'Tis  my  relation  to  him  ihat  causes  me  to  defer  unto  the  last  place  the  mention  of  Mr.  John  Cot- 
ton, who  hath  addressed  the  Indians  in  their  own  language  with  some  dexterity.  He  hired  an 
Indinn,  after  the  rate  of  twelve-pence  per  day  (or  f fly  days,  to  teach  him  the  Indian  tongue  ;  But 
his  knavish  tutor  having  received  his  whole  pay  too  soon,  ran  away  before  twenty  days  were  out; 
however,  in  this  time  he  had  profited  so  far,  that  he  could  quickly  preach  unto  the  natives. 

Having  told  my  reader  that 'the  second  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible  was  wholly  of  his  correction 
and  amendment — because  it  is  not  proper  for  me  to  say  much  of  him — I  shall  only  add  this  remark- 
able story:  An  English  minister,  accompanied  by  the  governour  and  major-general,  and  sundry 
persons  of  quality  belonging  to  Plymouth,  made  a  journey  to  a  nation  of  Indians  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, with  a  free  offer  of  the  "  words  whereby  they  might  be  saved."  The  prince  took  time  to 
consider  of  it,  and  according  to  the  true  English  of  taking  time  in  such  cases,  at  length  he  told 
them,  "  He  did  not  accept  the  tender  which  they  made  him."  They  then  took  their  leaves  of  him, 
not  without  first  giving  him  this  plain  and  short  admonition :  "  If  God  have  any  mercy  for  your 
miserable  people,  he  will  quickly  find  a  way  to  take  you  out  of  the  way."  It  was  presently  after 
this  that  this  prince,  going  forth  to  a  battel  against  another  nation  of  Indians,  was  killed  in  the  fight ; 
and  the  young  prince  being  in  his  minority,  the  government  fell  into  the  hands  of  protectors,  which 
favoured  the  interest  of  the  gospel.  The  English  being  advised  of  it,  speedily  and  prosperously 
renewed  the  tidings  of  an  eternal  Saviour  to  the  salvages,  who  have  ever  since  attended  upon  the 
gospel:  and  the  young  sachim,  after  he  came  to  age,  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  Christian 
rehgion;  especially  when  a  while  since  he  lay  dying  of  a  tedious  distemper,  and  would  keep  reading 
of  Mr.  Baxter's  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted,"  with  floods  of  tears  in  his  eyes,  while  he  had  any  strength 
to  do  it. 

Such  ns  these  are  the  persons  whom  our  Eliot  left  engaged  in  the  Indian-work  when  he  departed 
from  his  employment  unto  his  recnmpence.  And  these  gentlemen  are  so  indefatigable  in  their 
labours  among  the  Indians,  as  that  the  most  equal  judges  must  acknowledge  them  worthy  of  much 
greater  salaries  than  they  are  generously  contented  with.  But  one  may  see  then  who  inspired  that 
clamorous  (though  contemptible)  persecutor  of  this  country,  who  very  zealously  addressed  the  A.  B. 
of  Canterbury,  that  these  ministers  might  be  deprived  of  their  little  stipends,  and  that  the  said  sti- 
pends m.ght  go  to  maintain  that  worship  among  us,  which  the  plantation  was  erected  on  purpose 
for  the  peaceable  avoiding  of 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  5Q9 

is  a  great  congregation  of  those  who  for  distinction  sake  are  called  "praying  Indians," 
because  they  pray  to  God  in  Christ. 

Not  far  from  a  promontory  called  Cape  Cod,  there  are  six  assemblies  of  heathens  who 
are  to  be  reckoned  as  catechumens,  amongst  whom  there  are  six  Indian  preachers:  Samuel 
Treat,  pastor  of  a  church  at  Eastham,  preacheth  to  those  congi-egations  in  their  own  language. 
There  are  likewise  amongst  the  islanders  of  Nantucket  a  church,  with  a  pastor  who  was 
lately  a  heathen,  and  several  meetings  of  catechumens,  who  are  instructed  by  the  converted 
Indians,  There  is  also  another  island,  about  seven  leagues  long,  (called  Martha's  Vineyard,) 
where  are  two  American  churches  planted,  which  are  more  famous  than  the  rest,  over  one 
of  which  there  presides  an  ancient  Indian  as  pastor,  called  Hiacooms:  John  Hiacooms,  son 
of  the  Indian  pastor,  also  preacheth  the  gospel  to  his  countrymen.  In  another  church  in 
that  place,  John  Tockinosh,  a  converted  Indian,  teaches.  In  these  churches  ruling  elders  of 
the  Indians  are  joined  to  the  pastors:  the  pastors  were  chosen  by  the  people,  and  when  they 
had  fasted  and  prayed,  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Cotton  laid  their  hands  on  them,  so  that  they  were 
solemnly  ordained.     All  the  congregations  (^)  of  the  converted  Indians  (both  the  catechu- 

(*).  The  Sacred  and  Solemn  Exercises  performed  in  the  Indian  Congregations. — My  father's 
account  of  the  exercises  performed  in  the  Indian  congregations,  will  tell  us  wliat  a  blessed  fruit  our 
Eliot  saw  of  his  labours,  before  he  went  unto  those  rewards  which  God  had  reserved  in  the  heavens 
for  him.  Some  of  the  Indians  quickly  built  for  themselves  good  and  large  meeting-houses  after  the 
English  mode,  in  which  also,  after  the  English  mode,  they  attended  the  "  things  of  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven."  And  some  of  the  English  were  helpful  to  them  upon  this  account;  among  whom  I  ought 
particularly  to  mention  that  learned,  pious  and  charitable  gentleman,  the  worshipful  Samnel  Sewal, 
Esq.,  who,  at  his  own  charge,  built  a  meeting-house  for  one  of  the  Indian  congregations,  and  gave 
those  Indians  cause  to  pray  for  him  under  that  character,  "he  ioveth  our  nation,  for  he  hath  built 
us  a  synagogue." 

It  only  remains  that  I  give  a  touch  or  two  upon  the  worship  which  is  attended  in  the  synagogues 
of  the  Indians.  And  first,  the  very  name  of  "praying  Indians"  will  assure  us  that  prayer  is  one 
of  their  devotions ;  be  sure,  they  could  not  be  our  Eliot's  disciples  if  it  were  not  so.  But  how  do 
they  pray?  We  are  told,  it  is  "  without  a  form,  because  from  the  heart;"  which  is,  as  I  remember, 
TertuUian's  expression  concerning  the  prayers  in  the  assemblies  of  the  primitive  Christians;  namely, 
sine  monitore  quia  de  pectore*  It  is  evident  that  tiie  primitive  Christians  had  no  stated  liturgies 
among  them ;  that  no  forms  of  prayers  were  in  their  time  imposed  upon  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  that  even  about  the  platform  of  prayer  given  us  by  our  Lord,  it  was  the  opinion  of  Austin 
himself,  notwithstanding  the  advances  made  in  his  age  towards  what  we  count  superstitious,  that 
"our  Lord  therein  taught,  not  what  words  we  should  use  in  prayer,  but  what  things  we  should 
pray  for."  And  whatever  scoffs  the  profanity  of  our  days  has  abused  that  phrase  and  thing  withal, 
Gregory  Nazianzen  in  his  days  counted  it  the  honour  of  his  father's  publick  prayers,  "  that  he  had 
them  from,  and  made  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  Our  Indians  accordingly  find  that,  if  they  study 
the  words  of  God,  and  their  own  sins  and  wants,  they  shall  soon  come  to  that  attainment,  "  behold, 
they  pray!"  They  can  pray  with  much  pertinence  and  enlargement;  and  would  much  wonder  at 
it,  if  they  should  hear  of  an  English  clergy  that  should  "  read  their  prayers  out  of  a  book,"  when  they 
should  "pour  out  their  souls"  before  the  God  of  Heaven. 

Their  preaching  has  much  of  Eliot,  and  therefore  you  may  be  sure  much  of  Scripture,  but  per- 
haps more  of  the  Christian  than  of  the  scholar  in  it.  I  know  not  how  to  describe  it  better  than  by 
reciting  the  heads  of  a  sermon,  uttered  by  an  Indian  on  a  day  of  humiliation  kept  by  them,  at  a 
time  when  great  rains  had  given  much  damage  to  their  fruits  and  fields.     It  was  on  this  wise: 

»  A  little  I  shall  say,  according  to  that  little  I  know.  Genesis,  viii.  20,  21 :  '  And  Noah  built  an  altar  unto  Jeho- 
vah ;  and  he  took  of  every  clean  beast,  and  of  every  clean  fowl,  and  offered  burnt-offerings  on  the  altar.  And  the 
Lord  smelled  a  sweef  savour,  and  the  Lord  said  in  his  heart,  I  will  not  again  curse  the  ground.' — 

"In  that  Noah  sacrificed,  he  showed  himself  thanlifnl ;  In  that  Noah  worshipped  he  showed  himseXi: godly.  In 
that  he  offered  clean  beasts,  he  showed  that  God  is  an  holy  God.  And  all  that  come  to  God,  must  be  pure  and  clean- 
Know  that  we  must,  by  repentance,  purge  our  selves ;  which  is  the  work  we  are  to  do  this  day. 

*  Without  a  formula,  because  from  the  heart. 


570 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


mens  and  those  in  c-hurcli  order)  every  Lord's  day  meet  together;  the  pastor  or  preacher 
always  lie<'uis  with  prayer,  and  without  a  form,  because  from  the  heart;  when  the  ruler  of  the 
assembly  has  ended  prayer,  the  whole  congregation  of  Indians  praise  God  with  singing; 
some  of  them  are  excellent  singers:  after  the  psalm,  he  that  preaches  reads  a  place  of  Scrii)- 
ture,  (one  or  more  verses  as  he  will,)  and  expounds  it,  gathers  doctrines  from  it,  proves  them 
by  scriptures  and  reasons,  and  infers  uses  from  them  after  the  manner  of  the  Englisli,  of 
whom  thcv  have  been  taught;  then  another  prayer  to  God  in  the  name  of  Chnst  concludes 
the  whole  service.  Thus  do  they  meet  together  twice  every  Lord's  day.  They  observe  no 
holy-days  but  the  Lord's  day,  except  upon  some  extraordinary  occasion;  and  then  they  sol- 
emnly set  apart  whole  days,  either  giving  thanks  or  fasting  and  praying  with  great  fenuur 
of  mind. 

Before  the  English  came  into  these  coasts  these  barbarous  nations  were  altogether  igno- 
rant of  the  true  God;  hence  it  is  that  in  their  prayers  and  sermons  they  use  English  words 
and  terms;  he  that  calls  upon  the  most  holy  name  of  God,  says,  Jehovah,  or  God,  or  Lord, 
and  also  they  have  learned  and  borrowed  many  other  theological  phrases  from  us. 

In  short,  "There  are  six  churches  of  ba{>tized  Indians  in  New-England,  and  eighteen 
assemblies  of  catechumens,  professing  the  #anie  of  Christ:  of  the  Indians  there  are  four- 
and-tw  enty  who  are  preachers  of  the  word  of  God,  and  besides  these  there  are  four  Eng- 

"Noah  sacrificed  and  so  worshipped.  This  was  the  manner  of  old  time.  But  what  sacrifices  have  we  now  to 
offer?  I  shall  answer  by  that  in  P^iU.  iv.  5:  'Offer  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  righteousness,  and  put  your  trust  in  the 
Lord.'  These  are  the  true  spiritual  sacrifices  which  God  rcquireth  at  our  hands,  'the  sacrifices  of  righteousness;' 
that  is,  we  must  look  to  our  hearts  and  ways  that  they  be  righteous,  and  then  we  shall  be  acceptable  to  God  when 
we  worship  him.  But  if  we  be  unrighteous,  unholy,  ungodly,  we  shall  not  be  accepted:  our  sacrifices  will 
be  stark  naueht.  Again,  we  are  'to  put  our  trust  in  the  Lord.'  Who  else  is  there  for  us  to  trust  in  ?  We  must 
believe  in  the  word  of  God ;  if  we  doubt  of  God,  or  doubt  of  his  word,  our  sacrifices  are  little  worth :  but  if  we 
trust  sledliu'llj  in  God,  our  sacrifices  will  be  good. 

"Once  more,  what  sacrifices  must  we  offer?  My  answer  is,  we  must  offer  such  as  Abraham  offered.  And  what 
a  sacrifice  wils  that?  We  are  told  in  Gen.  xxii.  12,  '  Now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  me,  seeing  thou  hast  not  with- 
hold thy  son,  thy  only  son  from  roe.'  It  seems  he  had  but  one  dearly  beloved  son,  and  he  offered  that  son  to  God ; 
and  8o  God  said, '  1  know  thou  fearest  me!'  Behold,  a  sacrifice  indeed  and  in  truth!  such  an  one  must  we 
offer.  Only,  God  requires  not  us  to  sacrifice  our  sons,  but  our  sins — our  dearest  sins.  God  calls  us  this  day  to 
part  with  all  our  sins,  though  never  so  beloved  ;  and  we  must  not  withhold  any  of  thera  from  him.  If  we  will  not 
part  with  nil,  the  sacrifice  is  not  right.     Let  us  part  with  such  sins  as  we  love  best,  and  it  will  be  a  good  sacrificu! 

" God  smelt  a  sweet  savour  in  Noah's  sacrifice;  and  so  will  God  receive  our  sacrifices,  when  we  worship  him 
Bright.  But  how  did  God  manifest  his  acceptance  of  Noah's  offering?  It  was  by  promising  to  drawn  the  world 
no  more,  but  give  ua  fruitful  seasons.  God  has  chastised  us  of  late,  as  if  he  would  utterly  drown  us ;  and  he  has 
drowned  and  spoiled  and  ruined  a  great  deal  of  our  hay,  and  threatens  to  kill  our  cattel.  It  is  for  this  that  vte  fast 
and  pray  this  day  I^t  us  then  offer  a  clean  and  pure  sacrifice,  as  Noah  did  ;  so  God  will  smell  a  savour  of  rest, 
and  ho  will  withhold  the  rain,  and  bless  us  with  such  fruitful  seasons  as  we  are  desiring  of  him." 

Thus  preached  an  Indian  called  Nishokon,  above  thirty  years  ago ;  and  since  that,  I  suppose, 
they  have  grown  a  liitle  further  into  the  New-English  way  of  preaching:  you  may  have  in  their 
seriTions,  a  Kakkootomwehteaonk,  ihtH  is,  &  doctrine ;  Nahiootomwehtcaonk,  or  question;  a  Sam- 
pootwnk,  or  on  answer;  Witcheayeuonk,  or  a  reason;  with  an  Ouwoteank,  or  an  use  for  the  close 
of  ail. 

As  for  holy-days,  you  may  take  it  for  granted  our  Eliot  would  not  perswade  his  Indians  to  any 
stated  one.  Even  the  Christian  festival  itself,  he  knew  to  be  a  stranger  unto  the  apostolical 
time ;  that  the  exquisite  Voshus  himself  acknowledges  it  was  not  celebrated  in  the  first  or  second 
centurj';  and  that  there  is  a  truth  in  the  words  of  the  great  Cheminitius,  Anniversarium  Diem 
Natalis  Christi,  relebratum  fuisse.apud  veiustissimos  nunquam  legitur.*  He  knew  that  if  the 
"day  of  our  Lord's  nativity"  were  to  be  observed,  it  should  not  be  in  December;  that  many  churches 
for  divers  ages  kept  it  not  in  December,  but  in  January ;  that  Chrysostom  himself,  about  four  hun- 
dred years  after  our  Saviour,  excuses  the  novelty  of  the  December  season  for  itj  and  confesses  it  had 
not  been  kept  above  ten  years  at  Constantinople:  no,  that  it  should  rather  be  in  September,  in  which 
month  the  Jews  kept  the  feast  that  was  a  type  of  our  Lord's  Incarnation  ;  and  Solomon  also  brought 
the  ark  into  the  temple ;  for  our  Lord  was  thirty  years  old  when  he  entred  upon  his  public  luinis- 

*  It  nowhere  appears  among  the  earliest  writers,  that  the  birth-day  of  our  Lord  was  celebrated. 


OE,    THE    IIISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  ^fl 

lish  ministers,  who  preach  the  gospel  in  the  Indian  tongue."  (')  I  am  now  my  self  weary 
with  writing,  and  I  fear  lest,  if  I  should  add  more,  I  should  also  be  tedious  to  you;  yet  one 

try  ;  and  he  continued  in  it  "  three  years  and  an  half"  Now,  his  death  was  in  March,  and  it  is  easy 
then  to  calculate  when  his  birth  ought  to  be.  He  knew  that  indeed  God  had  hid  this  day  as  he 
did  the  body  of  Moses,  to  prevent  idolatry;  but  that  antichrist  had  chose  this  day,  to  accommodate 
the  Pagans  in  their  licentious  and  their  debauched  Saturnalia;  and  that  a  TertuUian  would  not 
stick  to  say,  "  Shall  we  Christians,  who  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  festivals  of  the  Jews,  which 
were  once  of  divine  institution,  embrace  the  Saturnalia  of  the  heathens'?  How  do  the  Gentiles 
shame  us,  who  are  more  true  to  their  religion  than  we  are  to  ours]  None  of  them  will  observe  the 
Lord's  day,  for  fear  lest  they  should  be  Christians ;  and  shall  not  we  then,  by  observing  their  festi- 
vals, fear  lest  we  be  made  Ethnicks .'"  In  fine,  it  was  his  opinion  that  for  us  to  have  fiated  holy- 
days  which  are  not  appointed  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  deep  reflection  upon  the  wi>dom  of  that 
glorious  Lord ;  and  he  brought  up  his  Indians  in  the  principles  which  the  old  Waldeni-es  had  about 
such  unwarrantable  holy-days. 

Nevertheless,  he  taught  them  to  set  apart  their  days  for  both  fasting  and  prayer,  and  for  feasting 
and  prayer,  when  there  should  be  extraordinary  occasions  for  them  ;  and  they  perform  the  duties 
of  these  days  with  a  very  laborious  piety.  One  party  of  the  Indians  long  since,  of  their  own  accord, 
kept  a  day  of  supplication  together,  wherein  one  of  them  discoursed  upon  Psal.  l.wi.  7:  "  He  rules 
by  his  power  for  ever,  his  eyes  behold  the  nations,  let  not  the  rebellious  exalt  themselves."  And 
when  one  asked  them  afterwards  what  was  the  reason  of  their  keeping  of  such  a  day,  they  replied, 
"  It  was  to  obtain  five  mercies  of  God:" 

"First,  that  God  would  slay  the  rebellion  of  their  hearts.  Next,  that  they  might  love  God  and  one  another. 
Thirdly,  that  they  might  withstand  the  temptations  of  wicked  men,  so  that  tliey  might  not  be  drawn  back  from 
God.  Fourthly,  that  they  might  be  obedient  unto  the  councils  and  commands  of  their  rulers.  Fifthly,  that  they 
might  have  their  sins  done  away  by  the  redemption  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  lastly,  that  they  might  walk  in  the  good 
ways  of  the  Lord." 

I  must  here  embrace  my  opportunity  to  tell  the  world,  that  our  cautious  Eliot  was  far  from  the 
opinion  of  those  who  have  thought  it  not  only  warrantable,  but  also  commendable,  to  adopt  some 
heathenish  usages  into  the  worship  of  God,  for  the  more  easy  and  speedy  gaining  of  the  heathen 
to  that  worship.  The  policy  of  treating  the  Pagan  rites  as  the  Jews  were  wont  to  do  captives 
before  they  married  them,  to  shave  their  hair  and  pare  their  nails,  our  Eliot  counted  as  ridiculous 
as  pernicious.  He  knew  that  the  idolatries  and  abominations  of  Popery  were  founded  in  this  way 
of  proselyting  the  barbarous  nations,  which  made  their  descent  upon  the  Roman  empire ;  and  he 
looked  upon  the  like  methods  which  the  Protestants  have  used,  that  they  might  ingratiate  themselves 
with  the  Papists,  and  that  our  separation  from  them  should  become  the  less  dangerous  and  sensible, 
to  be  the  most  sensible  and  dangerous  wound  of  the  reformation.  Wherefore,  as  no  less  a  man 
than  Dr.  Henry  Moor  says  about  our  compliances  with  the  Papists,  which  are  a  sort  of  Pagans, 
"  Their  conversion  and  salvation  being  not  to  be  compassed  by  needless  symbolizing  with  them  in 
any  thing,  I  conceive  our  best  policy  is  studiously  to  imitate  them  in  nothing;  but,  for  all  indifferent 
things,  to  think  rather  the  worse  of  them  for  their  using  of  them,  as  no  person  of  honour  would  will- 
ingly go  in  the  known  garb  of  infamous  persons.  Whatsoever  we  court  them  in,  they  do  but  turn 
it  to  our  scorn  and  contempt,  and  are  the  more  hardened  in  their  own  wickedness."  To  act  upon 
this  principle,  is  the  design  and  glory  of  New-England  !  And  our  Eliot  was  of  this  perswasion,  when 
he  brought  his  Indians  to  a  pure,  plain  Scripture  worship.  He  would  not  gratify  them  with  a 
Samaritan  sort  of  blended,  mixed  worship;  and  he  imagined,  as  well  he  might,  that  the  Apostle 
Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  had  enough  in  it  for  ever  to  deter  us  all  froiu  such  unchristian 
and  unhappy  temporizing. 

(').  A  Comparison  between  what  the  New-Englanders  have  done  for  the  Conversion  of  the 
Indians,  and  what  has  been  done  elsewhere  by  the  Roman  Catholicks. — It  is  to  be  confessed,  that 
the  Roman  Catholicks  have  a  clergy  so  very  numerous,  and  so  little  encumbred,  and  are  masters  of 
such  prodigious  ecclesiastical  revenues,  as  renders  it  very  easy  for  them  to  exceed  the  Protestants 
in  their  endeavours  to  Christianize  the  Pagan  salvages.  Nor  would  I  reproach,  but  rather  applaud 
their  industry  in  this  matter,  wishing  that  we  were  all  touched  with  an  emulation  of  it.  Never- 
theless, while  I  commend  their  industry,  they  do  by  their  clamours  against  the  reforiued  churches 


572 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


tliinf,'  I  must  add,  which  I  h:id  almost  forgot,  that  there  are  many  of  the  Indians'  children 
wlio  have  learned  by  heart  the  catechism,  either  of  that  famous  divine  William  Perkins,  or 

upon  ihis  account  oblige  me  to  tax  divers  very  scandalous  things  in  the  missions  which  they  make 
pro  pruiingandd  fide*  throughout  the  world;  and  therewithal  to  compare  what  has  been  done  by 
that  little  handful  of  reformed  churches  in  this  country,  which  has  in  divers  regards  outdone  the 
furthest  efforts  of  Popery. 

The  attainments  which  with  God's  help  we  have  carried  up  our  Indians  unto,  are  the  chief  hon- 
our nnd  glory  of  our  labours  with  them.  The  reader  will  smile,  perhaps,  when  I  tell  him  that,  by 
an  odd  accident,  there  are  lately  fallen  into  my  hands  the  manuscripts  of  a  Jesuite,  whom  the  French 
employed  as  a  missionary  among  the  western  Indians;  in  which  papers  there  are  both  a  catechism, 
containing  the  principles  which  those  heathens  are  to  be  instructed  in  ;  and  cases  of  conscience, 
referring  to  their  conversations.  The  catechism,  which  is  in  the  Iroquoise  language,  (a  language 
remarkable  for  this,  that  there  is  not  so  much  as  one  labial  in  it,)  with  a  translation  annexed,  has 
one  chapter  about  heaven  and  another  about  hell,  wherein  are  such  thick-skulled  passages  as  these: 

Q.  How  is  the  soyl  made  in  hi'aven  ? 

A.  'Tis  a  very  fair  soyl,  thuy  want  neither  for  meats  nor  cloaths  ;  'tis  but  wishing,  and  we  have  them. 
Q,  Are  they  employed  In  heaven  ? 

A.  No,  they  do  nothing  j  the  fields  yield  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  and  the  like,  without  any  tillage. 
Q.  What  sort  ol"  trees  are  there? 
A.  Always  green,  full,  and  flourishing. 

Q,  Flavo  they  in  heaven  the  same  sun,  the  same  wind,  the  same  thunder  that  we  have  here? 
A.  No,  the  sun  ever  shines;  it  is  always  fair  weather. 
Q.  Bui  how  their  fruits? 

A.  In  this  one  quality  they  exceed  ours:  that  they  are  never  wasted;  you  have  no  sooner  plucked  one,  but  you 
Bee  another  presently  hanging  in  its  room. 

And  after  this  rate  goes  on  the  catechism  concerning  heaven.    Concerning  hell,  it  thus  discourses: 

Q.  What  sort  of  a  soyi  is  that  of  hell  ? 

A.  A  very  wretched  soyl ;  'tis  a  fiery  pit,  in  the  center  of  the  earth. 

Q.  Have  they  any  light  in  hell?  [ing  but  the  devils. 

A.  No.    'Tis  always  dark  ;  there  is  always  smoke  there ;  their  eyes  are  always  in  pain  with  it ;  they  can  see  noth- 
Q.  What  shaped  things  are  the  devils? 

A.  Very  ill-shaped  things ;  they  go  about  with  vizards  on,  and  they  terrify  men. 
Q.  What  do  they  eat  in  hell  ? 

A.  They  lire  always  hun/rry,  but  the  damned  feed  on  hot  ashes  and  serpents  there. 
Q.  What  water  have  they  to  drink  ? 
A.  Horrid  water;  nothing  b\lt  melted  lead. 
(i.  Don't  Ihey  die  in  hell? 

A.  No:  yet  they  eat  one  another  every  day ;  but  anon,  God  restores  and  renews  the  man  that  was  eaten,  as  a 
cropt  plant  in  a  little  time  repuUulates. 

It  seems  they  have  not  thought  this  divinity  too  gross  for  the  barbarians.  But  I  shall  make  no 
reflections  on  it ;  only  add  one  or  two  cases  of  conscience,  from  their  directory. 

It  is  one  of  their  weighty  cases,"  Whether  a  Christian  be  bound  to  pay  his  whore  her  hire  or  no?" 
To  this  Father  Brutas  answers,  "Though  he  be  bound  in  justice  to  do  it,  yet  inasmuch  as  the  bar- 
barians [and  you  must  suppose  their  whores  to  be  such]  use  to  keep  no  faith  in  such  matters,  the 
Christians  may  chuse  whether  they  will  keep  any  too."  But  Father  Pierron,  with  a  most  profound 
learnin-,  answers,  "  He  is  not  bound  unto  it  at  all ;  inasmuch  as  no  man  thinks  himself  bound  to  pay 
a  witch  that  has  enchanted  him ;  and  this  business  is  pretty  much  a  kin  to  that." — Another  of  their 
difficult  cases  is,  "  Whether  an  Indian  stealing  an  hatchet  from  a  Dutch-man  be  bound  to  make 
restitution?  And  it  is  very  conscientiously  determined,  that  if  the  Dutch-man  be  one  that  has  used 
any  trade  with  other  Indians,  the  thief  is  not  bound  unto  any  restitution ;  for  it  is  certain  he  gains 
more  by  such  a  trade  than  the  value  of  many  hatchets  in  a  year." 

I  will  tire  my  reader  with  no  more  of  this  wretched  stuff.  But  let  him  understand  that  the  pros- 
elyted Indians  of  New-England  have  been  instructed  at  a  more  noble  rate;  we  have  helpeii  them 
to  the  ".sincere  milk  of  the  word;"  we  have  given  them  the  lehole  Bible  in  their  own  language: 
we  have  laid  before  them  such  a  creed  as  the  primitive  believers  had,  with  such  explications  as  we 
embark  our  own  souls  upon  the  assurance  of     And  God  has  blessed  our  education  of  these  poor 

•  For  propagating  the  faith. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  573 

that  put  forth  by  the  assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster,  and  in  their  own  mother  tongue 
can  answer  to  all  the  questions  in  it. 

creatures  in  such  a  measure,  that  they  cap  pray  and  preach  to  better  edification  (give  me  leave  to 
say  it)  than  multitudes  of  the  Romish-clergymen.  We  could  have  baptised  many  troops  of  Indians, 
if  we  would  have  used  no  other  measures  with  them,  than  the  Roman  Catholicks  did  upon  theirs 
at  Maryland,  where  they  baptised  a  great  crew  of  Indians,  in  some  new  sAiris,  bestowed  upon  them 
to  encourage  them  thereunto ;  but  the  Indians,  in  a  week  or  two,  not  knowing  how  to  wash  their 
shirts  when  they  were  grown  foul,  came  and  made  a  motion  that  the  Roman  Catholicks  would  give 
more  shirts  to  them,  or  else  they  would  renounce  their  baptism.  No,  it  is  a  thorough-paced  Chris- 
tianity, without  which  we  have  not  imagined  our  Indians  Christianized. 

Nor  have  we  been  acted  with  a  Roman  Catholick  avarice,  and  falsity,  and  cruelty  in  prosecut- 
ing of  our  conversions;  it  is  the  spiirit  of  an  Eliot,  that  has  all  along  directed  us.  It  is  a  specimen 
of  the  Popi.-h  avarice  that  their  missionaries  are  very  rarely  employed  but  where  bever  and  silver 
and  vast  riches  are  to  be  thereby  gained ;  their  ministry  is  but  a  sort  of  engine  to  enrich  Europeans 
with  the  treasures  of  the  Indies ;  thus  one  escaped  from  captivity  among  the  Spaniards  told  me, 
that  the  Spanish  friars  had  carried  their  gospel  into  the  spacious  country  of  California,  but  finding 
the  Indians  there  to  be  extremely  poor,  they  quickly  gave  over  the  work,  because  forsooth  "  such  a 
poor  nation  was  not  worth  converting."  Whereas  the  New-Englanders  could  expect  nothing  from 
their  Indians.  We  are  to  feed  them  and  cloath  them,  rather  than  receive  any  thing  from  them, 
when  we  bring  them  home  to  God.  Again,  the  Popish  falsity  disposes  them  to  so  much  legerde- 
main in  their  applications,  as  is  very  disagreeable  to  the  spirit  and  progress  of  the  gospel.  My 
worthy  friend.  Mynheer  Dellius,  who  has  been  sedulous  and  successful  in  his  ministry  among  the 
Maquas,  assures  me  that  a  French  predicator,  having  been  attempting  to  bring  over  thore  Indians 
unto  the  interest  (not  of  our  Saviour  so  much  as)  of  Canada,  at  last,  for  a  cure  of  their  infidelity, 
told  them  he  would  give  them  a  sign  of  God's  displeasure  at  them  for  it :  the  sun  should  such  a  day 
he  put  out.  This  terrified  them  at  a  sad  rate,  and  with  great  admiration  and  expectation  they  told 
the  Dutch  of  what  was  to  come  to  pass;  the  Dutch  replied,  "This  was  no  more  than  every  child 
among  them  could  foretel;  they  all  knew  there  would  then  be  an  eclipse  of  the  sun;  but  (said  they) 
speak  to  Monsieur,  that  he  would  get  the  sun  extinguished  a  day  before,  or  a  day  after,  what  he 
spoke  of,  and  if  he  can  do  that,  believe  him."  When  the  Indians  thus  understood  what  a  trick  the 
French-man  would  have  put  upon  them,  they  became  irreconcilcably  prejudiced  against  all  his 
offers  ;  nor  have  the  French  been  since  able  to  gain  much  upon  that  considerable  people.  The 
New-Englanders  have  used  no  such  stratagems  and  knaveries;  it  is  the  pure  light  of  truth,  which 
is  all  that  has  been  used  for  the  aflfecting  of  the  rude  people  whom  it  was  easy  to  have  cheated 
into  our  profession.  Much  less  have  we  used  that  Popish  cruelty  which  the  natives  of  America 
have  by  some  other  people  been  treated  with.  Even  a  bishop  of  their  own  hath  published  very 
tracical  histories  of  the  Spanish  cruelties  upon  the  Indians  of  this  western  world.  Such  were  those 
cruelties,  that  the  Indians  at  length  declared,  "they  had  rather  go  to  hell  with  their  ancestors,  than 
to  the  same  heaven  which  the  Spaniards  pretended  unto."  It  is  indeed  impossible  to  reckon  up 
the  various  and  exquisite  barbarities  with  which  these  execrable  Spaniards  murdered  in  less  than 
fifty  years  no  less  than  fifty  millions  of  the  Indians;  it  seems  this  was  their  way  of  bringing  them 
into  the  sheepfold  of  our  merciful  Jesus!  But,  on  the  other  side,  the  good  people  of  New-England 
have  carried  it  with  so  much  tenderness  towards  the  tawny  creatures  among  whom  we  live,  that 
they  would  not  own  so  much  as  one  foot  of  land  in  the  country,  without  a  fair  purchase  and  consent 
from  the  natives  that  laid  claim  unto  it ;  albeit,  we  had  a  royal  charter  from  the  King  of  Great- 
Britain  to  protect  us  in  our  settlement  upon  this  continent. 

I  suppose  it  was  in  revenge  upon  us  for  this  conscientiousness,  that  tlie  late  oppressors  of  New- 
England  acknowledged  no  man  to  have  any  title  at  all  unto  one  foot  of  land  in  all  our  colony. 
But  we  did  and  we  do  think,  notwithstanding  the  banters  of  those  tories,  that  the  Indians  had  not 
by  their  Paganism  so  forfeited  all  right  unto  any  of  their  possessions,  that  the  first  pretended  Chris- 
tians that  could,  might  violently  and  yet  honestly  seize  upon  them.  Instead  of  this,  the  people  of 
New-Eno-land,  knowing  that  some  of  the  English  were  sufficiently  covetous  and  encroaching,  and 
that  the  Indians  in  streights  are  easily  prevailed  upon  to  sell  their  lands,  made  a  law,  "That  none 
should  purchase,  or  so  much  as  receive  any  land  of  the  Indians,  without  the  allowance  of  the  court." 


574 


M  A  (J  N  A  L  I  A    C  II  K  I  8  T I    A  M  E  K  I  C  A  N  A ; 


But  I  must  end.  I  salute  the  famous  professors  in  your  uiii\  ereity,  to  whom  I  desire  yon 
to  coiiimuiucate  this  letter,  as  written  to  them  also. 

Yea,  and  some  Iniuis  which  were  peculiarly  convenient  for  tlie  Indians,  our  people,  who  were  more 
careful  of  them  than  thi-y  were  of  themselves,  made  a  law,  "  thai  they  should  never  be  bought  out 
of  their  hands."  I  suppose  after  this  it  would  surprise  mankind,  if  they  should  hear  such  wonder- 
ful creatures  as  our  late  secretary  Randolph  affirming,  "  This  barbarous  people  were  never  civilly 
treated  by  the  late  government,  w^ho  made  it  their  business  to  encroach  upon  their  lands,  and  by 
degrees  to  drive  them  out  of  all."  But  how  many  other  laws  we  made  in  favour  of  the  Indians, 
it  is  not  easy  to  reckon  up. 

It  was  one  of  our  laws,  "That  for  the  further  encouragement  of  the  hopeful  work  among  them, 
for  the  civilizing  and  Chrisliani/ing  of  them,  any  Indian  that  should  be  brought  unto  civility,  and 
come  to  live  orderly  in  any  English  plantation,  should  have  such  allotments  among  the  English,  as 
the  English  had  themselves.  And  that  if  a  competent  number  of  them  should  so  come  on  to  civil- 
ity as  to  be  capable  of  a  township,  the  General  Court  should  grant  them  lands  for  a  plantation  as 
they  do  unto  the  English,"  although  we  had  already  bought  up  their  claims  unto  our  lands.  We 
Hkcwise  had  our  laws,  "That  if  any  of  our  cattle  did  any  damage  to  their  corn,  we  should  make 
them  ample  satisfaction  ;  and  that  we  should  give  them  all  manner  of  assistance  in  fencing  of  their 
fields."  And  because  the  Indians  are  excessively  given  unto  the  vice  of  drunkenness,  which  was 
a  vice  unknown  to  them  until  the  English  brought  strong  drink  in  their  way,  we  have  had  a  severe 
law  against  all  selling  or  giving  any  into.xicating  liquors  to  them.  It  were  well  if  this  law  were 
more  severely  executed. 

By  this  time  I  hope  I  have  stopped  the  calumnious  exclamations  of  the  Roman  Catholicks  against 
the  churches  of  the  reformation,  for  neglecting  to  evangelize  the  natives  of  the  Indies.  But  let  me 
take  this  occasion  to  address  the  Christian  Indians  of  my  own  country,  into  some  of  whose  hands, 
it  is  likely,  this  little  book  may  come: 

T  "  Behold,  ye  Indians,  what  love,  what  care,  what  cost,  has  been  used  by  the  English  here,  for 
the  salvation  of  your  precious  and  immortal  souls.  It  is  not  because  we  have  expected  any  tem- 
poral advantage  from  you  that  we  have  been  thus  concerned  for  your  good ;  no,  it  is  God  that  has 
caused  us  to  desire  his  glory  in  your  salvation  ;  and  our  hearts  have  bled  with  pity  over  you,  when 
we  have  seen  how  horribly  the  devil  oppressed  you  in  this,  and  destroyed  you  in  another  world.  It 
is  much  that  has  been  done  for  you;  we  have  put  you  into  a  way  to  be  happy  both  on  earth  while 
you  live,  and  in  heaven  when  you  die.  What  can  you  think  will  become  of  you,  if  you  slight  all 
these  glorious  offers!  Methinks  you  should  say  to  your  selves,  Vttoh  weh  kittinne  pch  quoh  humu- 
nan  mishanantamog  nc  mohsag  ifadchanittuonk  J  You  all  believe  that  your  teacher  Eliot  was  a 
good  and  a  brave  man,  and  you  would  count  it  your  blessedness  to  be  for  ever  with  him.  Never- 
theless, I  am  to  tell  you,  that  if  you  do'nt  become  real,  and  thorough,  and  holy  Christians,  you  shall 
never  have  a  comfortable  sight  of  him  any  more.  You  know  how  he  has  fed  you,  and  cloathcd 
you,  as  well  as  taught  you;  you  know  how  his  bowels  yearned  over  you,  even  as  though  you  had 
been  his  children,  when  he  saw  any  afflictions  come  upon  you?  but  if  he  find  you  among  the 
wicked,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  which  he  so  often  warned  you  of,  he  will  then  be  a  dreadful  witness 
against  you,  and  when  the  Lord  .lesus  passes  thai  sentence  on  you, '  Depart  ye  cursed  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  with  the  devil  and  his  angels,'  even  your  own  Eliot  will  then  say  amen  unto  it  all. 
Now,  to  deal  plainly  with  you,  there  are  two  vices  which  many  of  you  are  too  prone  unto,  and 
which  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  a  true  Christianity.  One  of  those  vices,  is  that  of  idleness. 
If  you  had  a  disposition  to  follow  an  honest  calling,  what  should  hinder  you  from  growing  as  con- 
sidernble  in  your  estates  as  many  of  your  English  neighbours?  whereas,  you  are  now  poor,  mean, 
ragged,  .starved,  contemptible  and  miserable;  and  instead  of  being  able,  as  your  English  neigh- 
bours do,  to  support  the  ordinances  of  God,  you  are  beholden  to  them,  not  only  for  maintaining 
of  those  blessed  ordinances  among  you,  but  for  many  other  kindnesses.  And  have  you  indeed 
forgot  the  commandmrnt  of  God,  which  has  been  so  often  laid  before  you, 'Six  days  shall  thou 
labour  1'  For  shame,  apply  your  selves  to  such  labour  as  may  bring  you  into  more  handsome  cir- 
cumstances. But  the  other  of  these  vices  is  that  of  drunkenness.  There  are  godly  English 
neighbours,  of  whom  you  should  learn  to  pray ;  but  there  are  some  of  you  that  learn  to  drink, 
of  other  profane,  debauched   English  neighbours.     Poor  creatures,  it  is  by  this  iniquity  that  Satan 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  575 

Farewel,  worthy  sir;  the  Lord  preserve  your  health  for  the  benefit  of  your  country,  his 
church,  and  of  learning.  Yours  ever,  Increase  Mather. 

Boston  in  JVctc- England,  July  12,  1687. 

Still  keeps  possession  of  many  souls  among  you,  as  much  as  if  you  were  still  in  all  your  woful 
heathenism;  and  how  often  have  you  been  told,  'Drunkards  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God?'  I  beseech  you  to  be  sensible  of  the  mischiefs  to  which  this  thing  exposes  you,  and  never 
dream  of  escaping  the  'vengeance  of  eternal  fire,'  if  you  indulge  your  selves  in  this  accursed  thing. 
"  I  have  done,  when  I  have  wished  that  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  may  always  '  run  and  be 
glorified  among  you  !' " 


THE    CONCLUSION;    OR,    ELIOT    EXPIRING. 

By  this  time,  I  have  doubtless  made  my  reader  loth  to  have  me  tell 
what  now  remains  of  this  little  history;  doubtless  they  are  wishing  that 
this  John  might  have  "tarried  unto  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord." 
But,  alas!  all-devouring  death  at  last  snatched  him  from  us,  and  slighted 
all  those  lamentations  of  ours,  "My  father,  my  father,  the  chariots  of 
Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof!" 

When  he  was  become  a  sort  of  Miles  Emeritus,  and  began  to  draw  near 
his  erid,  he  grew  still  more  heavenly,  more  savoury,  more  divine,  and 
scented  more  of  the  spicy  country  at  which  he  was  ready  to  put  ashore. 
As  the  historian  observes  of  Tiberius,  that  when  his  life  and  strength 
were  going  from  him,  his  vice  jei  remained  with  him;  on  the  contrary, 
the  grace  of  this  excellent  man  rather  increased  than  abated,  when  every 
thing  else  was  dying  with  him.  It  is  too  usual  with  old  men,  that  when 
they  are  past  work,  they  are  least  sensible  of  their  inabilities  and  incapa- 
cities, and  can  scarce  endure  to  see  another  succeeding  them  in  any  part 
of  their  office.  But  our  Eliot  was  of  a  temper  quite  contrary  thereunto; 
for  finding,  many  months  before  his  expiration,  that  he  had  not  strength 
enough  to  edify  his  congregation  with  publick  praj^ers  and  sermons,  he 
importuned  his  people  with  some  impatience  to  call  another  minister; 
professing  himself  unable  to  die  with  comfort  until  he  could  see  a  good 
successor  ordained,  settled,  fixed  among  them.  For  this  cause  he  also 
cried  mightily  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  ascended  Lord,  that  he 
would  give  such  a  gift,  unto  Eoxbury,  and  he  sometimes  called  his  whole 
town  together  to  join  with  him  in  a  fast  for  such  a  blessing.  As  the 
return  of  their  supplications,  our  Lord  quickly  bestowed  upon  them  a 
person  young  in  years,  but  old  in  discretion,  gravity  and  experience;  and 
one  whom  the  church  of  Roxbury  hopes  to  find  "a  pastor  after  God's 
own  heart." 

It  was  Mr.  Nehemiah  Walter,  who  being  by  the  unanimous  vote  and 
choice  of  the  church  there  become  the  pastor  of  Roxbury,  immediately 
found  the  venerable  Eliot  embracing  and  cherishing  of  him  with  the  ten- 
der affections  of  a  father.     The  good  old  man,  like  old  Aaron,  as  it  were, 


f57g  MAGNA  LIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

disrobed  himself  with  an  unspeakable  satisfaction  when  he  beheld  his 
garments  put  upon  a  son  so  dear  unto  him.  After  this,  he  for  a  year  or 
two  before  his  translation  could  scarce  be  perswaded  unto  any  puhlick  ser- 
vice, but  humbly  pleaded,  what  none  but  he  would  ever  have  said,  "It 
would  be  a  wrong  to  the  souls  of  the  people,  for  him  to  do  any  thing 
among  them,  when  they  were  supplied  so  much  to  their  advantage  other- 
wise." If  I  mistake  not,  the  last  that  ever  he  preached  was  on  a  publick 
/'ast,  when  he  fed  his  people  Avith  a  very  distinct  and  useful  exposition 
upon  the  eighty-third  psalm;  and  he  concluded  with  an  apology,  begging 
his  hearers  to  pardon  the  2'>oorness,  and  meanness,  and  brokenness,  (as  he 
called  it)  of  his  meditations;  but,  added  he,  "My  dear  brother  here  Avill 
by'nd  by  mend  all." 

But  although  he  thus  dismissed  himself,  as  one  so  near  to  the  age  of 
ninety  might  well  have  done,  from  his  publick  labours,  yet  he  would  not 
give  over  his  endeavours,  in  a  more  private  sphere,  to  "do  good  unto 
all."  He  had  always  been  an  enemy  to  idleness;  any  one  that  should 
look  into  the  little  diary  that  he  kept  in  his  Almanacks,  would  see  that 
there  was  with  him,  "no  day  without  a  line;"  and  he  was  troubled  par- 
ticularly when  he  saw  how  much  time  was  devoured  by  that  slavery  to 
tobacco,  which  too  many  debase  themselves  unto;  and  now  he  grew  old, 
he  was  desirous  that  his  ^vo7-Jcs  should  hold  pace  with  his  life;  the  less 
time  he  saw  hft,  the  less  was  he  willing  to  have  lost  He  imagined  that 
he  could  now  do  nothing  to  any  purpose  in  any  service  for  God;  and 
sometimes  he  would  say,  with  an  air  peculiar  to  himself,  "I  wonder  for 
what  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  lets  me  live;  he  knows  that  now  I  can  do 
nothing  for  him!"  And  yet  he  could  not  forbear  essaying  to  do  somethinrf 
for  his  Lord ;  he  conceived  that  though  the  English  could  not  be  benefited 
by  any  gifts  which  he  now  fjincied  himself  to  have  only  the  ruins  of,  yet 
who  can  tell  but  the  negroes  might!  He  had  long  lamented  it,  with  a 
bleeding  and  a  burning  passion,  that  the  English  used  their  negroes  but  as 
their  horses  or  their  oxen,  and  that  so  little  care  was  taken  about  their 
immortal  souls;  he  looked  upon  it  as  a  prodigy  that  any  wearing  the 
name  of  Christians,  should  so  much  have  the  heart  of  devils  in  them,  as  to 
prevent  and  hinder  the  instruction  of  the  poor  blackamores,  and  confine 
the  souls  of  their  miserable  slaves  to  a  destroying  ignorance,  meerly  for 
fear  of  thereby  losing  the  benefit  of  their  vassalage;  but  now  he  made  a 
motion  to  the  English  within  two  or  three  miles  of  him,  that  at  such  a 
time  and  place  they  would  send  their  negroes  once  a  week  unto  him :  for 
he  would  then  catechise  them,  and  enlighten  them,  to  the  utmost  of  his 
power  in  the  things  of  their  everlasting  peace.  However,  he  did  not  live 
to  make  much  progress  in  this  undertaking. 

At  length,  when  he  was  able  to  do  little  without  doors,  he  tryed  then  to 
do  something  within ;  and  one  thing  was  this:  A  young  boy  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood had  in  his  infancy  fallen  into  a  fire,  so  as  to  burn  himself  into 


OR,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  577 

a  perfect  blindness ;  but  this  boy  being  now  grown  to  some  bigness,  the 
good  old  man  took  him  home  to  his  house,  with  some  intentions  to  make 
a  scholar  of  him.  He  first  informed  him  of  and  from  the  Scripture,  in 
which  the  boy  so  profited,  that  in  a  little  time  he  could  even  repeat  many 
whole  chapters  verbatim,  and  if  any  other  in  reading  missed  a  word,  he 
would  mind  them  of  it;  yea,  and  an  ordinary  piece  of  Latin  was  become 
easy  to  the  lad;  but  having  his  own  eyes  closed  by  death,  he  could  no 
longer  help  the  poor  child  against  the  want  of  his. 

Thus,  as  the  aged  Polycarp  could  say,  "These  eighty-six  years  have  I 
served  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  he  has  been  such  a  good  master  to  me 
all  this  while,  that  I  will  not  now  forsake  him."  Such  a  Polycarp  was 
our  Eliot;  he  had  been  so  many  years  engaged  in  the  sweet  service  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  could  not  now  give  it  over:  it  was  his  ambi- 
tion and  his  privilege  "to  bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age;"  and  what  venera- 
tion the  church  of  Smyrna  paid  unto  that  angel  of  theirs,  we  were  upon 
the  like  accounts  willing  to  give  unto  this  "man  of  God." 

While  he  was  thus  making  his  retreat  out  of  this  evil  world,  his  dis- 
courses from  time  to  time  ran  upon  "the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;"  it  was  the  theme  which  he  still  had  recourse  unto,  and  we  were 
sure  to  have  something  of  this,  whatever  other  subject  he  were  upon. 
On  this  he  talked,  on  this  he  prayed,  for  this  he  longed,  and  especially 
when  any  bad  news  arrived,  his  usual  reflection  thereupon  would  be, 
"Behold  some  of  the  clouds  in  which  we  must  look  for  the  coming' of 
the  Son  of  man."  At  last  his  Lord,  for  whom  he  had  been  long  wishing 
— "Lord,  come!  I  have  been  a  great  while  ready  for  thy  coming" — at  last, 
I  say,  his  Lord  came  and  fetched  him  away  into  the  "joy  of  his  Lord." 

He  fell  into  some  languishments  attended  with  a  fever,  which  in  a  few 
days  brought  him  into  the  pangs  (may  I  say?  or  joys)  of  death;  and  while 
he  lay  in  these,  Mr.  Walter  coming  to  him,  he  said  unto  him,  "Brother, 
thou  art  welcome  to  my  very  soul.  Pray  retire  to  thy  study  for  me,  and 
give  me  leave  to  be  gone ;"  meaning  that  he  should  not,  by  petitions  to 
Heaven  for  his  life,  detain  him  here.  It  was  in  these  languishments  that, 
speaking  about  the  work  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  he  did  after 
this  heavenly  manner  express  himself:  "There  is  a  cloud,  (said  he)  a  dark 
cloud  upon  the  work  of  the  gospel  among  the  poor  Indians.  The  Lord 
revive  and  prosper  that  work,  and  grant  it  may  live  when  I  am  dead.  It 
is  a  work  which  I  have  been  doing  much  and  long  about. — But  what  was 
the  word  I  spoke  last?  I  recall  that  word,  my  doinys!  Alas,  they  have 
been  poor  and  small,  and  lean  doing,  and  I'll  be  the  man  that  shall  throw 
the  first  stone  at  them  all." 

It  has  been  observed  that  they  who  have  spoke  many  considerable 
tilings  in  their  lives,  usually  speak  few  at  their  deaths.  But  it  was  other- 
wise with  our  Eliot,  who,  after  much  speech  of  and  for  God  in  his  life- 
time, uttered  some  things  little  short  of  o?-acZe5  on  his  death-bed,  which  'tis 
Vol.  L— 37 


578 


MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


a  thousand  pities  they  were  not  more  exactly  regarded  and  recorded. 
Those  authors  that  have  taken  the  pains  to  collect  ApojyJuhegmaia  Mori- 
entum*  have  not  therein  been  unserviceable  to  the  living;  but  the  Apo- 
phthegms of  a  dying  Eliot  must  have  had  in  them  a  grace  and  a  strain 
truly  extraordinary;  and  indeed  the  vulgar  error  of  the  signal  sweetness 
in  the  song  of  a  dying  swan,  was  a  very  truth  in  our  expiring  Eliot;  his 
last  breath  smelt  strong  of  heaven,  and  was  articled  into  none  but  very 
gracious  notes;  one  of  the  last  whereof  was,  "Welcome joy  1"  and  at  last 
it  went  away,  calling  upon  the  standers  by  to  "Pray,  pray,  pray!"  which 
was  the  thing  in  which  so  vast  a  portion  of  it  had  been  before  employed. 

This  was  the  peace  in  the  end  of  this  "perfect  and  upright  man;"  thus 
was  there  another  star  fetched  away  to  be  placed  among  the  rest  that  the 
third  heaven  is  now  enriched  with.  He  had  once,  I  think,  a  pleasant  fear 
that  the  old  saints  of  his  acquaintance,  especially  those  two  dearest  neigh- 
bours of  his.  Cotton  of  Boston,  and  Mather  of  Dorchester,  which  were 
got  safe  to  heaven  before  him,  would  suspect  him  to  be  gone  the  wrong 
way,  because  he  staid  so  long  behind  them.  But  they  are  now  together 
with  a  blessed  Jesus,  "beholding  of  his  glory,"  and  celebrating  the  high 
praises  of  him  that  has  "called  them  into  his  marvellous  light."  Whether 
heaven  was  any  more  heaven  to  him,  because  of  his  finding  there  so  many 
saints  with  whom  he  once  had  his  desirable  intimacies — yea,  and  so  many 
saints  which  had  been  the  seals  of  his  own  ministry  in  this  lower  world — 
I  cannot  say;  but  it  would  be  heaven  enough  unto  him  to  go  unto  that 
Jesus  whom  he  had  loved,  preached,  served,  and  in  whom  he  had  been 
long  assured  there  does  all  fulness  dwell.  In  that  heaven  I  now  leave 
him;  not  without  Grynteus'  pathetical  exclamations,  [0  beatum  ilium 
diemf]  "Blessed  will  be  the  day,  0  blessed  the  day  of  our  arrival  to  the 
glorious  assembly  of  spirits,  which  this  great  saint  is  now  rejoicing  with !" 

Bereaved  New-England,  where  are  thy  tears  at  this  ill-boding  funeral? 
We  had  a  tradition  among  us,  "That  the  country  could  never  perish  as 
long  as  Eliot  was  alive."  But  into  whose  hands  must  this  Hippo  fall, 
now  the  Austin  of  it  is  taken  away?  Our  Elisha  is  gone,  and  now  who 
must  "next  year  invade  the  land?"  The  Jews  have  a  saying,  Quando 
Luminaria patiuntur  Ech'psin,  malum  signum  est  m,undo\\  but  I  am  sure  it 
is  a  dismal  eclipse  that  has  now  befallen  our  New-England  world,  I  con- 
fess many  of  the  ancients  fell  into  the  vanity  of  esteeming  the  reliques  cjf 
the  dead  saints  to  be  the  towers  and  ramjmrts  of  the  places  that  enjoyed 
them;  and  the  dead  bodies  of  two  apostles  in  the  city  made  the  poet 
cry  out, 

..4  Facie  Ilostili  duo  prupugnacula  prcesunt.t 

If  the  dust  of  dead  saints  could  give  us  any  protection,  we  are  not 
without  it;  here  is  a  spot  of  American  soyl  that  will  afford  a  rich  crop 

•  Apophthegms  of  Ihe  dying.         t  \\hon  the  great  luminaries  undergo  an  eclipse,  it  is  a  bad  sign  for  mankind. 
X  Two  bulworlts  guard  us  from  tho  ajiproaching  foe. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  579 

of  it  at  the  "resurrection  of  the  just."  Poor  New-England  has  been  as 
Glastenbury  of  old  was  called,  "a  burying  place  of  saints."  But  we  can- 
not see  a  more  terrible  prognostick  than  tombs  filling  apace  with  such 
bones  as  those  of  the  renowned  Eliot's;  the  whole  building  of  this  coun- 
trj'  trembles  at  the  fall  of  such  a  pillar. 

For  many  months  before  he  dyed,  he  would  often  chearfully  tell  us, 
"That  he  was  shortly  going  to  heaven,  and  that  he  would  carry  a  deal 
of  good  news  thither  with  him ;  he  said,  he  would  carry  tidings  to  the 
old  founders  of  New-England,  which  were  now  in  glory,  that  church- 
work  was  yet  carried  on  among  us;  that  the  number  of  our  churches 
was  continually  encreasing;  and  that  the  churches  were  still  kept  as 
big  as  they  were,  by  the  daily  additions  of  those  that  shall  be  saved." 
But  the  going  of  such  as  he  from  us,  will  apace  diminish  the  occasions  of 
such  happy  tidings. 

What  shall  we  now  say?  Our  Eliot  himself  used  most  affectionately 
to  bewail  the  death  of  all  useful  men ;  yet  if  one  brought  him  the  notice 
of  such  a  thing  with  any  despondencies,  or  said,  "0,  sir,  such  an  one  is 
dead,  what  shall  we  do?"  he  would  answer,  "Well,  but  God  lives,  'Christ 
lives,  the  old  Saviour  of  New-England  yet  lives,  and  he  will  reign  till  all 
his  enemies  are  made  his  footstool."  This,  and  only  this,  consideration 
have  we  to  relieve  us;  and  let  it  be  accompanied  with  our  addresses  to  the 
"God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,"  that  there  may  be  Timothies  raised  up 
in  the  room  of  our  departed  Pauls;  and  that  when  our  Moses's  are  gone, 
the  spirit  which  was  in  those  brave  men  may  be  put  upon  the  surviving 
"elders  of  our  Israel.-" 

The  last  thing  that  ever  our  Eliot  put  off  was,  "the  care  of  all  the 
churches,"  which  with  a  most  apostolical  and  evangelical  temper  he  was 
continually  solicitous  about.  When  the  churches  of  New-England  were 
under  a  very  uncomfortable  prospect,  by  the  advantage  which  men  that 
sought  the  ruine  of  those  golden  and  holy  and  reformed  societies  had 
obtained  against  them,  God  put  it  into  the  heart  of  one  well  known  in 
these  churches  to  take  a  voyage  into  England,  that  he  might  b}'  his  medi- 
ations at  Whitehall  divert  the  storms  that  were  impending  over  us.  It  is 
not  easy  to  express  whOjJ:  affection  our  aged  Eliot  prosecuted  this  under- 
taking with ;  and  what  thanksgiving  he  rendered  unto  God  for  any  hopeful 
successes  of  it.  But  because  one  of  the  last  times,  and,  for  ought  I  know, 
the  last  of  his  ever  setting  pen  to  paper  in  the  world,  was  upon  this  occa- 
sion; I  shall  transcribe  a  short  letter,  which  was  written  by  the  shaking 
hand  that  had  heretofore  by  writing  deserved  so  well  from  the  Church  of 
God,  but  was  now  taking  its  leave  of  writing  for  ever.  It  was  written  to 
the  person  that  was  engaging  for  us,  and  thus  it  ran : 

"Reverend  AND  Beloved  Mr.  Increase  Mather:  I  cannot  write.  Read  Neh.  ii.  10; 
When  Sanbaliat  the  Horonite,  and  Tobijah  the  servant,  the  Ammonite,  heard  of  it;  it  grieved 
them  exceedingly,  that  there  was  come  a  man  to  seek  the  welfare  of  the  children  of  Isr  el 


680 


MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMEKICANA; 


•*  Ix-t  thy  Wpsscd  soul  feed  full  and  fat  upon  this  and  other  scriptures.  All  other  things 
I  leave  to  other  men ;  and  rest, 

"  Your  loving  Brother,  "John  Eliot." 

These  two  or  three  lines  manifest  the  "care  of  the  churches"  which 
breathed  in  this  great  old  man,  as  long  as  he  had  a  breath  to  draw  in  the 
world.  And  since  he  has  left  few  like  him  for  a  comprehensive  and  uni- 
versal regard  unto  the  prosperity  of  all  the  flocks  in  this  wilderness,  we 
have  little  now  to  comfort  us  in  the  loss  of  one  so  like  a  patriarch  among 
us,  but  only  this,  that  our  poor  churches,  it  may  be  hoped,  have  still  some 
interest  in  the  cares  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "Who  walks  in  the  midst 
of  the  golden  candlesticks."  Lord !  make  our  churches  and  keep  them  yet 
golden  candlesticks !     Amen. 

But  I  have  not  obtained  the  end  of  this  history^  nor  may  I  let  this  history 
come  to  an  end^  until  I  do  with  some  importunity  bespeak  the  endeavours 
of  good  men  every  where  to  labour  in  that  harvest  which  the  blessed 
Eliot  justly  counted  worthy  of  his  utmost  pains  and  cares.  It  was  the 
confession  of  Themistocles,  that  the  victory  of  Miltiades  would  not  let 
him  sleep  in  quietness;  may  those  of  our  Eliot  raise  a  like  emulation  in 
those  that  have  now  seen  the  life  of  this  evangelical  hero!  One  Robert 
Baily  (a  true  son  of  Epiphanius)  many  years  ago  published  a  book,  wherein 
several  gross  lies,  by  which  the  name  of  that  John  Cotton,  who  was  known 
to  be  one  of  the  holiest  men  then  alive,  was  most  injuriously  made  odious 
unto  the  churches  abroad,  were  accompanied  with  some  reflections  upon 
poor  New-England,  whereof  this  was  one:  "The  way  of  their  churches 
hath  most  exceedingly  hindred  the  conversion  of  the  poor  pagans:  of  all 
■that  ever  crossed  the  American  seas,  they  are  noted  as  most  neglectful  of 
the  work  of  conversion."  We  have  now  seen  those  aspersions  and  cal- 
umnies abundantly  wiped  away.  But  let  that  which  has  been  the  vindi- 
cation of  New-England,  be  also  the  emulation  of  the  world;  let  not  poor 
little  New-England  be  the  only  Protestant  country  that  shall  do  any  nota- 
ble thing  for  "the  propagation  of  the  fliith,"  unto  those  "dark  corners  of 
the  earth  which  are  full  of  cruel  habitations."  But  the  addresses  of  so 
mean  a  person  as  my  self  are  like  to  prevail  but  little  abroad  with  men  of 
learning  and  figure  in  the  world.  However,  I  shall  presume  to  utter  my 
wishes  in  the  sight  of  my  readers ;  and  it  is  possible  that  the  great  God, 
who  "despises  not  the  prayer  of  the  poor,"  may,  by  the  influences  of  his 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  hearts  of  some  whose  eyes  are  upon  these  lines,  give 
a  blessed  answer  thereunto. 

Wlicrofore,  may  the  people  of  New-England,  who  have  seen  so  sensible 
a  dilTorence  between  the  estates  of  those  that  sell  drink  and  of  those  that 
preach  truth  unto  the  miserable  salvages  among  them,  as  that  even  this 
alone  might  insi)ire  them,  yet  from  a  nobler  consideration  than  that  of 
their  own  outward  prosperity  thereby  advanced,  be  encouraged  still  to  pros- 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  581 

ecute,  first  the  civilizing^  and  then  the  Christianizing  of  the  barbarians  in 
their  neighbourhood ;  and  may  the  New-Englanders  be  so  far  politick,  as 
well  as  religious,  as  particularly  to  make  a  mission  of  the  gospel  unto  the 
mighty  nations  of  the  Western  Indians,  whom  the  French  have  been  of 
late  so  studiously,  but  so  unsuccessfully  tampering  with;  lest  those  horrid 
pagans,  who  lately  (as  it  is  credibly  affirmed)  had  such  a  measure  of  devil- 
ism  and  insolence  in  them,  as  to  shoot  a  volley  of  great  and  small  shot 
against  the  heavens,  in  revenge  upon  "the  man  in  the  heavens,"  as  tliey 
called  our  Lord,  whom  they  counted  the  author  of  the  heavy  calamities 
which  newly  have  distressed  them ;  be  found  spared  by  our  long-suffering 
Lord,  [who  then  indeed  presently  tore  the  ground  asunder,  with  immediate 
and  horrible  thunders  from  heaven  round  about  them,  but  killed  them  not!] 
for  a  scourge  to  us,  that  have  not  used  our  advantages  to  make  a  vertuous 
people  of  them.  If  a  King  of  the  West  Saxons  long  since  ascribed  all  the 
disasters  on  any  of  their  affairs  to  negligencies  in  this  point,  methinks  the 
New-Englanders  may  not  count  it  unreasonable  in  this  way  to  seek  their 
own  prosperity.  Shall  we  do  what  we  can  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  ' 
bestow  upon  America  (which  may  more  justly  be  called  Coluw^ha*)  that 
salutation,  "0  my  dove!" 

May  the  several  plantations,  that  live  upon  the  labours  of  their  negroes, 
no  more  be  guilty  of  such  a  prodigious  wickedness  as  to  deride,  neglect, 
and  oppose  all  due  means  of  bringing  their  poor  negroes  unto  our  Lord ; 
but  may  the  masters  (of  whom  God  will  one  day  require  the  souls  of  the 
slaves  committed  unto  them)  see  to  it  that,  like  Abraham,  they  have  "cat- 
echised servants;"  and  not  imagine  that  the  Almighty  God  made  so  many 
thousands  of  reasonable  creatures  for  nothing,  but  only  to  serve  the  lusts 
of  Epicures,  or  the  gains  of  Mammonists;  lest  the  God  of  heaven,  out  of 
meer  pity,  if  not  justice,  unto  those  unhappy  blacks,  he  provoked  unto  a 
vengeance  which  may  not  without  horrour  be  thought  upon.  Lord,  when 
shall  we  see  Ethiopians  read  thy  Scriptures  with  understanding! 

May  the  English  nation  do  what  may  be  done,  that  the  Welch  may  not 
be  destroyed  for  the  lack  of  knowledge,  lest  our  indisposition  to  do  for 
their  souls  bring  upon  us  all  those  judgments  of  Heaven  which  Gildas 
their  country-man  once  told  them  that  they  suffered  for  their  disregards 
unto  ours;  and  may  the  nefandous  massacres  of  the  English  by  the  Irish 
awaken  the  English  to  consider  whether  they  have  done  enough  to  reclaim 
the  Irish  from  the  Popish  bigotries  and  abominations  with  which  they 
have  been  intoxicated ! 

May  the  several  factories  and  companies  whose  concerns  lie  in  Asia, 
Africa,  or  America,  be  perswaded,  as  Jacob  once,  and  before  him  his 
grandfather  Abraham  was,  that  they  always  owe  unto  God  certain  propor- 
iio7is  of  their  possessions,  by  the  \\ones,i  payments  of  which  little  quit-rents, 
they  would  certainly  secui-e  and  enlarge  their  enjoyment  of  the  principal; 

*  A  dove. 


582 


MAQNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 


])Ut  that  tlicy  are  under  a  very  particular  obligation  to  communicate  of 
our  spiritual  tJiiwjs  unto  those  heathens  by  whose  carnal  things  tliey  are 
enriched-  and  may  they  therefore  make  it  their  study  to  employ  some  able 
and  pious  ministers,  for  the  instruction  of  those  infideh  with  whom  they 
have  to  deal,  and  honourably  support  such  ministers  in  that  employment! 

May  the  poor  Greeks,  Armenians,  Muscovites,  and  others,  in  the  eastern 
countries,  wearing  the  name  of  Christians,  that  have  little  i^reachiiig  and 
no  printing,  and  few  Bibles  or  good  books,  now  at  last  be  furnished  wiiii 
Bibles,  orthodox  catechisms,  and  practical  treatises  by  the  charity  of  Eng- 
land; and  may  our  presses  provide  good  store  of  good  books  for  them, 
in  their  own  tongues,  to  be  scattered  among  them.  Who  knows  what 
convulsions  might  be  hastened  upon  the  whole  Mahometan  world  by  such 
an  extensive  charity ! 

May  suflicient  numbers  of  great,  wise,  rich,  learned,  and  godly  men  in 
the  three  kingdoms,  procure  well-composed  societies,  by  whose  united  coun- 
sels, the  noble  design  of  evangelizing  the  world  may  be  more  effectually 
'carried  on:  and  if  some  generous  persons  will  of  their  own  accord  com- 
bine for  such  consultations,  who  can  tell  but,  like  some  other  celebrated 
societies  heretofore  formed  from  such  small  beginnings,  they  may  soon 
have  that  countenance  of  authority  which  may  produce  very  glorious 
effects,  and  give  opportunity  to  gather  vast  contributions  from  all  well-dis- 
posed people,  to  assist  and  advance  this  progress  of  Christianity.  God 
forbid  that  Popery  should  expend  upon  cheating,  more  than  ten  times  what 
we  do  U])on  saving  the  immortal  souls  of  men! 

Lastly,  may  many  worthy  men,  who  find  their  circumstances  will  allow 
of  it,  get  the  language  of  some  nations  that  are  not  yet  brought  home  to 
God;  and  wait  upon  the  divine  providence  for  God's  leading  them  to  and 
owning  them  in  their  apostolical  undertakings.  When  they  remember 
what  llufhnus  relates  concerning  the  conversion  of  the  Iberians,  and  what 
Socrates,  with  other  authors,  relates  concerning  the  conversion  wrought 
by  occasion  of  Frumentius  and  ^'Edesius,  in  the  Inner  India,  all  as  it  were 
by  accident,  surely  it  will  make  them  try  what  may  be  done  by  design  for 
such  things  now  in  our  day !  Thus,  let  them  see  whether  while  we  at  home, 
in  the  midst  of  wearisome  temptations,  are  angling  with  rods,  which  now 
and  then  catch  one  soul  for  our  Lord,  they  shall  not  be  fishing  with  nets, 
which  will  bring  in  many  thousands  of  those,  concerning  whom  with 
unspeakable  joy  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  they  may  say,  "Behold,  I  and 
the  children  which  God  has  given  me!"  Let  them  see  whether,  supposing 
they  should  prosper  no  farther  than  to  "preach  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations,"  yet  the  end  which  is  then 
to  come,  will  not  bring  to  them  the  more  happy  lot  wherein  they  shall  stand 
that  are  found  sci  d(Mng. 

Let  no  man  be  discouraged  by  the  difficulties  which  the  devil  will  be 
ready  to  clog  such  attempts  against  his  kingdom  with;  for  I  will  take 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  583 

leave  so  to  translate  the  words  of  the  wise  man,  Pro  v.  xxvii.  4:  "What 
is  able  to  stand  before  zeal?"  I  am  well  satisfied  that  if  men  had  the 
wisdom  "to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times,"  they  would  be  all  hands  at 
work  to  spread  the  name  of  our  Jesus  into  all  the  corners  of  the  earth. 
"Grant  it,  O  my  God;  and  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly  I" 


A  COPY  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  THE  VERY  REVEREND  MR.  RICHARD  BAXTER, 

TO     MR.     INCREASE      MATHER,     THEN     IN     LONDON. 
WRITTEN    UPON    THE    SIGHT    OF    MR.    ELIOT'S    LIFE    IN    A    FORMER    EDITION. 

Dear  Brother:  I  thought  I  had  been  near  dying  al  twelve  o'clock  in  bed;  but  your  book 
revived  me:  I  lay  reading  it  until  between  one  and  two.  I  knew  nauch  of  Mr.  Eliot's  opin- 
ions, by  many  letters  which  I  had  from  him.  There  was  no  man  on  earth  whom  I  honoured 
above  him.  It  is  his  evangelical  ivork  that  is  the  apostolical  succession  that  I  plead  for.  I 
am  now  dying,  I  hope,  as  he  did.  It  pleased  me  to  read  from  him  my  case,  ["my  under- 
standing foileth,  my  memory  faileth,  my  tongue  taileth,  (and  my  hand  and  pen  fail)  but  my 
charity  faileth  not."]  That  word  much  comforted  me.  I  am  as  zealous  a  lover  of  the  New- 
England  churches  as  any  man,  according  to  Mr.  Noyes',  Mr.  Norton's,  Mr.  Mitchel's,  and  the 
Synod's  model. 

"I  loved  your  father,  upon  the  letters  I  received  from  him.  I  love  you  bettor  for  your 
learning,  labours,  and  peaceable  moderation  I  love  your  son  better  than  either  of  you,  for 
the  excellent  temper  that  appeareth  in  his  writings.  O  that  godliness  and  wisdom  thus 
increase  in  all  fomilies!  He  hath  honoured  himself  half  as  much  as  Mr.  Eliot:  I  say,  but 
half  as  much;  for  deeds  excel  rvords.     God  preserve  you  and  New-England!     Pray  for 

"Your  fainting,  languishing  Friend,  Ri.  Baxter." 

August  3,  1691. 


REMAINS; 

OR,  i 

SHORTER  ACCOUNTS   OF  SUNDRY  DIVINES, 

USEFUL  IN  THE  CHURCHES  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

GATHERED  BY  COTTON  MATHER. 

THE  FOURTH  PART. 

WHERETO     IS     MORE     LARGELY     ADDED, 

THE   LIFE   AND   DEATH   OF   THE    REV.   MR.   JOHN   DAILY. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Reader:  Peruse,  I  pray,  and  ponder  these  words  of  the  incomparable  Turretine: 
Siii'^ularem  Dri  Gratiam,  non  possumtis,  quin  Mternis  Laudibus,  Celcbremus, 
quod  Novissimis  hisce  sccculis,  restituta  EvangeJii  Luce,  tot  tantosque  Viros,  DoC' 
trind  et  Insigni  Pietate  Prceditos,  ad  Opus  Reformationis  Inchoandum  et  Promo, 
vcndum  Vocaverit ;  qui  uherrimd  Rerum  Sacrarum  Scicntia  imhuli,  et  Hcroico 
Spirilu  donati,  tanqnam  [n310  'K'JN]  Viri  Prodigi,  Tubes.  Ecangelicce  Sonitu,  et 
Verilalis  Divina  Fu/gore,  Tenebras  Erroris  Crassissimas  felicisssime  fugarunt^ 
Anticlirisli  Regnum  Concusserunt,  ct  Ecclesiam  a  Multis  sccculis  misere  Capiivam, 
et  Tyrannidis  Jugo  plusquam  ferreo  iantum  non  oppressam]  i  Babylone  Mysticd 
gloriose  Evncarunt.* 

Thou  art  prepared  then  to  proceed  in  what  remains  of  our  History. 

Reader,  thou  knowest  the  way  for  a  man  to  become  wise,  was  thus  declared  by  an  oracle, 
Si  concolor  fieret  Morluis.j 

And  tliou  wilt  not  forget  that  lesson  sometimes  given — Since  we  have  lived  here,  and  since 
we  are  to  die  and  yet  live  after  death,  and  others  will  succeed  us  when  we  are  dead,  we  are 
greatly  concerned  to  send  before  us  a  very  good  treasure,  to  carry  with  us  a  very  good  coiu 
science,  and  to  leave  behind  us  a  very  good  example." 

Behold  some  of  them  who  did  so! 

It  hatli  be«'n  remarked  that  wlien  Sarah  called  her  husband  Lord,  her  speech  was  all  an 
heap  of  sinful  infidelity;  thi-re  was  but  one  good  wirrd  in  it:  yet  the  spirit  of  God,  long  after 
takes  notice  of  that  word.  And  why  should  not  we  then  take  notice  of  many  a  good  work, 
occurring  in  the  lives  of  those,  concerning  whom  yet  we  do  not  pretend  or  suppose  that  they 
lived  altogether  free  from  infirmities'? — their  infirmities  were  but  humanities. 

*  We  cnnnnot  hut  r.-iulfr  tributes  of  everlaKting  praises  to  the  spociul  grnco  of  Cod,  in  that  he  has  in  these  last 
times  rojiloreil  the  liKtiUi  of  the  gospel,  and  rinsed  up  so  many  great  men,  gifted  with  learning  and  exalted  piety,  to 
commence  and  CJirr)-  forward  (he  work  of  Ueformalion:  men  possessed  of  the  richest  fund  of  sacred  science,  antk 
endued  with  a  heroic  cpiril— pro<ligit-s,  as  it  were,  of  human  greatness— who  by  sounding  the  gospel  trumpet,  and 
lighting  up  flashes  of  divine  truth,  have  successfully  dispersed  the  thickest  clouds  of  error,  shaken  the  kingdom 
of  Anti-Christ,  and  ifloriously  led  forth  the  Church,  held  for  many  centuries  in  wretched  captivity,  and  barely 
saved  from  being  utu^ly  crushed  by  a  more  than  iron  yoke  of  tyranny,  from  the  mystic  Babylon. 

t  To  bccomo  of  one  complexion  with  the  dead. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  535 

REMAINS  OF  THE  F 1 11  S T  CLASSIS. 

The  surviving  friends  of  the  rest^  mentioned  in  the  "first  catalogue  of 
confessors,"  by  whom  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  brought 
into  this  wilderness,  having  supplied  me  with  so  few  and  small  informations 
concerning  them,  that  I  am  of  the  opinion,  Prcestat  nulla  qiiam  Pauca  diccre* 

Let  all  their  vertues  then  be  galaxied  into  this  one  indistinct  lustre,  they 
were  faithful  servants  of  Christ,  and  sufferers  for  their  being  so. 

Nor  is  it  unlikely  that  there  might  be  some  among  those  good  men  who 
yet  might  be  in  so  little  extraordinary,  that  there  might  be  the  same  account 
given  of  them  that  there  was  of  a  certain  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  second 
century.  Nihil  prceclari  de  Gubernatione  et  factis  ejus  commemorari  potest ;\ 
and  although  we  New-Englanders  do  dwell  in  so  cold  and  so  clear  an  air, 
that  more  of  the  smaller  stars  may  be  seen  by  our  considerers  than  in  many 
other  places — yea,  and  not  only  the  NehulosaX  of  Cancer  it  self,  but  even 
the  lesser  stars  which  compose  that  cloud,  are  considered  among  us — nev- 
ertheless, for  us  to  attempt  the  writing  of  their  lives^  would  carry  too  much 
fondness  in  it:  nor  do  we  forget,  that  Suum  est  cuique  ordi  in  vulgu.s.% 

Moreover,  there  were  divers  of  these  worthy  men,  who,  by  removing 
back  to  England  upon  the  "turn  of  the  times,"  have  almost  released  us 
from  such  a  large  account  of  them,  as  otherwise  might  have  been  expected 
from  us;  and  yet  some  good  account  of  not  a  few  among  them  is  to  be 
reported.  I  remember  Dr.  Patin,  in  his  travels,  tells  us  that  in  a  certain 
Mustcum  at  Vienna,  he  saw  a  cherry-stone^  on  which  were  engraved  above 
an  hundred  portraitures,  with  different  ornaments  of  the  head  upon  them. 
I  must  now  endeavour  a  tenth  part  of  an  hundred  portraitures,  with  dif- 
ferent ornaments  of  the  mi7id  upon  each  of  them ;  nevertheless,  I  am  to 
take  up  almost  as  little  room  as  a  cherry-stone  for  them  all.     Particularly — 

Mr.  Richard  Blinman. — After  a  faithful  discharge  of  his  ministry  at 
Glocester  and  at  New-London,  he  returned  into  England;  and  living  to  a 
good  old  age,  he  who  wherever  he  came  did  set  himself  to  do  good,  con- 
cluded his  life  at  the  city  of  Bristol,  where  one  of  the  last  things  he  did 
was  to  defend  in  print  the  cause  of  infant-baptism. 

Mr.  Samuel  Eaton. — He  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Richard  Eaton,  the  vicar 
of  Great  Burdworth  in  Cheshire,  and  the  brother  of  Mr.  Theopliilus  Eaton, 
the  renowned  Governour  of  New-Haven.  His  education  was  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford;  and  because  it  will  doubtless  recommend  him  to  find 

•  Nothing  remarkable  can  be  related  of  his  administration  or  life. 

+  Nothing  worthy  of  renown  can  be  mentioned  concerning  his  government  or  conduct. 

t  Cloud.  §  Every  rank  has  its  rabble. 


586 


MAGNA  LI  A    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


such  a  pen  as  that  which  wrote  the  Athence  Oxonienses*  thus  characterising 
of  him,  reader,  thou  shalt  have  the  very  words  of  that  writer  concerning  him : 

"After  he  had  left  the  university,  he  entred  into  the  sacred  function,  took  orders  according 
to  tlic  Church  of  England,  and  was  beneficed  in  his  country:  but  having  been  puritan- 
ically educated,  ho  did  dissent  in  some  particulars  thereof.  Whereupon,  finding  his  place 
too  warm  for  him,  he  revolted,  and  went  into  New-England,  and  preached  among  the  breth- 
ren there." 

But  let  us  have  no  more  of  this  "Wood!  Mr.  Eaton  was  a  very  holy 
man,  and  a  person  of  great  learning  and  judgment,  and  a  most  incompar- 
able preacher.  But  upon  his  dissent  from  Mr.  Davenport,  about  the  nar- 
row terms  and  forms  of  civil  government  by  Mr.  Davenport  then  forced 
upon  that  infant-colony,  his  brother  advised  him  to  a  removal:  and  calling 
at  Bost(jn  by  the  way,  when  he  was  on  his  removal,  the  church  there  were 
so  highly  alfected  with  his  labours,  thus  occasionally  enjoyed  among  them, 
that  they  would  fain  have  engaged  him  unto  a  settlement  in  that  place. 
But  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  more  service  for  him  in  (9Z(^-England  than 
he  could  have  done  in  Neiv ;  and  therefore  arriving  in  England,  he  became 
the  pastor  of  a  church  at  Duckeufield,  in  the  parish  of  Stockfort  in  Che- 
shire, and  afterwards  at  Stockport;  and  a  person  of  eminent  note  and 
use,  not  only  in  that,  but  also  in  the  neighbour-county. 

After  the  restoration  of  K.  Charles  II.,  he  underwent  first  silencing,  and 
then  much  other  suffering  from  the  persecution  which  yet  calls  for  a  national 
repentance.  He  was  the  author  of  many  books,  and  especially  some  in 
defence  of  the  Christian  faith,  about  the  God-head  of  CJirist  against  the 
Socinian  blasphemies:  and  his  help  was  joined  unto  Mr.  Timothy  Tailor's, 
in  writing  some  treatises  entituled,  "  The  Congregational  Way  Justijled.^^ 
By  these  he  out-lives  his  death,  which  fell  out  at  Denton,  in  the  parish  of 
Manchester  in  Lancashire,  (where,  says  our  friend  Eabshakeh  Wood,  "he 
had  sheltered  himself  among  the  brethren  after  his  ejection,")  on  the  ninth 
day  of  January,  lC6-i,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  chapel  there. 

Mr.  William  Uook. — This  learned,  holy,  and  humble  man,  was  born 
about  1600,  and  was  for  some  time  a  collegue  with  Mr.  Davenport  in  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  church  at  our  New-Haven;  on  the  day  of  his  ordi- 
nation whereto,  he  humbly  chose  for  his  text  those  words  in  Judg.  vii. 
10:  "Go  thou,  with  Pharaoh  thy  servant;"  and  as  humbly  raised  his  doc- 
trine, "That  in  great  services,  a  little  help  is  better  than  none,"  which  he 
gave,  as  the  reason  of  his  own  being  joined  with  so  considerable  a  Gideon 
as  Mr.  Davenport.  After  this,  returning  into  England,  he  was  for  some 
Avhile  minister  at  Axmouth  in  Devonshire,  and  then  master  of  the  Savoy 
on  the  Strand,  near  London,  and  so  chaplain  to  the  greatest  man  then  in 
the  nation.  He  was  the  author  of  divers  composures  that  saw  the  light: 
whereof  perhaps  one  of  the  most  memorable  is  that  about  "  The  Privelegcs 

•  Tho  Athens  of  Oxford. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  587 

of  the  Saints  on  Earth  above  those  in  Heaven^  But  there  was  one  of  bis 
composures  which  did  more  nearly  concern  himself  than  perhaps  his  per- 
secutors did  imagine,  and  that  was  about  "  The  Slaughter  of  the  Witnesses:" 
for  he  bore  a  part  in  that  slaughter^  when  his  testimony  to  the  kingly  office 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  church,  procured  him  the  condition  of  a 
silenced  non-conformist,  from  May  24,  1662,  to  March  21,  1677,  when  he 
died  in  or  near  London,  and  went  from  the  privileges  of  labours  among 
the  saints  on  earth,  to  those  of  rewards  among  the  saints  in  heaven, 
lie  lies  buried  in  the  sleej^ing-jjlace  on  the  north  side  of  the  New  Artillery 
Garden. 

Mr.  Egbert  Peck. — This  light  having  been  by  the  persecuting  prelates 
"put  under  a  bushel,"  was,  by  the  good  providence  of  Heaven,  fetched 
away  unto  New-England,  about  the  year  1638,  where  the  good  people  of 
our  Ilingham  did  "rejoice  in  the  light  for  a  season,"  But  within  two  or 
three  years,  the  invitation  of  his  friends  at  Hingham  in  England  per- 
swaded  him  to  a  return  unto  them;  where  being,  though  a  great  person 
for  stature^  yet  a  greater  for  spirit,  he  was  greatly  serviceable  for  the  good 
of  the  church. 

Mr.  Hugh  Peters. — A  brief  narrative  of  his  life,  both  before  and  after 
his  abode,  for  about  seven  years,  in  the  charge  of  the  church  at  Salem, 
the  reader  ma}'  find  at  the  conclusion  of  his  a^lvice  to  his  daughter,  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of,  "^  Dyii^g  Father'' s  last  Legacy  to  an  only  Child:'''' 
and,  indeed,  I  heartily  recommend  it  unto  his  reading.  The  narrative  of 
his  death  has  also  been  long  since  published  unto  the  world:  and  it  reports 
those  to  have  been  amongst  his  last  words:  "Oh!  this  is  a  good  day!  He 
is  come  that  I  have  long  looked  for,  and  I  shall  be  with  him  in  glory!" 

Mr.  Thomas  Peters. — He  came  over  unto  New-England,  in  the  time 
of  the  civil  war ;  and,  staying  but  about  three  years,  he  returned  into  Eng- 
land. A  worthy  man,  and  a  writer  of  certain  pieces  which  will,  I  suppose, 
preserve  his  memory  among  those  that  are  strangers,  as  I  am,  thereunto. 

Mr. Saxton. — He  was  a  Yorkshire  man ;  a  studious  and  a  learned 

person,  a  great  Hebrician.  The  unsettled  condition  of  the  colony,  and 
some  unhappy  contention  in  the  plantation  where  he  lived,  put  him  upon 
removing  from  Scituate,  first  unto  Boston,  and  so  unto  England,  in  his 
reduced  age.  I  find  in  honest  Mr.  Kyther's  devout  book,  entituled,  "J. 
Plat  for  Mariners,''''  this  passage  related  concerning  him:  "An  old  Puritan 
minister,  [Mr.  Saxton,  of  Leeds,  in  Yorkshire,]  in  a  storm,  coming  from 
New-England,  when  they  were  all  expecting  the  vessel  to  sink,  he  said, 
'Oh,  who  is  now  for  heaven!  who  is  bound  for  heaven!'" 


588 


MAGNA,LIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 


Isay  nothing,  because  I  hioiv  nothing  of  Mr.  Bhecy;  but  this,  he  also 
returned  into  England.  But  the  less  of  him,  the  more  might  be  written 
of  Mr.  Giles  Fiumin,  who  visited  New-England  in  his  younger  years,  but 
afierwards  became,  in  England,  an  eminent  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and 
a  tcritcr,  as  well  as  a  preacher  of  it.  Among  the  rest  of  his  books,  that 
golden  one,  which  is  entituled,  "  The  Meal  Christian,''  does  really  prove 
the  title  to  be  his  own  character;  and  the  rest,  as  well  as  that,  prove  him 
to  be  an  able  scholar,  as  well  as  a  real  Christian.  I  suppose  him  to  be 
yet  living  in  a  fruitful  old  age,  at  Kidgewel  in  Essex:  but  such  demonstra- 
tions he  hath  still  given  of  his  affections  to  New-England,  on  all  occasions, 
that  he  might  have  justly  resented  it,  as  an  injury,  if  he  had  been  wholly 
omitted  in  the  catalogue  of  them  that  have  deserved  well  of  that  country. 

Besides  these  persons,  there  are  some  others,  of  whom  a  larger  account 
might  be  endeavoured. 

Three  shall  be  all  that  we  will  offer. 


^  THE   LIFE   OFIR.   THOMASALLEN. 

It  was  a  computation  made  in  that  year  when  our  colony  was  just  forty 
years  old,  and  our  land  had  "seen  rest  forty  years,"  that  of  ministers  which 
had  then  come  from  England  unto  us,  chiefly  in  the  ten  first  years,  there 
were  ninety-four:  of  which  number,  thirty-one  were  then  alive;  thirty-six 
had  retired  unto  heaven ;  twenty -seven  had  returned  back  to  Europe. 

Of  those  yirs^  comers,  who  again  left  the  country,  soon  after  their  first 
coming,  one  was  that  worthy  man  Mr.  Thomas  Allen,  who,  after  he  had 
for  some  time  approved  himself  a  pious  and  painful  minister  of  the  gospel 
in  our  Charlestown,  saw  cause  to  return  back  into  England;  where  he 
lived  unto  a  good  old  age,  in  the  city  of  Norwich, 

The  name  of  Allen  being  but  our  pronunciation  of  the  Saxon  word 
Ahane,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  beloved  of  all,  expressed  the  fate  of  this 
our  Allen  among  the  generality  of  the  well-disposed.  And  being  a  man 
greatly  beloved,  he  applied  himself  to  enquire  much  into  the  times,  wherein 
his  predecessor  Daniel  was  an  hard  student,  when  the  angel  came  to  call 
him  so. 

Though  he  staid  not  very  long  in  this  country,  yet  this  country  lays 
claim  especially  to  two  of  his  composures,  which  have  been  serviceable 
unto  the  world.  The  former  of  these  was  printed  here;  namely,  "An 
invitation  unto  Thirty  Sinners  to  come  unto  their  Saviour;''  prefaced  and 
assisted  into  the  light  by  our  worthy  Higginson.     But  the  latter  was  printed 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  559 

beyond  tlie  sea;  and  entituled,  "^  Chain  of  Scripture  Ohronology  •'^ 
wherein  the  author  was  disposed,  like  the  illustrious  Bucholtzer,  who, 
being  weary  of  controversy,  betook  himself  to  chronology,  saying,  Malle 
se  Computare  quam  Disputare.^  This  is  a  most  learned  and  useful  piece ; 
and  all  my  further  account  of  the  author  shall  be  in  the  words-  of  the 
famous  Greenhill,  in  his  epistle  before  it.     Says  he, 

"This  work  having  had  its  conception  in  a  remote  quarter  of  the  world,  it  was  latent  in 
his  closet  the  greatest  part  of  seven  years;  as  Joash  sometimes  was  kept  secret  in  a  cham- 
ber of  the  temple,  before  he  was  brought  to  public  view  by  the  means  of  Jehojadah,  that 
good  old  high  priest:  and  it  had  still  been  suppressed  had  not  the  author  been  pressed,  and 
charged  with  hiding  of  a  talent  in  a  napkin,  by  such  another  as  Jehojadah  was,  [Mr.  John 
Cotton,]  whose  soul  is  now  amongst  the  saints  in  heaven,  resting  from  its  manifold  labours, 
and  whose  name  both  is,  and  ever  will  be  precious  in  all  the  gates  of  the  daughters  of  Sion, 
through  all  ages.  When  Moses,  Daniel,  and  John  were  in  suflfering  conditions,  they  had 
much  light  from  God,  and  gave  forth  much  truth  concerning  the  church  and  the  times:  and 
many  of  our  reverend,  learned,  and  godly  brethren,  being  through  the  iniquity  of  the  times 
driven  into  America,  by  looking  up  unto  God,  and  by  searching  of  the  Scriptures,  received 
and  found  much  light  concerning  the  church  and  the  times;  and  have  made  us,  and  ages  to 
come,  beholden  to  them,  by  communicating  the  same;  amongst  whom  noic  is  this  learned 
and  judicious  author." 

From  the  epitaph  of  Helvicus,  the  great  chronologist,  we  will  presume 
to  borrow  a  tetrastick  for  this  great  student  in  chronology: 

E  P  I T  A  P  H  I U  M . 

Angelicas  inter  ccBtus,  Animasque  Beaias; 

Spiritus  Alleni  Gatidia  Mille  Cnpit  : 
Ad  Litui  Sonitum  dum  Corpus  et  Ossa  resurgant, 

Totus  ut  Ali.enus  Vivificatus  ovet.f 


THE    LIFE    OF   MR.   JOHN   RNOWLES. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  has  denounced  that  righteous  and  fearful  curse 
upon  those  who  despise  the  offers  of  his  glorious  gospel,  "Whosoever 
shall  not  receive  jon,  nor  hear  your  words,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  that  city."  And 
the  excellent  Knowles  was  an  eminent  person  among  those  "embassadors 
of  Heaven,"  in  the  quarrel  of  whose  entertainment  the  King  of  Heaven 
wonderfully  accomplished  that  prediction.  If  New-England  hath  been  in 
some  respects  Immanuel's  land,  it  is  well;  but  this  I  am  sure  of,  Imman- 

*  He  preferred  computation  to  disputation. 
t  Amid  angelic  choirs,  and  realms  of  day,  I    When  the  last  trumpet  wakes  his  slumbering  clay, 

Our  Allen's  soul  drinks  di-aughts  of  blessedness:     |        His  body,  glorified,  shall  share  the  bliss. 


590  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

\iel  College  contributed  more  than  a  little  to  make  it  so,  a  fellow  wliereof 
once  was  our  Mr.  John  Knowles. 

lie  was  among  the  first  comers  into  New-England,  joined  as  a  colleague 
with  Mr.  Philips  at  Watertown.  But  as  he  began,  so  he  ended  his  pious 
days  in  England;  between  which  there  occurred  one  very  remarkable 
providence,  now  to  be  related. 

In  the  year  1641  one  Mr.  Bennet,  a  gentleman  from  Virginia,  arrived 
at  Boston,  with  letters  from  well-disposed  people  there  unto  the  ministers 
of  New-England,  bewailing  their  sad  condition  for  the  want  of  the  glorious 
gospel,  and  entreating  that  they  might  hence  be  supplied  with  ministers 
of  that  gospel.  These  letters  were  openly  read  at  Boston  upon  a  lecture- 
day;  whereupon  the  ministers  agreed  upon  setting  apart  a  day  for  fasting 
and  prayer,  to  implore  the  direction  of  God  about  this  business ;  and  then 
the  churches  of  Watertown,  Braintree,  and  Eowley,  having  each  of  them 
two  ministers  apiece,  Mr.  Philips  of  Watertown,  Mr.  Thompson  of  Brain- 
tree  and  Mr.  I^Iiller  of  Rowley,  were  pitched  upon  for  the  intended 
service;  whereof  the  General  Court  so  approved,  that  it  was  ordered  the 
governour  should  recommend  these  persons  by  his  letters  to  the  govern- 
our  and  council  at  Virginia. 

Mr.  Philips  being  indisposed  for  the  voyage,  Mr.  Knowles  went  in  his 
room;  and  Mr.  Miller's  bodily  weaknesses  caused  him  also  to  decline  the 
voyage.  But  the  two  churches  of  Watertown  and  Braintree,  though  they 
loved  their  ministers  very  well,  yet  cheerfully  dismissed  them  unto  this 
great  concern ;  accounting  it  their  honour  that  they  bad  such  desireablc 
persons,  by  whom  they  might  make  a  mission  of  the  gospel  unto  a  "people 
that  sat  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death." 

On  October  7,  16-42,  they  began  their  voyage:  at  Rhode-Island,  they  lay 
long  wind-bound;  and  they  met  with  so  many  other  difficulties,  that  they 
made  it  eleven  weeks  of  dangerous  passage  before  they  arrived  at  Virginia : 
nevertheless,  they  had  this  advantage  in  the  way,  that  they  took  in  a  third 
minister  for  their  assistance;  namely,  Mr.  James,  then  at  New-Haven. 

Though  their  hazardous  retardations  in  their  voyage  made  them  some- 
times to  suspect  whether  they  had  a  clear  call  of  God  unto  their  under- 
taking, yet  the  success  of  their  ministry,  when  they  came  to  Virginia,  did 
sufficiently  extinguish  that  suspicion.  They  had  little  encouragement  from 
the  rulers  of  the  place,  but  they  had  a  kind  entertainment  with  the  peoj'h; 
and  in  the  several  parts  of  the  country  where  they  were  bestowed,  there 
were  many  persons  by  their  ministry  brought  home  to  God. 

But  as  Austin  told  mankind,  "the  devil  was  never  turned  Christian  yet:" 
the  powers  of  darkness  could  not  count  it  for  their  interest  that  the  light 
of  the  gospel,  powerfully  preached,  should  reach  those  "dark  places  of 
the  earth."  The  rulers  of  that  province  did  not  allow  of  their  publick 
preaching:  but  instead  thereof,  an  order  was  made,  "That  such  as  would 
not  conform  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England,  should  by  such 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  591 

a  day  depart  the  country."  By  whicli  order,  these  holy,  ftiithful,  painful 
ministers,  were  driven  away  from  the  Virginia  coast:  but  when  they 
returned,  as  they  left  behind  them  not  a  few  seals  of  their  ministry,  so  they 
brought  with  them  some  who  afterwards  proved  blessings  to  New-England. 

Well,  before  the  day  fixed  for  the  departure  of  these  ministers  came, 
the  Indians  far  and  near  having  entred  into  a  conspiracy  to  cut  off  the 
English  in  those  territories,  executed  it  in  an  horrible  massacre,  whereby 
at  least  three  hundred  poor  English  Virginians  were  at  once  barbarously 
butchered,  which  massacre  was  also  accompanied  with  a  grievous  mortal- 
ity, that  caused  many  sober  persons  to  remove  out  of  that  colony,  and 
others  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  God  upon  them,  for  the  ill-treats 
which  had  been  given  to  the  ministers  of  his  gospel,  and  the  gospel  brought 
by  those  ministers. 

After  this  did  Mr.  Knowles  remove  back  to  England,  where  he  was  a 
preacher  at  the  Cathedral,  in  the  city  of  Bristol,  and  lived  in  great  credit 
and  service  for  divers  years. 

But  when  the  act  of  uniformity  made  such  a  slaughter  of  non-conform- 
ists, Mr.  Knowles  was  one  of  the  ministers  which  were  silenced  by  that 
act.  And  after  that  civil  death,  he  lived  in  London  a  collegue  to  the 
famous  Mr.  Kentish,  and  a  blessing  to  the  Church  of  God. 

Exercising  his  ministry  in  the  city  of  London,  he  underwent  many 
grievous  persecutions,  and  received  as  many  glorious  deliverances. — But 
when  some  of  his  friends  discouraged  him,  with  fears  of  his  being  thrown 
into  prison,  if  he  did  not  affect  more  of  privacy,  he  replied,  "In  truth,  I 
had  rather  be  in  a  gaol,  where  I  might  have  a  number  of  souls,  to  whom 
I  might  preach  the  truths  of  my  blessed  Master,  than  live  idle  in  my  own 
house,  without  any  such  opportunities." 

He  lived  unto  a  very  great  age,  and  staid  longer  out  of  heaven  than 
the  most  of  them  that  live  in  heaven  upon  earth.  But  in  his  great  age  he 
continued  still  to  do  great  good;  wherein  his  labours  were  so  fervent  and 
eager,  that  he  would  sometimes  preach  till  he  fell  down;  and  yet  have  a 
youthful  readiness  in  the  matter  and  S2yirit  of  his  preaching.  His  last  falling 
down  was  a  flying  up;  and  an  escape  to  that  land  where  "the  weary  are 
at  rest." 

E  P  I  T  A  P  II  I  U  M . 

Vis  Scire,  Quis  Sim?  Nomen  est  K.voLESifs :   Dixi  Satis.'* 

'  Do  you  wish  to  know  who  I  am  ?    My  name  is  Knowles— I  have  told  yon  enough  ! 


592  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

CHAPTEE  I?. 

EIISIIA'S   BONES.      THE    IIFE    OF    MR.    HEURT    WHITFIELD. 

Cupiditatem  Imitandi  fecit;  Spem  abstulit.* 

There  has  been  a  trite  proverb,  which  I  wish  indeed  were  so  thread- 
bare as  to  be  never  used  more, 

Angclicus  Juvenis,  senilus  Satanizat  in  Annis.f 

which,  though  it  were  pity  it  should  ever  speak  English,  has  been  Eng- 
lished— "A  young  saint,  an  old  devil."  I  remember  Erasmus  believes  the 
devil  himself  was  the  author  of  that  proverb.  This  I  am  sure,  the  pro- 
verb was  none  of  Solomon's,  who  says,  "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  that 
he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old,  he  will  not  leave  it."  Indeed,  a  young 
sinner  may  make  an  old  devil;  a  young  hypocrite^  a  young  dissembler^  pre- 
tending to  saintship,  may  do  so;  but  a  young  saint  will  certainly  make  an 
old  angel. 

And  so  did  our  blessed  Whitfield.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  good  extrac- 
tion by  his  birth;  but  of  a  better  by  his  new-birth:  nor  did  his  new-birth 
come  very  long  after  his  birth.  He  did  betimes  begin  his  journey  heaven- 
wards; but  he  did  not  soon  tire  in  that  journey;  nor  did  the  "serpent  by 
the  waj^,"  the  "adder  in  the  path,"  prevail  to  make  him  come  short  home 
at  last. 

His  father  being  an  eminent  lawyer,  designed  this  his  youngest  son  to 
be  a  lawyer  also,  and  therefore  afforded  him  a  liberal  education,  first  at 
the  university,  and  then  at  the  Inns  of  Court.  But  the  gracious  and  early 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  his  heart,  inclined  hira  rather  to  be  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  in  his  inclinations  he  was  encouraged  by  such 
eminent  ministers  as  Dr.  Stanton,  Mr.  Byfield,  and  others. 

He  was  very  pious  in  his  childhood,  and,  because  p)ioiis^  therefore  pray- 
erful; yea,  so  addicted  unto  prayer,  that  in  the  very  school  itself,  he  would 
be  sometimes  praying,  when  the  scholars  about  him  imagined  by  his  pos- 
tures that  he  had  only  been  intent  upon  his  book. 

As  he  grew  up,  he  grew  exceedingly  in  his  acquaintance  with  God, 
with  Christ,  and  with  the  exceeding  riches  of  grace  displayed  in  the  new 
covenant.  And  he  gained  such  a  grounded  assurance  of  his  own  saving 
interest  in  that  covenant,  that  he  had  not  for  forty  years  together  fallen  into 
any  miscarriage,  which  made  any  considerable  breach  upon  that  assurance. 

Okely  in  Surrey  was  the  place  where  the  providence  of  the  Lord  Jesus 

+  He  stimulated  men  to  desire,  but  forbade  them  to  hope,  to  imitate  his  virtues. 
X  In  youth  an  angel :  in  old  age  a  flcnd. 


I 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  593 

Christ  now  stationed  him;  where  his  labours  were  blessed  unto  the  good 
of  many,  not  only  in  his  own  town,  but  in  all  the  circumjacent  country, 
from  whence  on  holy-days  the  people  would  flock  to  hear  him.  At  length, 
observing  that  he  did  more  good  by  preaching  sometimes  abroad,  than  by 
preaching  always  at  liome^  and  enjoying  then  a  church-living  of  the  first 
magnitude,  besides  a  fair  estate  of  his  own,  he  procured  and  maintained 
another  godly  minister  at  Okely ;  and  by  means  thereof,  he  had  the  liberty 
to  preach  in  many  places,  which  were  destitute  of  ministers,  where  his 
labours  were  successful  in  the  conversion  of  many  souls  unto  God. 

He  was  one  who  abounded  in  liberality  and  hospitality;  and  his  house 
was  always  much  resorted  unto.  He  was  for  twenty  years,  a  conformist; 
but  yet  a  pious  non-conformist  was  all  this  while  very  dear  unto  him ;  and 
such  persecuted  servants  of  Christ  as  Mr.  Cotton,  Mr.  Hooker,  Mr.  Good- 
win, and  Mr.  Nye,  then  molested  for  their  non-conformity,  were  sheltered 
under  his  roof  At  last,  being  present  at  the  conference  between  Mr.  Cot- 
ton and  some  other  famous  divines,  upon  the  controversies  of  church-disci- 
pline, there  appeared  so  much  of  Scrijyture  and  reason  on  that  side,  that 
Mr.  Whitfield  also  became  a  non-conformist.  But  now,  finding  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  proceed  in  the  public  exercise  of  his  ministry,  he  obtained 
a  godly  successor,  he  embraced  a  modest  secession,  and  he  resigned  his  place 
with  the  true  spirit  of  self-denial. 

He  now  sold  his  personal  estate,  and  came  over  to  New-England  in  the 
year  1639,  with  a  multitude  of  poor  people,  out  of  Surrey,  Kent,  and  Sus- 
sex, who  could  not  live  without  his  ministry.  With  these  he  began  a  new 
plantation,  about  twenty  miles  from  New-Haven,  and  called  it  Guilford: 
where  he  mightily  encouraged  the  people  to  bear  with  a  Christian  patience 
and  fortitude  the  difficulties  of  the  wilderness  which  they  were  come  into; 
not  only  by  his  exhortations,  but  also  by  his  own  exemplary  contentment 
with  low  and  mean  things,  after  he  had  once  lived  in  a  more  splendid 
manner  than  most  other  ministers. 

His  way  of  preaching  was  much  like  Dr.  Sibs';  and  there  was  a  mar- 
vellous majesty  and  sanctity  observable  in  it.  He  carried  much  authority 
with  him;  and  using  frequently  to  visit  the  particular  families  of  his  flock, 
with  profitable  discourses  on  the  great  concerns  of  their  interiour  state,  it 
is  not  easy  to  describe  the  reverence  with  which  they  entertained  him. 

He  sojourned  eleven  years  at  Guilford,  living  with  his  large  ftmily  of 
ten  children  mostly  on  his  own  estate,  which  was  thereby  exceedingly 
exhausted.  But  the  inconveniences  of  Aei^-England,  and  invitations  to  Old, 
at  length  overcame  him  to  return  into  his  native  country :  and  at  the  time 
of  parting,  the  whole  town  accompanied  him  unto  the  water-side,  with  a 
spring-tide  of  tears,  because  "  they  should  see  his  face  no  more.!' 

This  was  in  the  year  1650. 

How  highly  his  ancient  friends  then  welcomed  him;  how  highly  the 
greatest  persons  in  the  nation  then  respected  him ;  how  faithfully  he  then 
Vol.  I.— 38 


594  MAGNALIA    CHRIST  I    AMERICANA; 

discharged  his  ministry  in  the  city  of  Winchester ;  how  many  services  he 
occasionally  did  for  New-England;  and  how  triumphantly  at  last  he  flew 
away  to  heaven;  must  be  no  part  of  this  history. 

But  let  the  excellent  words  of  Lupichius,  in  his  epitaph,  be  borrowed 
for  an  epitaph  to  this  rare  person ;  inasmuch  as  no  words  can  more  livelily 
express  the  very  spirit  of  all  his  life: 

Bum  mihi   Vita  fuit,  Tihi,  Christe,  Fidelis  ut  easem, 

Mcnte  Pia  Studui,  Dogma  Sonnndo   Tuum. 
Tu  mihi  D(Bliti(B, —  Tu  Divitiaque  fuisti; 

Tu  mihi  Dejuncto,  Gloria,   Vita,  Salus* 


CHAPTER  7. 

REMAINS  OF  THE  SECOND  CLASSIS. 

Of  our  second  catalogue  are  now  fallen  asleep  Arnold,  the  author  of 
a  savoury  discourse,  published  under  the  title  of  ^^  David  serving  his  Gen- 
eration:^^ Bishop,  Bulkly,  Carter,  Dean,  Hanford,  [of  which  worthy 
man,  let  the  reader,  here  in  a  crotchet,  as  we  go  along,  refresh  himself  with 
one  crotchetly  passage:  he  was  near  forty  years  a  faithful,  painful,  and  pious 
minister  at  Norwalk,  even  from  the  first  settlement  of  that  plantation ;  but 
though  he  had  the  comfort  of  seeing  a  good  and  great  success  to  his  minis- 
try there,  yet  there  were  times  wherein  the  Jire  of  contention  annoyed  the 
affairs  of  that  church  exceedingly:  and  in  this /?-e  there  once  happened 
such  a  smoke  that  the  people  made  this  one  of  their  articles  to  the  council  ' 
against  him,  that  in  a  certain  paper  of  his,  he  had  opprobriously  called 
them  "Indian  devils:"  the  council  thereupon  with  wonder,  calling  for  the 
paper  wherein  the  reproachful  terms  was  to  be  looked  for,  found  his 
expression  to  have  been  only  thus,  "Every  individual  among  them:" 
which  occasioned  a  very  joco-serious  reflection  upon  the  ridiculous  errors 
and  follies  that  attend  a  quarrelsome   disposition;]    Hough,   Newton. 
And  into  this  catalogue  I  am  content  that  there  should  be  received  (for 
the  saints  of  this  catalogue  already  departed  have  received  him)  honest 
Mr.  Nicholas  Baker  of  Scituate;   who,  though  he  had  but  a  private 
education,  yet,  being  a  pious  and  zealous  man;  or,  as  Dr.  Arrowsmith 
expresses  it,  so  good  a  logician^  that  he  could  offer  up  to  God  a  reasonable 
service;  so  good  an  arithmetician,  that  he  could  wisely  number  his  days; 
and  so  good  an  orator,  that  he  j^c^siuaded  himself  to  be  a  good  Christian; 
and  being  also  one  of  good  natural  parts,  especially  of  a  strong  memory, 
was  chosen  pastor  of  the  church  tl^pre ;  and  in  the  pastoral  charge  of  that 
church  he  continued  about  eighteen  years,  until  that  horror  of  mankind, 

*  Long  as  I  lived,  O  Cnrist,  I  strove  to  be  I  Thou  wast  my  joy,  and  wcallh,  and  consolation, 

True  to  tby  doctrine,  faithful  unto  theo,  I  And  now  thou  art  my  glory  and  salvation. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  595 

and  reproach  of  medicine,  the  stone  (under  which  he  preached  patience  by 
a  very  memorable  example  of  it;  never  letting  fall  any  word  worse  than 
this,  which  was  an  usual  word  with  him,  "A  mercy  of  God  it  is  no  worse!") 
put  an  end  unto  his  days. 

But  he  that  brings  up  the  rear  is  Mr.  John  Woodbridge,  of  whom 
we  are  able  to  speak  a  little  more  particularly. 

He  was  born  at  Stanton,  near  Highworth  in  Wiltshire,  about  the  year 
1613,  of  which  parish  his  flither  was  minister;  and  a  minister  so  able  and 
faithful  as  to  obtain  an  high  esteem  among  those  that  at  all  knew  the 
invaluable  worth  of  such  a  minister.  His  mother  was  daughter  to  Mr. 
Robert  Parker,  and  a  daughter  who  did  so  virtuously,  that  her  own  per- 
sonal character  would  have  made  her  highly  esteemed,  if  a  relation  to  such 
a  father  had  not  farther  added  unto  the  lustre  of  her  character. 

Our  John  was  by  his  worthy  parents  "trained  up  in  the  way  that  he 
should  go,"  and  sent  unto  Oxford,  when  his  education  and  proficiency  at 
school  had  ripened  him  for  the  university ;  and  kept  at  Oxford  until  the 
oath  of  conformity  came  to  be  required  of  him;  which  neither  \\\?,  father 
nor  his  conscience  approving,  he  removed  from  thence  unto  a  course  of 
more  private  studies.  The  rigorous  enforcing  of  the  unhappy  ceremonies 
then  causing  many  that  understood  and  regarded  the  second  command- 
ment in  the  laws  of  Heaven,  to  seek  a  peaceable  recess  for  the  pure  worship 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  an  American  desart,  our  young  Woodbridge, 
with  the  consent  of  his  parents,  undertook  a  voyage  to  New-England 
about  the  year  163i,  and  the  company  and  assistance  of  his  worthy  uncle, 
Mr.  Thomas  Parker,  was  not  the  least  encouragement  of  his  voyage. 

He  had  not  been  long  in  the  country,  before  Newberry  began  to  be 
planted;  where  he  accordingly  took  up  lands,  and  so  seated  himself,  that 
he  comfortably  and  industriously  studied  on,  until  the  advice  of  his  father's 
death  obliged  him  to  return  into  England;  where,  having  settled  his  aifairs, 
he  returned  again  unto  New-England,  bringing  with  him  his  two  brothers; 
whereof  one  died  by  the  way.  He  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  Hon- 
ourable Thomas  Dudely,  Esq.,  and  the  town  of  Andover  then  first  peeping 
into  the  world,  he  was  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Worcester, 
September  16,  1644,  ordained  the  teacher  of  the  congregation  there. 

Here  he  continued  with  good  reputation,  discharging  the  duties  of  his 
ministry,  until  upon  the  invitation  of  his  friends  he  went  once  more  to 
England,  in  the  year  1647,  where  he  soon  found  employment,  (besides  his 
being  a  chaplain  to  the  commissioners  treating  with  the  King  at  the  Isle 
of  Wight,)  first  at  the  considerable  town  of  Andover,  and  afterwards  at 
Burford  St.  Martins,  in  Wiltshire;  at  the  last  of  which  places  he  continued 
until  the  return  of  Episcopacy  first  sequestred  him,  and  they  being  ousted 
of  the  school  at  Newberry,  the  infamous  Bartholomew -act  caused  him,  in 
the  year  1663,  (with  his  now  numerous  family,)  to  come  once  more  unto 
New-England.     Here  it  was  not  long  before  the  church  of  Newberry  soli- 


596  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMEEICANA; 

cited  him  to  become  an  assistant  unto  his  aged  uncle,  Mr.  Parker ;  and  in 
answer  to  their  solicitations,  he  bestowed  his  constant,  learned,  and  holy 
labours  upon  them. 

At  last,  there  arose  little  differences  between  him  and  some  of  the  people 
upon  certain  points  of  church-discipline,  wherein  his  largeness  and  their 
straitness  might  perhaps  better  have  met  in  a  temper;  and  these  differences 
ended  not  without  his  putting  an  end  unto  his  own  ministry  among  them ; 
after  which,  the  remarkable  blessing  of  God  upon  his  own  private  estate, 
abundantly  made  up  to  him  the  publick  stij)end  which  he  had  parted  withal. 
The  country  hereupon,  in  token  of  their  value  for  him,  chose  him  a  magis- 
trate of  the  colony,  that  so  he  might,  in  yet  a  more  extensive  capacity, 
be  "a  minister  of  God  unto  them  for  good;"  and  upon  the  alteration  of 
the  government,  he  was  made  a  Justice  of  Peace,  in  which  office  he  con- 
tinued unto  the  last. 

He  had  issue  twelve  children,  whereof  eleven  lived  unto  the  age  of  men 
and  women;  and  he  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  three  sons,  with  two 
sons-in-law,  improved  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  and  four  grandsons 
happily  advancing  thereunto.  A  person  he  was  truly  of  an  excellent 
spirit;  a  pious  disposition  accompanied  him  from  his  early  childhood,  and 
as  he  grew  in  years,  he  grew  in  proofs  and  fruits  of  his  having  been  sanc- 
tified from  his  infancy.  He  spent  much  of  his  time  in  holy  raeditations, 
by  which  the  "foretastes  of  Heaven"  were  continually  feeding  of  his 
devout  soul ;  and  he  abounded  in  all  other  devotions  of  serious,  heavenly, 
experimental  Christianity. 

He  was  by  nature  wonderfully  composed,  patient,  and  pleasant;  and  he 
was,  by  grace  much  more  so:  he  had  a  great  command  of  his  passions,  and 
could,  and  would,  and  often  did  forgive  injuries,  at  a  rate  that  hardly  can 
be  imitated.  It  was  rarely  or  never  observed  that  ivorldhj  disappiointments 
made  any  grievous  impressions  upon  his  mind;  but  as  once  when  word  was 
brought  him  that  a  sore  disaster  had  befallen  many  of  his  cattel,  the  mes- 
senger was  exceedingly  surprized  on  his  beholding  the  only  resentments 
of  this  good  man  thereupon  to  be  in  these  humble  expressions,  which  were 
the  first  he  uttered,  "What  a  mercy  it  is,  that  this  is  the  first  time  that 
ever  I  met  with  such  a  disaster !" 

This  was  the  frame  of  mind  with  which  he  still  entertained  all  disaster- 
ous  occurrences.  Only  he  was  observably  overwhelmed  by  the  death  of 
his  most  religious,  prudent,  and  faithful  consort,  when  she  was  (July  1, 1691) 
fifty  years  after  his  first  marriage  unto  her,  torn  away -from  the  "desire  of 
his  eyes."  His  value  for  the  whole  world  was,  after  a  manner,  extinguished 
in  this  loss,  of  what  was  to  him  the  best  ixirt  of  it;  and  he  sometimes 
declared  himself  desirous  to  be  gone,  whenever  the  Lord  of  heaven  should 
please  to  call  him  thither. 

At  last,  about  the  beginning  of  March,  1695,  the  strangury  arrested  him; 
and  he,  who  had  been  a  great  reader,  a  great  scholar,  a  great  Christian,  and 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND. 


597 


a  pattern  of  goodness  in  all  the  successive  stations  wherein  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  had  placed  him,  on  March  17,  the  day  of  the  Christian-sabbath,  after 
much  pain,  went  unto  his  everlasting  rest;  having  a  few  minutes  before 
it  refused  a  glass  of  oifered  wine,  saying,  "I  am  going  where  I  shall  have 
better!"     His  age  was  about  eighty-two. 

Let  him  now  report  the  rest  himself,  in  an  epitaph  like  that  on  the  tomb 
of  Christian  us  Machaboeus: 

Quam   Vivens  Potui  tantum  sperare,  Quiete 
Mortuus  in  Solida  nunc  Statione  fruor.* 


CHAPTER  ?I, 


REMAINS  OF  THE  THIRD  CLASSIS. 

Several  in  our  third  catalogue  have,  upon  the  late  revolutions,  returned 
back  to  Europe,  and  several  are  yet  living  in  service  ,and  esteem  among 
our  selves. 

Article  (I.)  But  of  those  that  are  gone  unto  the  better  world,  we  have 
cause  particularly  to  remember  Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert,  whose  history  is,  it 
may  be,  sufiiciently  related  in  his  epitaph^  which  is  at  this  day  to  be  read 
on  his  tomb  in  Charlestown : 

Here  is  interred  the  body  of  that  reverend,  sincere,  zealous,  devout  and  faithful  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ,  Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert,  sometime  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Chedle.in  Cheshire: 
also,  sometime  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Eling,  in  Old-England:   who  was  the 
proto-martyr,  the  first  of  the  ministers  that  suffered  deprivation,  in  the  cause  of  non- 
conformity in  England:  and,  after  betaking  himself  to  New-England,  became 
Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Topsfield  ;  and  at  sixty-three  years  of  age 
departed  this  life.     Interred  October  28,  1673. 

Omnia  prceteruni,  prater  amare  Dcum. 

These  things  pass  for  ever,  vain  world,  away ; 
But  love  to  God — this,  this  endures  for  ay. 


Gilberti  hie  tenuem^  Lectores,  Ceridtis,  Vmbram, 
Longe  hdc  Clara  Mngis  Stella  Micausqnc  fuit. 

Sicfuit  in  Vitd  Gilberlus,  sicque  Recessu, 
Sicce  detur  Jiobis  yivere,  siqtic  Mori, 


Lo  here  of  Gilbert,  but  a  shadow  flight; 
He  was  a  star  of  more  illustrious  light. 
Such  Gilbert  was  in  life,  such  in  his  death ; 
God  grant  we  may  so  live,  so  yield  our  breath. 


Article  (II.)  On  December  28,  1674,  died  Mr.  John  Oxenbridge,  a 
successor  to  four  famous  Johns,  in  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  first  church 
in  Boston.  He  was  born  in  Daventry,  Northamptonshire,  January  80, 
1608.  Both  Cambridge  and  Oxford  contributed  unto  his  liberal  education ; 
and  in  one  of  those  universities  he  proceeded  Master  of  Arts  in  the  year 
1631.     The  year  following,  he  became  a  publick  preacher  of  the  gospel; 

•  The  rest  for  which  in  life  1  could  but  pine,     |     A  Christian  death  hath  made  for  ever  mine. 


598  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

and  after  this,  taking  successively  two  voyages  to  Barmudaz,  he  at  length 
returned  into  England,  and  in  the  year  1644,  became  a  pastor  to  a  church 
in  Beverly.  I  find  him  after  this  a  fellow  of  Eaton-Colledge :  but  in  the 
general  shipivrach  that  befel  the  non-conformists,  A.  C.  1662,  I  find  him 
sivi'tnnu'ng  away  to  Surrinam,  in  America.  From  thence  he  came  to  Bar- 
bados, in  the  year  1667,  and  to  New-England  in  the  year  1669,  where  he 
succeeded  Mr.  Davenport,  and  continued  until  his  last  remove,  which  was 
to  the  "City  of  God." 

The  abilities  and  inclinations  of  this  worthy  man  are  discovered  in 
several  of  his  published  composures.  In  England  he  published  several 
discourses  on,  ^^  The  Duty  of  Watchfulness."  He  also  published,  "^  Pro- 
position of  Propagating  the  Gospel  hy  Christian  Colonies^  in  the  Continent  of 
Guianai,  being  so?ne  Gleanings  of  a  larger  Discourse.^''  That  larger  dis- 
course is  yet  sleeping:  but  upon  perusal  of  the  MSS.  I  am  sensible  that 
there  is  in  it  a  grateful  variety  of  entertainment.  After  he  came  to  New- 
England,  he  published  a  sermon,  preached  at  the  anniversary  election  of 
our  governour  and  assistants.  And  he  likewise  published  a  sermon  about 
'■^Seasonable  seeking  of  God." 

The  piety  which  breathed  in  these  composures  was  but  what  he  main- 
tained in  his  daily  ivalk;  and  sometimes  he  found  the  leisure  to  articidate 
the  breathings  of  it  in  writing.  We  read  concerning  Balaam,  "The  Lord 
put  a  word  in  his  mouth :"  it  should  seem,  his  heart  was  not  holily  affected 
with  what  was  expressed  by  his  mouth.  But  the  ivord  was  in  the  hearty 
as  well  as  in  the  mouth  of  our  Oxenbridge;  and  his  pen  also  sometimes 
transcribed  his  heart.     Once  thus  particularly : 

"  Certain  late  experiments  of  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ,  to  J.  0.,  a  poor  worm,  who  desires 
to  record  them,  to  the  praise  of  his  grace. 

"November  19,  1666,  was  a  dark  day;  my  bodily  spirits  being  very  low,  (though  without 
pain,)  and  my  heart  shut  up,  that  I  could  not  look  up  to  God.  This  made  me  to  :ipprehend 
the  sad  condition  of  a  soul  deserted  of  God  in  a  time  of  affliction ;  but  the  Lord  suffered 
not  this  dark  maze  to  continue.  For  that  night  he  thawed  my  heart,  and  opened  it  with 
some  freedom  to  himself. 

"  But  what  shall  I  say  for  the  strange  and  strong  consolations,  with  which  he  filled  my 
soul,  on  the  20  and  21st  of  November?  No  words  can  express  what  I  have  felt  in  my  heart. 
I  was  wholly  taken  up  with  the  thoughts  of  the  kindness  of  God.  1  said,  'What  love  is 
like  this  love?  and  who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee?  and  what  remains  for  me,  but  to  love  and 
to  praise  thee  for  ever?'  Now  death  was  no  dark  thing  to  me,  neither  was  any  concern  of 
this  life  considerable.  And  now  I  have  said, '  Who  can  lay  any  thing  to  my  charge,  since 
Christ  hath  satisfied  by  his  death,  and  hath  gotten  a  release  by  iiis  resurrection,  and  lives  for 
ever  to  perfect  my  salvation?'  This  hath  been  a  great  stay  to  me  in  my  solitary  condition; 
though  bereft  of  such  relations,  a  precious  wife,  and  two  such  children.  But  the  Lord  Jesus 
liveth  for  ever,  to  do  all  for  me,  and  be  all  to  me.  And  I  do  the  more  ndmire  and  adore  the 
great  God,  in  his  condescending  so  much  to  so  vile  a  worm,  tliat  hath  been  so  full  of  fe  irs 
and  doubts,  and  hath  so  much  displeased  my  Lord  Jesus  and  his  Holy  Spirit.  That  which 
grieved  me  most,  of  late  months,  is,  the  7infixedness  of  my  thoughts  on  God:  and.  Oh!  that 
the  Lord  may,  by  his  establishing  spirit,  confirm  these  comforts  on  me,  so  that  I  may  ei;joy 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  599 

them  in  death,  and  improve  them  for  the  good  of  others  in  Z//e.>   I  know  Satan  is  a  wrangler ; 
but  my  Advocate  is  able  to  silence  him!" 

When  tlie  Lord  of  this  faithful  servant  came  to  call  for  him,  he  was 
found  in  his  Master's  work.  Towards  the  close  of  a  sermon,  which  he 
was  preaching  at  Boston-lecture,  he  was  taken  with  a  degree  of  an  Apo- 
plexy (as  John  Cyril,  the  worthy  Bohemian  pastor  was  in  the  beginning 
of  the  former  century,  Apoplexia  in  media  ad  populum  cojicione  correptus,)* 
which  in  two  or  three  days  ended  his  pilgrimage.  Thus  he  had  the  wish 
of  some  great  men,  Oportet  Concionatorem,  aut  precanteni  aid  Predicantem^ 
Mori.\ 

EPITAPHIUM. 
Vixi,  et  quern  dedcras  Cursum,  in  Te  Christe  peregi.t 

Article  (III.)  On  March  24,  1678-9,  expired  that  excellent  man,  Mr. 
Thomas  Walley,  about  the  age  of  sixty-one.  I  can  not  recover  the  day 
of  his  birth ;  let  it  content  my  reader  that  the  primitive  Christians  did 
happily  confound  the  distinction  of  the  two  times  mentioned  by  the  wise 
man,  "a  time  to  be  born,  and  a  time  to  die,"  calling  the  day  of  a  saint's 
death  by  the  name  of  their  A^atalitia.^ 

This  "man  of  a  thousand"  was  a  well  accomplished  scholar;  but  his 
accomplishments  especially  lay  in  that  which  the  great  Gregory  asserts  to 
be,  Ars  Artiiwi,  et  Scientia  Scientiarum^\  namely,  Animarum  Regimen. 

He  was  a  Christian  in  whom  the  graces  of  Christ  very  richly  adorned, 
but  most  of  all,  that  which  has  most  of  Christianity  in  it,  humility  ;  the 
happy  vertue  which  we  may  address  with  the  acknowledgment  once  made 
unto  Foelix,  "By  thee  we  enjoy  great  quietne'ss:"  and  by  that  vertue  he 
was  eminently  serviceable  to  make  all  quiet  wherever  he  came.  He  was  a 
divine,  well  furnished  with  the  knowledge  necessary  to  a  master  builder  in 
the  Church  of  God,  and  particularly  knowing  in  those  points  of  divinity, 
which  Non  Lectio  docet,  sed  Undio,  non  Litera,  sed  Spiritus,  non  Eruditio, 
sed  Exercitatio.^ 

He  was  a  preacher  who  made  Christ  the  main  subject  of  his  preaching 
and  who  had  such  a  regard  for  soids^  that  he  thought  much  of  nothing  by 
which  he  might  recommend  a  Christ  unto  the  souls  even  o£  the  meanest, 
as  well  as  of  the  greatest:  being  disposed,  like  that  great  king  of  France, 
who,  being  found  instructing  his  kitchen-boy  in  the  matters  of  religion, 
and  being  asked  with  wonder  the  reason  of  it,  answered,  "The  meanest 
has  a  soul  as  precious  as  my  own,  and  bought  by  the  blood  of  Christ  as 
well  as  mine!"  It  may  be  I  cannot  give  a  truer  description  of  this  our 
Walley,  than  in  the  words  of  him  that  writes  the  life  of  the  famous 
Belgic  Wall^us:    "He  was  diligent  in  visiting  his  parishioners,  whereby 

*  Sti'uck  with  apoplexy  in  the  middle  of  an  address  to  the  people. 

t  It  becomes  a  minister  to  die  preaching  or  praying.  X  In  thee,  O  Christ,  my  mortal  race  is  run. 

§  Biith-day  festival.  |  The  ai-t  of  arts  and  science  of  sciences— the  ruling  of  the  spirit.        [ence. 

^  it  is  not  reading  that  instructs,  but  the  unction  of  grace ;  not  the  letter,  but  the  spirit;  not  learning,  but  experi- 


goo  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

he  reformed  many  which  were  given  to  viciousness.  He  satisfied  doubt- 
ing consciences,  and  extricated  them  out  of  the  snares  of  Satan.  He  com- 
forted those  that  were  cast  down  with  the  apprehension  of  God's  wrath 
for  their  sins.  He  ministered  relief  to  widows,  orphans,  and  such  as  were 
destitute  of  humane  help.     His  company  was  never  grievous." 

His  being  such  a  one  did  but  render  him  the  more  likely  to  be  found 
.  a  non-conformist,  when  the  act  of  uniformity  struck  dead  so  many  faithful 
ministers  of  the  gospel  in  the  English  Nation.  When  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, under  the  new  form  which  its  canons  after  the  year  1660  depraved 
it  into,  was  pressing  its  unscriptural  rites,  our  Walley  replied,  with  Tertul- 
lian,  Si  ideo  dicetur,  licere,  quia  non  prohibeat  Scriptura,  ceque  retorquebitur, 
ideo  non  licere,  quia  Scriptura  non  Jubeatf^ 

If  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  days  of  New-England's  first  planting, 
did  SQ  want  reformation  that  these  colonies  must  be  planted  for  the  sake 
thereof,  how  much  more  would  the  second  model  of  it  affright  such  consci- 
entious dissenters  as  our  Walley,  unto  congregations  that  were  more  thor- 
oughly reformed?  For,  as  one  writes,  "Though  the  Church  of  England 
was  never  so  reformed  as  Geneva,  France,  Holland,  and  other  reformed 
churches,  yet  there  is  as  vast  a  difference  between  the  old  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  the  new  one,  as  between  Nebuchadnezzar  when  sitting  on  his 
throne  and  glittering  in  his  glory,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  when  grazing 
among  beasts  in  the  field,  with  his  hair  like  birds'  feathers,  and  nails  like 
eagles'  claws." — The  effect  of  all  was,  that  Mr.  Walley  was  driven  from 
the  exercise  of  his  ministry  in  London  to  New-England,  where  he  arrived 
about  the  year  1663. 

Here  he  had  a  "great  service"  to  do;  for  if  the  Apostle  Paul  thought 
it  beseeming  an  apostle  to  write  a  part  of  canonical  Scripture,  about  the 
agreement  of  no  more  than  two  godly  persons,  [Phil.  iv.  2,]  certainly  it 
must  be  a  "great  service"  to  bring  a  divided  church  of  godly  persons  unto 
a  good  agreement.  In  Thebes,  he  that  could  reconcile  any  quarrelsome 
neighbours,  was  honoured  with  a  garland.  The  honour  of  a  garland  was 
on  that  score  highly  due  to  our  Walley. 

The  church  of  Barnstable  had  been  miserably  broken  with  divisions 
until  this  prudent,  patient,  and  holy  Walley  appeared  among  them,  and 

Quum  Pietate  Gravem,  ac  Meritis  hunc  Forte 
Virinn  jam  Conspexere,  Silent.f 

As  among  the  Suevians  it  was  a  law  that  in  a  fray  where  swords  were 
drawn,  if  any  one  did  but  cry  peace,  they  must  end  the  quarrel,  or  else  he 
died  that  struck  the  next  blow  after  peace  was  named.  Thus,  after  our 
Walley,  with  his  charming  wisdom,  cried  peace,  that  flock  was  happily 

•  If  it  is  claimed  that  one  thing  is  right  because  the  Scripture  does  not  forbid  it,  it  will  of  course  be  replied 
with  equal  force,  that  another  is  wron;;,  because  the  Scripture  does  not  command  it. 

t  Hushed  into  silence  at  the  sight  of  one     |     In  whose  calm  look  a  reverend  grandeur  shone. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  QQl 

united;  and  he  continued  in  much  peace,  and  with  much  fame,  feeding 
of  it  all  the  rest  of  his  days. 

I  will  now  so  far  discover  my  self  as  to  applaud  this  worthy  man  for 
two  things,  which  it  may  be  many  good  men  will  count  worthy  rather  of 
reproach  than  applause. 

One  is  this:  in  my  father's  preface  to  his  discourses  on  the  New- Jerusa- 
lem, I  meet  with  this  passage :  "  Though  it  hath  been  generally  thought 
that  the  first  resurrection  spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse,  is  to  be  understood 
only  in  a  mystical  sense,  yet  some  of  the  first  and  eminent  teachers  in 
these  churches  believed  the  first  resun-ection  to  be  corporal.  So  did  Mr. 
Davenport,  Mr.  Hook,  and,  of  later  years,  that  man  of  an  excellent  spirit, 
Mr.  Thomas  Walley,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Barnstable." — Thus  did  our 
pious  chiliast,  Walley,  it  seems,  come  to  his  thoughts  as  Joseph  Mede 
before  him  did,  and  as  in  the  times  of  more  illumination  learned  men 
must  and  will:  Postquam  alia  omnia  frustra  tentassem^  tandem  Rei  ipsixxs 
Claritudine  perstrictus,  paradoxo  Succubui* 

Another  is  this:  on  a  great  occasion,  our  \Y alley  declared  himself  in 
these  words:  "It  would  not  consist  with  our  profession  of  love  to  Christ 
or  saints,  to  trouble  those  that  peaceably  differ  from  the  generality  of  God's 
people  in  lesser  things;  those  that  are  like  to  live  in  heaven  with  us  at 
last,  we  should  endeavour  they  might  live  peaceably  with  us  here.  A 
well-bounded  toleration  were  very  desireable  in  all  Christian  common- 
wealths, that  there  may  be  no  just  occasion  for  any  to  complain  of  cruelty 
or  persecution;  but  it  must  be  such  a  toleration,  that  God  may  not  be 
publickly  blasphemed  nor  idolatry  practised." — With  such  candor  did  he 
express  himself  against  the  way  well  decryed  by  Gerhard,  A  Verbo  ad 
Ferrum,  ab  Atramento  ad  Armamenia,  a  Pennis,  ad  Bipennes,  confugere.\ 

I  cannot  find  any  more  than  one  published  composure  left  behind, 
which  is  entituled,  ^^ Balm  in  Gilead  to  heal  Sion^s  Wounds:''''  being  a  ser- 
mon preached  before  the  General  Court  of  the  colony  of  New-Plymouth, 
June  1,  1669,  the  day  of  election  there:  in  which,  let  it  be  remembred,  he 
expressly  foretels  that  New-England  would  "ere  long  lose  her  holiness, 
her  righteousness,  her  peace,  and  her  liberty." 

EPITAPHIUM. 

0  Mors,  Qualem  Virum  Extinxisti  I 

Sed  bene  hahct; 
Virtus  Wall^i  Immortalis  est.t 

Article  (IV.)  The  siyiall  stay  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Samuel  Lee  in  this 
country,  where  he  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  New-Bristol,  [from  the 
year  1686  to  the  year  1691,]  will  excuse  me,  if  I  say  little  of  him;  and 

*  After  I  hnd  tried  every  thing  else  to  no  purpose,  I  was  at  last  drawn  by  the  self-evident  truth  of  the  conclu- 
Bion,  to  acknowledge  it  to  be  an  incomprehensible  paradox. 

+  Of  rushing  from  words  to  the  sword,  from  ink  to  arms,  from  pen  to  battle-axe. 

X  O  Death,  what  a  life  thou  hast  destroyed!  Yet  it  is  well ;  for  Wallev's  virtues  are  immortal. 


g02  M  AG  N  ALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

yet  the  great  worth  of  that  renowned  man,  will  render  it  inexcusable  to 
say  nothing  at  all. 

All  that  I  shall  say  is,  that  if  learning  ever  merited  a  statue^  this  great 
man,  has  as  rich  an  one  due  to  him  as  can  be  erected;  for  it  must  be 
granted,  that  hardly  ever  a  more  zmiversallt/  learned  person  trod  the 
American  strand. 

Live,  0  rare  Lee!  live,  if  not  in  our  works,  yet  in  thy  own;  ten  or 
'twelve  of  which,  that  have  seen  the  light,  will  immortalize  thee.  But, 
above  all,  thy  book  "i)e  Excideo  Antichristi''^*  shall  survive,  and  assist  the 
funeral  of  the  monster  whose  nativity  is  therein,  with  such  exquisite  study 
calculated ;  and  thy  book  entituled,  "  Orhis  Miracv.lum  ;f  or,  The  Ihnjyle  of 
Solomon,^'  shall  proclaim  thee  to  be  a  miracle  for  thy  vast  knowledge,  and 
a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  thy  God ! 

In  his  return  for  England,  the  French  took  him  a  prisoner,  and  unciv- 
illy detaining  him,  he  died  in  France;  where  he  found  the  grave  of  an 
heretick,  and  was  therein  (after  some  sort,  like  Wickliff  and  Bucer)  made 
a  martyr  after  his  death. 


CHAPTER  ?n. 

A  GOOD  MAN   MAKING  A  GOOD  END. 

THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  THE  REV.  MR.  JOHN  BAILY. 

COMPRISED    AND    EXPRESSED    IN 

A  SERMON,  ON  THE  DAY  OF  HIS  FUNERAL,  THURSDAY,  16  D.  10  M.  1697. 

Fulchra  sunt   Verba  ex  Ore 
Ea  Facientium. — Adas.  Judaic. t 

Reader:  We  are  not  so  wise  as  the  miserable  Papists!  Among  them, 
a  person  of  merit  shall  at  his  death  be  celebrated  and  canonized  by  all 
men  agreeing  in  it,  as  in  their  common  interest,  for  to  applaud  his  life. 
Among  us,  let  there  be  dues  paid  unto  the  memory  of  the  most  meritori- 
ous  person  after  his  decease;  many  of  the  survivers  are  offended,  I  had 
almost  said  enraged  at  it:  they  seem  to  take  it  as  a  reproach  unto  them- 
selves (and,  it  may  be,  so  it  is!)  that  so  much  good  should  be  told  of  any 
man,  and  that  all  the  little  frailties  and  errors  of  that  man  (and  whereof 
no  meer  man  was  ever  free!)  be  not  also  told,  with  all  the  unjust  aggrava- 
tions that  envy  might  put  upon  them.  This  folly  is  as  inexpressible  an 
injury  to  us  all;  as  it  cannot  but  be  an  advantage  unto  mankind  in  general 
for  interred  vertue  to  be  rewarded  with  a  statue. 

*  Concerning  (he  cutting  off  of  Antichrist.  ^  The  wonder  of  the  world. 

X  Sweet  are  words  from  the  lips  of  the  doers  of  them.— J^wisA  Proverb. 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  603 

If  ever  I  deserved  well  of  ray  country,  it  has  been  when  I  have  given 
to  the  world  the  histories  and  characters  of  eminent  persons  which  have 
adorned  it.  Malice  will  call  some  of  those  things  romances;  but  that 
Malice  it  self  may  never  hiss  with  the  least  colour  of  reason  any  more,  I 
do  here  declare,  let  any  man  living  evince  any  one  material  mistalx  in  any 
one  of  those  composures,  it  shall  have  the  most  publick  recantation  that 
can  be  desired.  In  the  meantime,  while  some  impotent  cavils,  nibbling 
at  the  statues  which  we  have  erected  for  our  -worthies,  take  pains  to  prove 
themselves  the  enemies  of  New-England  and  of  religion,  the  statues  will 
out-live  all  their  idle  nibbles;  "the  righteous  will  be  had  in  everlasting 
remembrance,"  when  the  wicked,  who  "see  it  and  are  grieved,"  shall 
"gnash  with  their  teeth,  and  melt  away." 

A    GOOD    MAN    MAKING    A    GOOD    END. 

UTTERED,  THURSDAY  16  D.  10  M.  1697. 

I  bring  you  this  day  a  text  of  sacred  Scripture,  which  a  faithful  servant 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  lately  gone  unto  him,  did  before  his  going  order 
for  you  as  his  legacy.  Give  your  attention:  'Tis  that  in  Psal.  xxxi.  5: 
"Into  thine  hand  I  commit  my  spirit." 

That  holy  and  worthy  minister  of  the  gospel,  whose  funeral  is  this  day 
to  be  attended,  having  laboured  for  the  conversion  of  men  unto  God,  at 
length  grew  very  presagious  that  his  labours  in  the  evangelical  ministry 
drew  near  unto  an  end.  While  he  was  yet  in  health,  and  not  got  beyond 
the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  he  did,  with  such  a  presage  upon  his  mind, 
(having  first  written  on  this  wise  in  his  diary,  "Oh!  that  Christ's  death 
might  fit  me  for  my  own!")  begin  to  study  a  sermon  on  this  very  text, 
"  Into  thine  hand  I  commit  my  spirit."  But  his  great  Master,  who  favoured 
him  with  such  a  presage,  never  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  finish  and  utter 
what  he  had  began  to  study.  His  life  had  all  this  while  been  a  practical 
commentary  upon  his  doctrine;  yea,  it  was  an  endeavour  to  imitate  our 
blessed  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  said  [Acts  i.  1,]  first  to  do,  and  then  to 
teach:  and  now,  behold!  his  death  must  expound  and  apply  the  doctrine 
which  he  would  have  preached  unto  us.  He  must  show  us  how  to  do  that 
important  work  of  "committing  a  departing  spirit  into  the  hands  of  God," 
no  otherwise  than  by  the  actual  doing  of  that  work  himself.  While  there- 
fore he  lay  dying,  he  asked  one  of  his  dearest  relations,  "Dost  thou  know 
what  I  am  doing?"  She  said,  "No;"  he  then  added,  "I  am  rendring,  I 
am  rendring!"  meaning,  I  suppose,  his  own  spirit  unto  the  Lord.  But 
while  he  was  doing  of  that  work,  and  with  humble  resignation  "commit- 
ting his  own  spirit  into  the  hands  of  God,"  he  desired  of  me  that  I  would 
preach  upon  the  text  about  which  he  had  been  under  such  intentions. 
Wherefore  (if  at  least  I  may  be  thought  worthy  of  such  a  character!)  you 
are  now  to  consider  me — shall  I'say — as  "executing  the  will  of  the  dead?" 
or,  as  "representing  a  man  of  God,  whom  God  hath  taken."     The  truths 


gQ^  MAG  N  ALIA    CHEISTI    AMEEICANA; 

which  we  shall  now  inculcate,  will  be  such  as  you  are  all  along  to  think, 
"these  are  the  things  which  a  saint  now  in  glory  would  have  to  be  incul- 
cated." And  when  we  have  briefly  set  those  truths  before  you,  we  will 
describe  a  little  that  excellent  saint,  as  from  whom  you  have  them  recom- 
mended: we  will  describe  him  chiefly  with  strokes  fetched  from  his  own 
diaries,  out  of  which,  in  the  little  time  I  have  had  since  his  death,  I  have 
collected  a  few  remarkahles. 

Our  Psalmist,  the  illustrious  David,  now,  as  we  may  judge,  drew  near 
unto  his  end:  and  we  may  say  of  the  Psalm  here  composed  by  him, 
"These  are  among  the  last  words  of  David,  the  man  who  was  raised  up  on 
high."  The  sighs  of  the  Psalmist  here  collected,  seem  to  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  sufferings  which  he  underwent  when  his  own  subjects  took 
up  arms  against  him.  Nevertheless,  as  our  psalter  is  all  over  "the  Book 
of  the  Messiah,"  so  this  particular  Hymn  in  it  is  contrived  elegantly  to 
point  out  the  sufferings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  us.  In  the  text 
now  before  us,  the  Psalmist,  apprehending  himself  in  danger  of  deatli,  does 
the  great  work  of  a  dying  man:  which  is,  "to  commit  a  surviving  spirit  into 
the  hand  of  God."  But  in  doing  this,  he  entertains  a  special  consideration 
of  God,  for  his  encouragement  in  doing  it:  this  is,  "Thou  hast  redeemed 
me,  O  Lord  God  of  truth."  It  is  the  Messiah  that  hath  redeemed  us ;  it  is 
the  Messiah  whose  name  is  the  Truth;  David,  upon  a  view  of  the  Messiah, 
said,  "This  is  the  man,  who  is  the  Lord  God."  Wherefore,  in  "commit- 
ting our  spirits  unto  God,"  our  Lord  Christ  is  to  be  distinctly  considered ; 
and  he  was,  no  doubt,  by  David  considered.  The  power  of  God  is  called 
his  hand;  the  wisdom  of  God  is  called  his  hand;  but,  above  all,  the  Christ 
of  God,  who  is  the  poiuer  of  God,  and  the  ivisdom  of  God,  he  is  the  hand 
of  God;  by  Him  it  is  that  the  God  of  heavbn  doth  what  he  doth  in  the 
world:  and  he  is  for  that  cause  also  styled,  "The  arm  of  the  Lord."  It  is 
therefore  to  X\iq  power  and  loisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  in  Christ,  that  our 
expiring  spirits  are  to  be  committed. 

There  was  indeed  a  wonderful  time,  when  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself 
made  a  wonderful  use  of  this  very  text.  We  read  in  Luke  xxiii.  46, 
"When  Jesus  had  cried  with  a  ioud  voice,  he  said,  'Father,  into  thy  hands 
I  commend  my  Spirit;'  and  having  said  thus,  he  gave  up  the  Ghost." 
Sirs,  God  uttered  his  voice,  at  this  rate,  and  the  earth  trembled  at  it! 
And  well  it  might,  for  never  did  there  such  an  amazing  thing  occur  upon 
the  earth  before.  Now,  our  Lord  having  said,  "Into  thy  hands  I  commend 
my  Spirit,"  stopped  at  those  words;  for  he  was  himself  the  "Eedeemer, 
the  Lord  God  of  Truth."  But  as  for  us,  we  are  to  consider  God,  as  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  we  commit  our  spirits  into  his  hands.  As 
Luther  could  say.  Nolo  Deum  Ahsolutum — I  tremble  to  have  to  do  with  an 
absolute  God;  that  is  to  say,  a  God  without  a  Christ — so,  we  may  all 
tremble  to  think  of  committing  our  spirits  into  the  hands  of  God,  any 
otherwise  than  as  he  is  "in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself." 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  605 

We  are  truly  told  in  Heb.  x.  81,  "It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  full  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God."  Our  spirits  are  by  sin  become  obnoxious  to  the 
fearful  wrath  of  God ;  and  wo  to  us,  if  our  spirits  fall  into  his  hands,  not 
having  his  wrath  appeased!  Sirs,  we  commit  briars  and  thorns,  and 
wretched  stubble  to  infinite  flames,  if  we  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hands 
of  God,  not  in  a  Christ,  become  our  friend.  We  deliver  up  our  spirits 
unto  a  "devouring  fire,"  and  unto  "everlasting  burnings,"  if  we  approach 
the  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy  Lord  God  Almighty"  any  otherwise  than  through 
the  Immanuel,  our  Mediator.  We  are  to  "commit  our  souls  unto  our 
faithful  Creator;"  but  if  he  be  not  our  "merciful  Redeemer"  too,  then 
"He  that  made  us  will  not  have  mercy  on  us."  When  Hezekiah  was,  as 
he  thought,  a  dying,  he  "turned  his  face  to  the  wall:"  I  suppose  it  was  to 
that  side  of  the  upper  chamber^  the  praying  chamber,  where  he  lay,  that  had 
"God's  window"  in  it,  the  window  that  opened  it  self  towards  the  ark  in 
the  temple.  When  we  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  God,  we  are 
to  turn  our /ace  towards  that  ark  of  God,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  have 
this  matter  well  directed  by  the  words  of  the  dying  martyr  Stephen,  in 
Acts  vii.  59.  He  said,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit." 
And  now  there  is  a  weighty  CASE  that  lies  before  us: 

After  what  maimer  should  we  commit  our  spirits  unto  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
so  the  eternal  safety  and  welfare  of  our  spirits,  may  he  effectually  provided  for? 

If  our  faithful  Baily  were  now  alive,  I  do  not  know  any  one  case  that 
he  would  more  livelily  have  discoursed  among  you :  but  I  know  that  he 
would  have  discoursed  on  this  with  a  soul  full  of  inexpressible  agonies. 
He  was  a  man  who  had,  from  a  child,  been  full  of  solicitous  cares  about 
his  own  soul;  and  from  hence  in  part  it  was,  that  when  he  became  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  he  preached  nothing  so  much  as  tlie  cares  that  all 
men  should  have  about  the  conversion  of  their  souls  unto  God,  and  the 
sincerity  of  their  souls  before  him.  There  were  many  great  points  of  our 
Christian  faith  which  he  still  treated  with  shorter  touches,  because  his 
thoughts  were  continually  swallowed  up  with  the  vast  concern  of  not  being 
deceived  about  the  marks  of  a  regenerate  and  a  sanctified  soul,  and  hopes 
of  being  found  in  Christ  at  a  dying  hour.  He  was  none  of  those  preachers. 
Qui  ludunt  in  Cathedra,  et  lugent  in  Gehenna  *  Those  two  words,  a  soul 
and  eternity,  were  great  words  unto  him;  and  his  very  soul  was  greatly 
and  always  under  the  awe  of  them.  Hence  the  very  spirit  of  his  preach- 
ing lay  in  the  points  of  turning  from  sin  to  God  in  Christ,  and  the  tryal 
of  our  doing  so,  and  the  peril  of  our  not  doing  it.  Wherefore,  as  far  as, 
alas !  one  of  my  sinful  coldness  in  those  dreadful  points  can  do  it,  I  will 
set  before  you  in  a  few  minutes  what  I  apprehend  my  dead  friend  would 
have  to  be  spoken,  upon  these  points,  in  relation  to  the  case  that  is  now 
to  be  considered. 

*  Who  ploy  in  the  church  and  weep  in  hell. 


QQQ  MAGNA  LI  A    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

T.  Let  every  mortal  man  be  very  sensible  that  ho  hath  an  immortal  spirit 
in  him,  and  prize  that  spirit  exceedingly.  IIow  shall  we  commit  a  spirit 
into  the  hamls  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if  this  thing  be  not  realized  unto 
us,  that  we  have  a  spirit,  which  will  be  horribly  miserable  to  all  eternity, 
if  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  look  not  after  it! 

Could  that  mouth,  which  is  this  day  to  be  laid  in  the  dust,  once  more 
be  opened  among  us,  I  know  what  voice  would  issue  from  it:  with  a  very 
zealous  vivacity,  I  know  this  voice  would  be  uttered:  "Man,  thou  hast  a 
soul,  a  soul  within  thee;  a  soul  that  is  to  exist  throughout  eternal  ages. 
Oh!  prize  that  soul  of  thine  at  the  greatest  rate  imaginable." — I  say,  then, 
we  must  be  sensible  that  we  have  spirits  which  are  distinct  from  our  bodies, 
and  which  will  out  live  them:  spirits  which  are  "incorporeal  substances, 
endued  with  rational  faculties;  and  though  inclined  unto  our  humane 
bodies,  yet  surviving  after  them."  An  infidel  Pope  of  Rome  once,  lying 
on  his  death-bed,  had  such  a  speech  as  this:  "I  shall  now  quickly  be  cer- 
tified and  satisfied  whether  I  have  an  immortal  soul  or  no!"  Woful  man, 
if  he  were  not  until  then  certified  and  satisfied!  God  forbid  that  there 
should  be  so  much  as  one  Epicurean  sioine  among  us,  dreaming,  that  man 
is  nothing  but  a  "meer  lump  of  matter  put  into  motion."  Shall  a  man 
dare  to  think  that  he  has  not  a  rational  soul  in  him,  which  is  of  a  very 
different  nature  from  his  bod}^?  Truly,  his  very  thinking  is  enough  to 
confute  his  monstrous  unreasonableness:  meer  hody  cannot  thinh;  and,  I 
pray,  of  what  figure  is  a  rational  atom?  The  oracles  of  God  have  there- 
fore assured  us  that  the  fathers  of  our  borUes  are  not  the  fathers  of  sjjirits ; 
no,  these  have  another  father!  And,  that  the  spirits  of  men  may  go  from 
their  bodies,  and  be  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven  too!  Well;  but  when 
our  bodies  crumble  and  tumble  before  the  strokes  of  death,  are  not  our 
spirits  overwhelmed  in  the  ruines  of  our  bodies,  like  Sampson,  when  the 
Philistian  temple  fell  upon  him?  No;  they  are  "sparks  of  inmiortality" 
that  shall  never  be  extinguished;  they  must  live,  and  move,  and  think, 
until  the  very  heavens  be  no  more.  Among  other  evidences  that  our 
spirits  are  immortal,  there  is  no  contemptible  one  in  the  presages  which 
the  spirits  of  such  good  men  as  he  which  is  anon  to  be  interred  have  had 
of  their  speedy  passage  in  a  "world  of  spirits."  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  gave  his  own  blood  for  the  purchase  of  our  souls,  and  can  tell,  sure! 
what  it  is  that  he  has  purchased ;  he  has  expressly  told  us  in  Matth.  x.  28, 
"They  which  kill  the  body,  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul."  Our  blessed 
Apostle  Paul,  a  mighty  student  and  worker  for  souls,  was  not  fed  with 
fancies,  when  he  took  it  for  granted,  in  Phil.  i.  21,  that  when  he  should 
" be  dissolved,"  he  should  "be  with  Christ"  immediately.  Do  try,  thou 
fool-hardy  creature,  to  perswade  thy  self,  that  thou  hast  not  an  immortal 
sold:  thou  canst  not,  for  thy  soul,  render  thy  self  altogether  and  evermore 
perswaded  of  it:  with  very  dreadful  suspicions  of  its  immortality  will  thy 
own   conscience,  a  certain   faculty  of  thy  soul,  terrif)^  thee,    when   God 


OE,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  607 

awakens  it.  I  have  known  a  sturdy  disputer  against  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  go  out  of  the  world  with  this  lamentable  out-cry:  "Oh!  my  soul, 
my  soul ;  what  shall  I  do  for  my  poor  soul  ?"  Sirs,  let  this  principle  stand 
like  the  very  pillars  of  heaven  with  every  one  of  us,  that  ive  have  immortal 
souls  to  he  provided  for.  But  if  a  man  have  an  immortal  soul  within  him, 
what  will  be  the  natural  consequence  of  it?  The  consequence  is  plainly 
this:  that  since  the  soul  is  immortal,  it  should  be  yerj precious.  It  was 
infinitely  reasonable  for  the  soul  to  be  called,  as  it  was  in  Psal.  xxii.  20, 
"My  soul,  my  darling!"  Oh!  there  should  be  nothing  so  dear  to  a  man 
as  that  soul  of  his,  that  shall  endure  when  all  other  things  are  changed : 
for,  "0  my  soul,  of  thy  years  there  shall  be  no  end."  The  interests  of  our 
spirits  are  to  be  much  greater  things  unto  us,  than  the  interests  of  our 
bodies.  What  will  become  of  our  souls?  That,  that  is  a  thing  that  should 
lie  much  nearer  to  our  hearts,  than  what  will  become  of  our  lives,  our 
names,  our  estates.  We  should  set  an  high  value  on  our  spirits,  and  often 
meditate  on  the  text  which  was  once  given  to  a  great  man  for  his  daily 
meditation  in  Matt.  xvi.  26:  "What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?" 

II.  Let  every  man  in  this  world  that  hath  an  immortal  spirit  be,  above 
all  things,  thoughtful  for  the  welfare  of  that  spirit  in  another  world. 
When  we  commit  a  spirit  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  is 
that  so  it  may  escape  that  wretchedness,  and  attain  that  blessedness  in 
another  world,  whereof  our  Lord  hath  in  his  word  advised  us.  When 
that  embassador  of  Christ,  who  is  lately  gone  back  unto  him,  was  resident 
among  us,  there  was  no  one  thing  that  he  more  vigorously  insisted  on 
than  this:  "Oh!  there  is  nothing  so  dreadful  as  that  hell  which  every 
wicked  soul  shall  be  turned  into:  there  is  nothing  so  joyful  as  that  heaven 
which  is  prepared  for  every  godly  soul:  and  there  is  nothing  of  so  much 
concernment  for  you,  as  to  flee  from  that  wrath  to  come,  and  lay  hold 
on  that  life  eternal."  I  say,  accordingly,  there  are  astonishing  dangers 
whereto  our  souls  are  exposed  by  our  sins.  Our  spirits  are  in  danger  of 
being  for  ever  banished  from  the  communion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
into  a  state  of  easeless  and  endless  horror;  our  spirits  are  in  danger  to  be 
plunged  into  doleful  torments,  among  the  devils  that  have  been  our  tempt- 
ers: our  spirits  are  in  danger  to  be  seized  by  the  justice  of  that  God 
against  whom  we  have  sinned,  a'nd  laid  under  everlasting  impressions  of 
his  indignation.  There  are  "spirits  in  prison;"  there  is  danger  lest  the 
vengeance  of  God  chain  up  our  spirits  in  that  fiery  prison.  (It  was  but 
a  little  before  he  went  unto  heaven  that  our  Baily,  in  twenty-six  discourses 
on  Rev.  vi.  8,  opened  the  treasures  of  that  wrath  among  us.)  And  we 
should  now  be  so  thoughtful  of  nothing  upon  earth,  as  how  to  get  our 
spirits  delivered  from  this  formidable  hell.  The  fittest  language  for  us 
would  be  like  that  in  Psal.  cxvi.  3,  4:  "The  pains  of  hell  are  getting  hold 


g08  MAGNALIA    CIIEISTI    AMERICANA; 

on  me;  0  Lord,  I  beseech  thee  to  dehver  my  soul."  But  then  there  is  a 
great  salvation,  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  wrought  for  us;  and 
that  salvation  is,  "the  salvation  of  the  soul."  Our  spirits  may  be  released 
from  the  bonds  which  the  "sentence  of  death,"  by  the  law  of  God  passed 
upon  them,  has  laid  them  under.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  satisfying  of 
the  law,  by  his  death  in  our  stead,  hath  procured  this  release  for  the  spirits 
of  his  chosen.  There  are  the  "spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect;"  and 
there  is  perfect  ligld^  and  perfect  love^  and  perfect  joy^  among  those  glori- 
fied spirits.  Our  spirits  may  be  advanced  into  the  society  of  angels,  and 
be  with  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  heaven  the  spectators  and  partakers  of 
his  heavenly  glory.  Now,  we  should  be  more  thoughtful  to  make  sure  of 
such  a  heaven  for  our  spirits,  than  to  ensure  any  thing  on  earth.  We 
should  wish  for  nothing  so  much  as  that  in  1  Sam.  xxv.  29,  "A  soul  bound 
up  in  the  bundle  of  life."  There  are  souls  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
has  bundled  like  so  many  slips,  to  be  transplanted  into  the  sweet  garden 
of  heaven;  say  now,  0  man,  with  all  possible  ardour  of  soul,  "Oh!  may 
my  soul  be  one  of  them." 

When  our  father  Jacob  was  a  dying,  he  seems,  upon  the  occasion  of 
mentioning  a  serpent,  immediately  to  call  to  mind  the  mischiefs  which 
had  been  done  by  the  old  serpent  unto  our  spirits:  whereupon  he  cried 
out,  (Gen.  xlix.  18,)  "I  have  waited  for  thy  Salvation,  [for  thy  JESUS!] 
0  Lord."  That  our  spirits  may  not  be  destroyed  in  our  dying,  this,  this 
is  the  thing  that  we  should  be  concerned  for;  that  they  may  be  saved  by 
a  Jesus  from  the  mischiefs  which  the  old  serpent  has  brought  upon  them. 

III.  When  we  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  we  must  believe  in  him,  as  fully  able  to  "save  our  spirits  unto  the 
uttermost."  It  is  by  faith  acted  unto  the  uttermost  that  we  are  to  commit 
our  spirits  into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Now,  the  acts  of  this 
faith  are  admirably  expressed  in  2  Tim,  i.  12:  "I  know  whom  I  have 
believed,  and  I  am  perswaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  unto  him."  We  would  have  our  spirits  preserved  from  the 
direful  anger  of  God,  which  threatens  to  swallow  them  up:  say  now, 
"  Lord  Jesus,  I  am  perswaded  thou  art  able  to  preserve  me."  We  would 
have  our  spirits  enriched  with  the  knowledge  and  image  and  favour  of 
God  in  his  kingdom:  say  now,  "Lord  Jesus,  I  am  perswaded  thou  art  able 
to  enrich  me."  We  are  therefore  to  place  our  faith  on  the  sacrifice  which 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  ofi'ered  unto  God,  on  the  behalf  of  his  people. 
We  read  in  Job  xxxiii.  22,  "When  a  soul  draws  near  unto  the  grave,  if 
there  be  a  messenger  with  him,  an  interpreter,  then  he  says,  deliver  him 
from  going  down  to  the  pit,  I  have  found  a  ransome."  Some  of  the 
ancients  take  that,  Angelns  Interpres^  to  be,  "Christ  the  Mediator."  Sirs, 
when  your  souls  are  "drawing  near  unto  the  grave,"  it  is  high  time  to 
believe  on  that  ransome^  which  '■^  One  among  a  thousand'"  has  paid  unto 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  g09 

Gcd  for  us.  "We  must  believe  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  soul  of  the  Messiah, 
when  "he  was  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself,"  is  a  valuable  sacrifice,  a  suffi- 
cient sacrifice,  and  a  sacrifice  which  the  wondrous  grace  of  God  invites  us 
to  depend  upon;  and  with  a  firm  dependance  on  that  sacrifice,  we  must 
plead,  "0  let  my  soul  be  delivered  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  since  God 
has  found  such  a  ransom  for  me!"  But  while  we  rely  on  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  as  he  has  been  sacrificed  for  us  here  below,  we  must  also  rely  upon 
him,  as  he  is  now  above,  in  the  Holy  of  holies,  interceding  for  us.  And 
that  our  faith  in  committing  our  spirits  unto  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  may 
be  a  truly  Christian  fitith^  we  must  believe  him  to  be  no  less  than  "the 
Lord  God  of  Truth ;"  to  be  God  as  well  as  man ;  to  be  God  and  man  in 
one  person.  That  man  is  a  very  foolish  man  who  will  trust  his  own  soul 
with  any  one  less  than  the  God  who  made  our  soul,  and  who  alone  can 
save  it.  Our  belief  must  pronounce  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  same  that 
his  Bible  has  pronounced  him;  "the  true  God,  the  great  God,  and  God 
over  all;"  one  who  is  every  where,  and  who  knows  every  thing.  This 
article  of  our  faith,  which  the  modern  Jews  deny,  is  indeed  so  incontest- 
able, that  I  could  presently  overwhelm  them  with  an  army  of  testimonies, 
from  the  Rabbles  among  the  ancient  Jews,  confessing  that  the  Messiah 
must  be  very  Jehovah  himself  I  beseech  you,  let  no  man  dare  to  die  in 
any  doubt  whether  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  unto  whom  he  commits  his  own 
soul,  be  not  more  than  a  meer  man.  Believing  him  to  be  God,  let  us 
believe  that  his  blood  is  price  enough  to  obtain  for  us  the  everlasting  hap- 
piness of  our  spirits;  what  can  our  spirits  want  that  the  blood  of  God 
cannot  obtain?  Let  us  believe  that  his  Holy  Spirit  can  fit  our  spirits  for, 
and  fill  our  spirits  with  eternal  glories ;  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  the  Spirit 
of  God:  What  can't  he  do  for  us?  Let  us  believe  that  he  has  legions  and 
myriads  and  millions  of  blessed  spirits  to  be  our  convoy  and  safeguard 
from  those  evil  spirits  which  are  waiting  to  arrest  our  spirits  at  our  disso- 
lution: he  is  God  among  the  thousands  of  his  angels  in  "his  holy  place:" 
they  will  fly  like  swift  flashes  of  lightning  to  succour  us  when  ever  He 
shall  command  them  so  to  do.  What  shall  we  say?  When  Jacob  fell 
asleep  with  his  head  lying  upon  a  stone,  he  had  a  vision  of  angels  concerned 
for  him.  Truly,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is,  "the  stone  of  Israel."  If  you 
do  not  full  asleep  till  you  have  laid  your  heads  and  hopes  on  that  Stone, 
you  shall  then  see  armies  of  angels  about  you  to  secure  you. 

TV.  When  we  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
we  must  submit  unto  all  his  gracious  operations  upon  our  spirits.  We 
commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  say:  well, 
he  then  demands  of  us,  as  in  Mark  x.  51,  "What  wilt  thou  that  I  should 
do  unto  thee?"  And,  I  pray,  mark  it:  if  there  be  any  article  of  grace 
always  wrought  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  spirits  of  his  elect,  which 
you  do  not  consent  unto,  he  will  not  receive  your  spirits;  no,  he  will 
Vol.  L— 39 


QIQ  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 

destroy  them  dreadfully.  Some  commit  tlieir  spirits  into  tlie  hand  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  say;  but  they  are  not  willing  that  the  hcmd  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  should  ever  do  for  them  all  tliat  must  be  done  in  all  that 
are  brought  home  unto  God.  Perhaps  they  would  have  their  spirit  rescued 
from  the  hands  of  the  devils  hereafter;  but  they  do  not  heartily  commit 
their  spirits  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  to  have  all  the 
lusts  that  make  their  spirits  like  devils  here  embittered  and  eradicated. 
They  would  have  easy  spirits,  it  may  be,  but  oh !  they  are  loth  to  have 
holy  spirits.  This  halving  of  it,  thou  hypocrite,  this  halving  of  a  Christ, 
will  hang  the  millstones  of  damnation  about  the -neck  of  thy  soul  for  ever. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  puts  this  question  unto  us:  "Poor  sinner,  what 
shall  I  do  for  thy  spirit?"  No  man  can  aright  commit  a  spirit  into  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  until  he  have  seriously  pondered  on  that 
question.  Ponder  it,  sirs,  in  the  fear  of  God!  but  then  let  our  answer  to 
it  be  according  to  that  in  2  Thess.  i.  11,  "That  he  would  fulfil  all  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  goodness  in  you,  and  the  work  of  faith  with  power."  In 
committing  your  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Oh !  let 
your  hearts,  "being  made  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power,"  declare  them- 
selves willing  to  have  him  do  for  you  all  that  he  is  willing  to  do.  It  is 
the  proposal  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  Shall  my  obedience  to  my  Father 
furnish  thee  with  that  atonement,  and  that  righteousness  whereby  thy 
spirit  shall  stand  without  fault  before  the  throne  of  God?"  Reply,  "Lord, 
I  commit  my  spirit  into  thy  hand,  for  thee  to  justify  it."  The  proposal 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  us  is,  "All  the  maladies  of  thy  spirit,  shall 
I  heal  them  all?"  Reply,  "Lord,  I  commit  my  spirit  into  thy  hand,  as 
into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  my  healer;  O  let  that  hand  of  thine  open  this 
blind  mind,  and  subdue  this  base  will,  and  rectilie  all  these  depraved 
afiections;  and  on  all  accounts  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me."  Man, 
commit  thy  spirit  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  such  a  dis- 
position and  then  rest  assured  that  spirit  shall  never  be  lost. 

V.  If  you  would  successfully  commit  your  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  you  die,  you  are  to  do  it  for  your  spirits  before 
you  die.  Indeed,  what  should  all  our  life  be  but  a  preparation  for  death  ? 
And  all  of  our  life  truly  is  little  enough.  So  thought  our  devout  Baily. 
It  was  the  counsel  which  he  often  gave  to  his  friends,  "Let  not  one  day 
pass  you  without  an  earnest  prayer  that  you  may  have  a  Christ  for  to 
stand  by  you  in  a  dying  hour."  And  his  own  practice  was  according  to 
that  counsel,  as  is  well  known  to  them  that  lived  with  him  in  his  family. 
Sirs,  you  are  not  sure  that  when  the  decretory  hour  of  death  overtakes  you, 
you  shall  have  one  minute  of  an  hour  allowed  you  to  commit  your  spirits 
into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Is  not  a  sudden  death  a  frequent 
sight?  There  are  very  many  so  suddenly  snatched  away  by  the  whirlwind 
of  the  vengeance  of  the  Almighty,  that  they  have  not  opportunity  so  much 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  QH 

as  to  say,  "Lord  have  mercy  upon  me!"  And  let  me  tell  you,  that  a  sud- 
den death  is  most  likely  to  be  the  portion  of  those  who  most  presumptu- 
ously put  off  to  a  death-bed  the  work  of  committing  their  spirits  into  the 
hand  that  can  alone  befriend  them.  I  have  read  that  of  old,  accordinoc 
to  the  laws  of  Persia,  a  malefactor  had  liberty,  for  an  hour  before  his  exe- 
cution, to  ask  what  he  would,  and  what  he  asked  was  granted  him.  One 
that  was  under  sentence  of  death,  being  admitted  unto  the  use  of  this  lib- 
erty, desired  neither  one  thing  nor  another,  but  only  "that  he  might  see 
the  king's  face;"  which  being  allowed  him,  he  so  plied  the  king  in  that 
hour,  that  he  obtained  his  pardon:  whereupon  the  Persians  altered  their 
custom,  and  covered  the  face  of  the  malefactor,  that  he  might  never  see 
the  king  any  more.  I  will  not  now  enquire,  how  far  this  passage  will 
illustrate  the  story  of  Haman;  but  I  will  observe,  that  the  "face  of  God" 
is  the  name  of  the  Messiah;  and  in  this  observation  I  have  given  you  a 
golden  key  to  come  at  new  treasures  in  scores  of  scriptures.  And  I  will 
apply  it  with  saying,  you  have,  it  may  be,  an  hour  and  no  more  allowed 
you  to  address  the  "face  of  God"  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  hour 
you  may  obtain  his  favour  and  mercy  and  pardon.  Do  not  slip  this  hour, 
lest  it  be  too  late.  Or,  perad venture  (and,  alas!  it  is  but  a  peradventure!) 
you  should  upon  a  death-bed  have  space  enough  to  commit  your  spirits 
into  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  are  you  sure  that  you  shall  then  have  the  grace 
to  do  it?  It  is  a  solemn  caution  that  is  given  us,  in  Phil.  ii.  12, 13 :  "  AVork 
out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling;  for  it  is  God  that  works 
in  you,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own  good  pleasure."  Even  so  fear 
and  tremble  to  delay  committing  your  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
so  much  as  one  day  longer;  you  do  not  know  that  God  will  please  to 
work  in  you  for  the  doing  of  it  when  your  last  moments  are  upon  you. 

I  have  read  it,  as  the  observation  of  some  very  experienced  ministers, 
that  they  never  handled  in  their  ministry  any  subjects  more  successfully 
than  those  which  led  them  to  discourse  against  procrastination  in  the  con- 
cerns of  their  souls.  Our  Baily  was  much  in  making  of  this  experiment. 
Many  a  man  inserts  that  clause  in  his  last  will,  "I  bequeath  my  soul  unto 
God  that  gave  it."'  But,  in  the  name  of  God,  art  thou  certain  that  he  will 
accept  of  it?  The  law  says.  Legato  renunciari potest ;  and  Legatu'fa  accipere 
nemo  nolens  corjitur — "  One  may  refuse  a  legacy ;  there  is  no  compelling  one 
to  accept  it."  It  is  true,  our  compassionate  Lord  will  ever  accept  a  poor 
soul,  whenever  it  is  with  a  true  faith  brought  unto  him.  Yea,  but  it  may 
be,  he  will  not  accept  of  thy  soul,  inasmuch  as  thou  hast  no  true  faith  to 
bring  it  withal;  faith,  which  "is  not  of  our  selves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God!" 
wherefore,  0  man,  if  thou  hast  any  regard  unto  thy  never-dying  soul,  go 
thy  ways  presently,  and  earnestly  commit  it  unto  the  Lord  before  a  dying 
hour.  As  the  apostle  said,  "This  I  say,  brethren,  the  time  is  short:"  even 
so,  this  I  say,  my  friend,  thy  time  it  may  be  shorter  than  thou  art  well 


612 


MAG  N  ALIA    CIIKISTI    AMERICANA; 


aware  of.    What  shall  I  say?    I  say,  "Boast  not  thyself  of  to-raorrovv."     I 
say,  "This  night  thy  soul  may  be  required." 

And  if  thy  faithless  heart  have  the  assistances  of  the  Divine  grace  with- 
held from  it,  when  the  damp  sweats  of  death  are  upon  thee,  there  is  yet 
another  objection,  with  which  the  God  of  heaven  will  thunder-strike  thy 
attempts  to  commit  thy  spirit  into  his  hand.  That  is  this:  "That  spirit 
of  thine,  is  it  thy  own  to  dispose  of?  Ilast  thou  not  already  otherwise  dis- 
posed of  it?"     It  is  a  rule  in  law.  Nemo  potest  legate^  quod  suum  jam  non 

est No  man  can  by  will  demise,  devise,  dispose  of  that  of  which  he  had 

made  sale  before."  It  is  said  of  a  very  ungodly  man,  in  1  Kings  xxi.  25, 
"He  sold  himself  to  work  wickedness  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."  Ungodly 
sinner,  the  devil  has  often  bargained  with  thee  about  thy  soul ;  he  hath 
said,  "By  deliberate  sinning  against  Heaven,  do  thou  make  over  thy  soul 
to  me,  and  thou  shalt  have  the  short  pleasures  of  sin  for  it."  God  knows 
how  often  thou  hast  thus  bargained  away  thy  soul  to  the  devil ;  and  since 
thou  hast  not  in  all  thy  life  revoked  that  bargain,  then,  though  thou  do 
at  thy  death  cry  unto  him,  "Lord,  receive  this  poor  soul  of  mine!"  how 
justly  may  he  say,  "No,  not  I!  thou  hast  sold  that  soul  to  another;  and 
let  him  keep  it  for  ever!"  There  will  also  be  this  further  to  be  said, 
"What  power  hast  thou  to  dispose  of  thy  spirit?  hast  thou  any  thing  at 
all  at  thy  own  disposal  ?" 

It  is  a  rule  in  law,  Servus  non  potest  Condere  Testamentum — "a  slave  can- 
not make  a  will :  he  has  nothing  of  his  own  to  dispose  of."  It  is  said  in 
Joh.  viii.  34,  "Whosoever  practiseth  sin,  is  the  slave  of  sin."  It  may  be, 
thou  hast  all  this  while  been  a  very  slave;  thy  lust  is  thy  lord,  a  lust  of 
uncleanness,  of  drunkenness,  of  worldliness,  it  hath  utterly  enslaved  thee. 
And,  what?  not  got  out  of  that  slavery  before  thy  dim  eyes,  and  cold  lips, 
and  faltering  tongue,  and  failing  breath,  hath  put  over  thy  soul  into  the 
hand  of  the  Lord!  How  justly  may  he  say,  "Slave,  thou  art  not  able  to 
do  for  thy  wretched  soul  what  thou  dost  now  pretend  unto."  The  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  will  not  cast  off  thy  soul  with  such  objections,  if  thou  "seek 
the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  and  call  upon  him  while  he  is  near."  I 
earnestly  testify  unto  you,  the  vilest  and  oldest  sinner  among  you  all  may 
come  and  be  welcome  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if  you  will  come  now, 
while  it  is  "the  acceptable  time,"  now  while  it  is  "the  day  of  salvation." 
Though  thou  art  never  so  bad,  yet  come  and  heartily  complain  to  him  of 
all  thy  badness,  and  he  will  do  good  unto  thy  soul ! 

I  am  sure  my  Baily  would  have  said  nothing  more  heartily  than  this 
among  you;  you  heard  him  often  say  it,  "Come  in  to  the  mercy  of  my 
Lord,  for  yet  there  is  room!"  But  it  is  to  be  feared,  that  if  thou  stay  till 
the  last  assaults  of  death  are  made  upon  thee,  the  door  of  mercy  will  be 
shut,  and  so  when  the  shrieks  arc,  "Lord,  Lord,  open  to  me!"  all  the 
answers  will  be  rebukes  and  fiery  thunders. 


OE,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  613 

YI.  Often  committing  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
while  we  live,  let  us  endeavour  after  such  characters  upon  our  spirits  as 
may  assure  us  that  he  will  receive  us  when  we  die. 

Indeed,  when  we  first  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  we  are  to  bring  them  with  no  other  characters  but  those  of 
sin  and  hell  upon  them.  If  we  then  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  under  the  encouragement  of  any  laudable  qualifica- 
tions and  recommendations  in  them,  "Ah!  Lord,  thou  wilt  abhor  us  and 
cast  us  off!"  In  our  first  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  enquires 
of  us,  "What  spirit  is  that  which  thou  dost  now  commit  into  my  hand?" 
our  answer  must  be,  "Lord,  it  is  a  guilty  spirit,  a  filthy  spirit,  a  spirit  full 
of  sin  and  hell  as  ever  it  can  hold,  and  a  spirit  horribly  under  the  curse 
of  God." 

Sirs,  if  you  answer  any  otherwise  than  so,  the  Eedeemer  of  spirits  will 
not  receive  your  spirits.  But  when  we  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  last  actions  of  our  life,  it  is  to  be  supposed 
that  we  only  repeat  what  we  have  done  before,  and  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  has  already  received  our  spirits  on  our  doing  of  it.  Oh!  it  is  a 
dreadful  thing  for  a  d3dng  man  to  think,  "The  Lord  never  yet  received 
this  poor  soul  of  mine;  for  I  never  till  now  committed  it  unto  the  Lord!" 
When  such  persons  commit  their  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  under  the  dimness  of  the  anguish  of  death,  it  is  as  one  says,  "As 
if  one  should  bequeath  unto  an  honourable  person  some  greasy  dish  clout, 
or  some  dirty  shoe-clout." 

It  is  of  unutterable  concernment  for  every  man  to  get  the  symptoms  of 
a  received  soul  upon  him,  now  before  his  last  surrender  of  a  distressed 
soul:  and  for  a  man  to  be  able  to  say  at  the  last,  "Lord,  I  commit  a  poor 
sinful  spirit  now  into  thy  hand ;  but  it  is  a  spirit  upon  which  thj  blood 
has  been  sprinkled,  and  it  is  a  spirit  which  thy  spirit  has  long  since  taken 
possession  of."  Now,  to  render  this  unquestionable,  we  are  to  examine 
our  selves,  "whether  our  spirits  have  been  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God?"  and  be  restless  in  our  own  spirits  till  we  are  sure  of  such  a  reno- 
vation. The  apostle  once  concluded  that,  when  our  spirits  depart  from 
hence,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  receive  them  into  "an  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens:"  and  upon  what  was  it  that  he  raised 
this  conclusion?  He  says,  in  2  Cor,  v,  5,  "For  He  that  wrought  us  for  this 
self-same  thing  is  God,"  The  Greek  word  used  there  is  the  same  that  the 
LXX.  use  for  the  curious  works  about  the  tabernacle. 

When  Bezaleel  had  neatly  wrought  a  board,  for  to  be  set  up  in  the  silver 
sockets  of  the  tabernacle,  he  would  not  throw  it  away  among  the  rubbish. 
Man!  if  thou  hast  a  well-wrought  soul  within  thee,  God  will  receive  it, 
and  advance  and  improve  it,  in  his  house  for  ever.  A  work  of  grace  pro- 
duced by  the  spirit  of  God,  upon  the  spirits  of  men,  is  a  sure  token  of 
his  purpose  to  bestow  a  state  of  glory  upon  them  at  their  departure  from 


qIj^  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

tlieir  bodies.  The  primitive  martyrs  were  bidden  in  1  Pet.  iv,  19,  to 
"commit  the  keeping  of  their  souls  unto  God,  as  unto  a  faithful  Creator." 
]>ut  it  is  probable  the  new  creation  experienced  by  renewed  souls  is  espe- 
cially therein  referred  unto.  Has  the  Spirit  of  God  made  a  new  creature 
of  the  spirit?  This  will  be  a  demonstration  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
has  already  received  thy  spirit,  and  that  when  thou  dost  again  commit 
thy  spirit  unto  him,  he  will  receive  it.  When  we  do,  in  our  last  actions, 
commit  a  spirit  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  what  is  it  for?  It 
is  that  he  may  put  an  upper  garment  of  glory  upon  that  spirit.  But  he 
will  demand,  "Where  is  the  under  garment  of  grace  upon  it?"  If  thou 
art  without  that  garment,  he  will  doom  thy  spirit  unto  outer  darkness; 
that  is  to  say,  (for  outer  darkness  was  the  name  of  the  prison  among  the 
Jews,)  he  will  make  a  perpetual  imprisonment  the  portion  of  thy  soul. 
Wherefore,  let  us  enquire  diligently  into  the  signs  of  a  new-horn  soul  upon 
us  before  we  come  to  die.  Wo  to  us,  if  we  are  not  horn  twice  before  we 
die  once!  Why  should  we  incur  this  desolation  upon  our  souls,  that  when 
at  last  we  go  to  commit  them  into  tbe  hand  of  the  Lord,  he  shall  reject 
them,  and  say,  "No,  I  know  them  not;  they  are  none  of  mine;  they  are 
the  workers  of  iniquity." 

The  more  certainly  to  prevent  this  desolation,  let  this  one  comprehen- 
sive duty  of  the  new  creature  be  often  renewed  with  you.  Receive  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  into  thy  soul  when  he  does  command  it  of  thee,  and 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  receive  thy  soul  into  heaven  when  thou  dost 
at  last  commit  it  unto  him.  As  Jotham  said,  in  Judg.  ix.  7,  "Hearken 
to  me,  that  God  may  hearken  to  you:"  even  this  do  I  now  say  to  you; 
and  I  carry  it  on  to  this  issue :  do  you  hearken  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
when  he  bids  you  to  receive  him,  and  when  you  pra}^  him  to  receive  you. 
He  will  then  hearken  to  you. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  often  knocking  at  the  door  of  thy  soul :  there 
would  he  enter,  with  all  his  gracious  influences:  open  to  the  Lord,  by 
resigning  up  thy  soul  to  the  sweet  influences  of  his  grace:  reply,  "0  come 
in,  thou  blessed  of  the  Lord;  why  standest  thou  without?"  So  when  thy 
last  sands  arc  running,  thou  mayest  joyfully  think,  "My  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
will  now  receive  me,  more  heartily  than  ever  I  received  him:  if  I  have 
had  an  heart — alas,  a  vile  heart! — for  him,  I  am  sure  he  has  an  heaven 
for  me!  Lord,  I  now  commit  into  thy  hand  a  spirit  into  which  thou  hast 
been  received,  when  thy  wondrous  grace  demanded  it  for  an  habitation; 
and  thou  wilt  now  receive  this  unworthy  spirit  of  mine  into  a  better  hab- 
itation."    Think  thus,  and  "rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

VII.  When  we  come  to  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  at  and  for  our  last  resignation,  let  us  do  it  very  humbly, 
but  very  willingly,  but  very  chearfall3^ 

How  humbly  ought  we  to  commit  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord 


OK,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  gl5 

Jesus  Christ!  AVitli  how  much  loathing  and  judging  of  our  selves,  and 
with  what  shameful  reflections  on  all  our  past  behaviours,  we  are  bitterly 
to  acknowledge  the  disorders  and  corruptions  of  our  own  spirits,  when 
we  commit  them  unto  the  Lord,  and  acknowledge  the  numberless  errors 
whereinto  our  spirits  have  betrayed  us!  When  we  lift  up  our  soul  unto 
the  Lord,  let  it  be  in  terms  like  those  in  Ezra  ix.  6:  "0,  my  God,  I  am 
ashamed,  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  thee,  my  God!"  And  therefore, 
whatever  blessing  we  may  expect  for  our  souls,  let  us  with  all  possible  self- 
abhorrence  found  our  expectations  on  the  pure  mercy  of  God  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Most  sweetly  did  our  dying  Hooker  express  the  frame  of 
spirit  wherewith  a  spirit  is  to  be  committed  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord: 
when  one  that  stood  weeping  by  his  bed-side  said  unto  him,  "Sir,  you  are 
going  to  receive  the  reward  of  all  your  labours,"  he  replied,  "Brother,  I 
am  going  to  receive  mercy!"  What  shall  I  say?  The  frame  of  spirit 
necessary  in  this  glorious  transaction  I  cannot  better  paint  out  unto  you, 
than  by  reciting  the  words  which  I  remember  I  once  had  from  an  eminent 
old  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  my  taking  leave  of  him :  said  he, 
"Sir,  I  am  every  day  expecting  my  death;  but  I  desire  to  die  like  the 
thief,  crying  to  the  crucified  Jesus  for  mercy.  I  am  nothing,  I  have  noth- 
ing, I  can  do  nothing,  except  what  is  unworthy.  My  eye,  and  hope,  and 
faith,  is  to  Christ  on  his  cross.  I  bring  an  unworthiness,  like  that  of  the 
poor  dying  thief  unto  him,  and  have  no  more  to  plead  than  he.  Like  the 
poor  thief  crucified  with  him,  I  am  waiting  to  be  received,  by  the  infinite 
gi'ace  of  my  Lord,  into  his  kingdom.  And  pray  tell  me,  did  not  aged 
Paul  mean  something  of  this,  when  he  said,  'I  am  crucified  with  Christ?'" 

Sirs,  this  is  the  frame  wherewith  we  are  to  do  what  we  do.  But  then 
how  willingly — how  chearfully !  God  forbid,  that  we  should  commit  our 
spirits  into  his  hand,  as  only  dragged  and  forced  unto  it  by  unavoidable 
death.  Our  dying  Lord  said,  "Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit."  When  God  calls  for  our  spirit,  we  are  to  think,  "  'Tis  my  Father 
that  calls  for  me;  and  shall  not  I  go  to  ni}^  Father?" 

It  was  a  good  speech  even  of  an  heathen,  Beyie  Mori  est  Lihenier  Mori — • 
"one  thing  in  well  dying,  is  to  die  willingly."  It  is  a  dismal  thing  for  the 
spirit  of  a  man  to  be  torn  from  him,  and  be  pulled  away  with  roaring 
reluctances — with  horrid  convulsions.  Where  would  be  the  sense  of  it,  if 
a  dying  man  should  say,  "Lord,  into  thy  hand  I  commit  my  spirit;  but, 
if  I  could  have  my  choice,  my  spirit  should  never  come  there!"  When 
we  perceive  that  call  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "Go  up  and  die!"  let 
us  freely  surrender  our  spirits  unto  our  great  Lord,  and  go  tij)  and  die:  he 
is  the  Lord  of  our  lives.  Freely,  did  I  say?  yea,  and  gladly  too.  When 
we  have  aright  committed  our  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  then  take 
up  that  conclusion  in  Psal.  xlix.  15,  "God  will  receive  my  soul."  And 
then  let  us  wonderfully  comfort  our  selves  in  the  thoughts  of  that  spiritual 
world  which  we  are  going  into.     Think,  "I  shall  quicklj^  rest  from  sin 


QIQ  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

and  all  temptations,  and  all  afYections,  and  all  the  cursed  effects  of  sin,  and 
all  the  annoyances  of  ill  spirits  for  ever.  I  shall  quickly  be  lodged  among 
the  pure  spirits  that  see  God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple, 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  my  eyes.  Yea,  I  shall  quickly 
he  with  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  by  far  the  best  of  all.  Oh !  rejoice 
in  the  hope  of  this  glory  of  God!"  And  let  not  your  joy  be  interrupted 
by  any  fear  of  what  may  become  of  your  friends  when  you  shall  be  dead 
and  gone.  The  Lord  that  calls  you  to  commit  your  spirits  into  his  hand, 
calls  you  at  the  same  time  to  commit  your  widows,  your  orphans,  and  all 
your  friends,  into  that  Omnipotent  Hand:  he  says,  "Leave  them  all  with 
me,  and  I'll  take  the  care  of  them  all!" 

It  was  noted  of  the  English  martyrs,  which  d3^ed  at  the  stake  in  the 
bloody  Marian  persecution,  "that  none  of  them  went  more  joyfully  to  the 
stake,  than  those  that  had  the  largest  and  the  dearest  families  then  to 
commit  unto  the  Lord:"  and  afterwards  those  large  families  were  won- 
drously  provided  for.  The  excellent  Mr.  Heron,  a  minister  that  had  a 
family  of  many  small  children  in  it,  when  he  lay  a  dying,  his  poor  wife 
said,  with  tears,  "Alas,  what  will  become  of  all  these  children?"  he  pres- 
ently and  pleasantly  replied,  "Never  fear;  he  that  feeds  the  young  ravens 
wo'nt  starve  the  young  Herons  P'     And  it  came  to  pass  accordingly. 

Sirs,  thus  you  are  to  commit  your  spirits  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  My  reverend  Bailey  did  so;  and  it  is  as  from  him  that  I 
do  this  day  bespeak  your  doing  like  him ;  yea,  not  from  him  only,  but 
from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  God  "whose  he  was,  and  whom  he  served." 
If  you  would  more  particularly  be  told  after  what  manner  he  did  commit 
his  own  spirit  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  I  can  faithfully  recite  you  his 
own  account  of  the  transaction.     He  gives  it  thus : 

"I  spent  half  a  day  alone  in  seeking  of  God,  desiring  to  give  up  my  self  unto  God  in  Christ 
wholly,  and  to  be  his  in  soul  and  body.  The  particulars  I  omit.  I  hope  God  in  Christ  will 
accept  of  me,  and  enable  me  by  his  spirit  to  keep  touch  with  him :  for  I  owned  my  self 
wholly  unworthy  to  enter  into  covenant,  and  also  unable  to  keep  it;  but  Jesus  Christ  is  both 
worthy  and  able." 

It  is  from  one  who  thus  did  it,  that  you  are  now  called  upon  to  do 
likewise. 

When  you  see  the  coffin  of  this  man  of  God  anon  carried  along  the 
streets,  imagine  it  a  mournful  pulpit,  from  whence,  "being  dead,  he  yet 
speaks"  thus  unto  you:  "Whatever  you  do,  commit  your  perishing  souls 
into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  you  have  been  advised." 

That  these  admonitions  may  have  the  more  emphasis,  a  short  account 
of  this  worthy  man  must  now  be  given  you: 

He  was  born  on  February  2-4,  16-i3,  near  Blackbourn  in  Lancashire; 
of  a  very  pious  mother,  who,  even  before  he  was  born,  often,  as  Hannah 
did  her  Samuel,  dedicated  him  unto  the  service  of  the  Lord. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  gl7 

Of  this  his  birth-day,  in  the  return  of  every  year,  he  still  took  much 
notice  in  his  diaries:  and  made  his  humble  and  useful  reflections  there- 
upon.— Once  particularly,  I  find  him  thus  entertaining  it : 

"This  is  my  birth-day;  I  am  ready  to  say  of  it,  as  Job  doth  of  his:  but  I  forbear  any 
unadvised  words  about  it:  only,  I  have  done  little  for  God,  and  much  against  him;  for 
which  I  am  sorry." 

When  this  day  last  arrived  unto  him,  he  thus  wrote  upon  it; 

"I  may  say,  with  a  great  sigh,  'This  was  my  birth-day!'  O,  how  little  good  have  I  done 
all  this  while!  O,  what  reason  have  I  to  stand  amazed  at  the  riches  of  God's  forbearance'. 
Much  may  happen  this  year !    '  Lord,  carry  me  through  it !' " 

"From  a  child  he  did  know  the  holy  Scriptures;"  yea,  from  a  child  he 
was  "wise  unto  salvation."  In  his  very  childhood  he  discovered  the  fear 
of  God  upon  his  young  heart;  and  prayer  to  God  was  one  of  his  early 
exercises. 

There  was  one  very  remarkable  effect  of  it.  His  father  was  a  man  of 
a  very  licentious  conversation;  a  gamester,  a  dancer,  a  very  lewd  com- 
pany-keeper. The  mother  of  this  elect  vessel  one  day  took  him,  while 
he  was  yet  a  child,  and,  calling  the  family  together,  made  him  to  pray 
with  them.  His  father  coming  to  understand  at  what  a  rate  the  child 
had  prayed  with  his  family,  it  smote  the  soul  of  him  with  a  great  convic- 
tion, and  proved  the  beginning  of  his  conversion  unto  God.  God  left  not 
oft'  working  on  his  heart  until  he  proved  one  of  the  most  eminent  Chris- 
tians in  all  that  neighbourhood.  So  he  lived;  so  he  died;  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  piety.  And  it  was  his  manner  sometimes  to  retire  unto 
those  very  places  of  his  former  lewdnesses,  where,  having  this  his  little 
son  in  his  company,  he  would  pour  out  floods  of  tears  in  repenting  prayers 
before  the  Lord. 

This  hopeful  youth  having  been  educated  in  grammar-learning  under 
a  worthy  school-master,  one  Mr.  Sager,  and  in  further  learning  under  the 
famous  Dr.  Harrison,  at  lengtli,  about  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  entred 
on  the  publick  employment  of  preaching  the  gospel.  In  so  doing,  he  was 
not  one  of  those  of  whom  even  the  great  Papist  Bellarmine  complains: 
Qui  non  vaMe  solliciti  esse  solent,  anea  qua  ixir  est  "prejfiaratione  accedant,  cum 
Finis  eorum  magis  sit  cibus  Corporis,  quam  Animce*  He  began  at  Chester; 
but  afterwards  went  over  to  Ireland,  where  his  labours  were  so  frequent 
and  fervent,  that  they  gave  those  wounds  unto  his  health  which  could 
never  be  recovered.  About  fourteen  years  of  his  time  in  Ireland  he  spent 
at  Limrick,  and  saw  so  many  seals  of  his  ministry  in  that  country,  that 
he  seemed  rather  to  fish  with  a  net,  than  with  an  hook,  for  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

I  am  not  willing  to  relate  how  grievously,  and  yet  how  patiently,  he 

*  Who  are  not  very  Bolicitous,  whether  they  undertake  their  duties  with  suitable  preparation ;  inasmuch  as 
the  end  they  have  in  view  is  rather  to  obtain  food  for  the  body  than  for  the  soul. 


QIQ  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

suffered  long  and  hard  imprisonments  from  those  men,  concerning  whom 
a  conformable  divine  of  the  Church  of  England  very  truly  says,  "That 
they  were  Atheists,  with  the  inventions  of  ceremonies  habited  like  Chris- 
tians, for  the  service  of  the  devil,  to  corrupt  and  destroy  true  Christianity:" 
I  should  relate  but  little  of  this,  because  that  spirit  of  persecution  has 
been  repented  by  an  happy  act  of  Parliament. 

And  yet,  for  the  admonition  of  our  inexcusable  young  men,  "the  sin 
of  which  young  men  is  very  great  before  the  Lord!"  above  that  of  those 
who  have  been  brought  up,  as  many  yery  godly  Christians  have,  in  those 
wa^^s  of  the  Church  of  England,  for  a  secession  from  which  this  country 
was  first  planted:  young  men  who,  notwithstanding  their  descent  from 
fathers  and  grandfathers  that  were  great  sufferers  for  their  non-conformity 
to  an  uninstituted  worship  of  Christ,  and  notwithstanding  their  education 
in  the  knowledge  of  what  is  required  and  what  is  forbidden  in  the  second 
commandment,  and  notwithstanding  their  being  urged  by  no  temptation 
of  persecution,  or  being  tempted  by  any  thing  but  the  vanity  of  their  own 
minds,  do  yet  so  "rebel  against  the  light;"  as  to  turn  apostates  from  the 
first  principles  of  New-England ;  it  may  be  seasonable  to  repeat  so  much  of 
the  history  of  this  worthy  man  as  a  little  further  to  illustrate  this  article. 

lie  no  sooner  began  to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but 
his  fidelity  to  that  gospel  was  tried  by  an  hard  imprisonment,  which  he 
underwent  because  his  conscience  could  not  conform  to  humane  inven- 
tions in  the  sacred  service  of  Heaven.  Yea,  while  he  was  yet  a  young 
man,  he  often  travelled  far  by  night  in  the  winter,  as  well  as  in  the  sum- 
mer, that  so  he  might  enjoy  the  ordinances  purely  administred  in  the 
meetings  of  the  faithful;  and  was  laid  up  sometimes  in  Lancashire  gaol 
for  being  found  at  those  meetings.  When  he  was  at  Limrick,  the  attend- 
ance of  a  person  of  great  quality  and  his  lady  (who  were  nearly  related 
unto  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  the  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,)  upon  his  min- 
istry, provoked  the  bishop  to  complain  unto  the  lord  lieutenant.  This 
gentleman  then  profered  unto  Mr.  Baily  that,  if  he  would  conform,  he 
would  procure  his  being  made  chaplain  to  the  duke,  and  having  a  deanery 
immediately,  and  a  bishoprick  upon  the  first  vacancy:  but  he  refused  the 
])rofer.  Albeit,  another  eminent  non-conformist  minister,  not  far  from 
Limrick,  a  godly  and  an  able  man,  and  one  who  had  appeared  much 
against  conformity  at  the  first  pressing  thereof,  did  afterwards  accept  of 
the  aforesaid  chaplainship,  and  by  degrees  conformed,  and  arrived  unto 
several  places  of  preferment:  pretending,  that  "he  did  it  for  the  sake  of 
opportunities  to  preach  the  gospel."  But  it  was  remarkable!  God  so  dis- 
abled him  with  distempers  after  this,  that  he  was  very  seldom,  if  ever, 
able  to  preach  at  all. 

Mr,  Baily  went  on  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  not  pursuing  any 
foetious  designs,  but  meerly  the  conversion  of  men  to  Christ,  and  faith, 
and  holiness,  which  the  devil  counts  the  worst  of  all  designs.     And  now, 


OK,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  Qig 

althougli  lie  were  so  harmless  and  blameless  in  liis  whole  conversation 
that  he  was  always  much  beloved  wherever  he  came,  yet  another  long 
imprisonment  was  inflicted  on  him,  while  the  Papists  in  the  neighbour- 
hood had  all  manner  of  liberty  and  countenance.  When  he  was  before 
the  judges,  he  told  them,  "If  I  had  been  drinking  and  gaming  and 
carousing  at  a  tavern  with  my  company,  my  lords,  I  presume  that  would 
not  have  procured  my  being  thus  treated  as  an  offender.  Must  praying 
to  God,  and  preaching  of  Christ,  with  a  company  of  Christians,  that  are 
as  peaceable  and  inoffensive  and  serviceable  to  his  Majesty  and  the  gov- 
ernment as  any  of  his  subjects,  must  this  be  a  greater  crime?"  The 
recorder  answered,  "We  will  have  you  to  know,  it  is  a  greater  ciime." 

While  he  was  imprisoned,  his  church  being  divided  into  seven  parts, 
visited  him  one  part  a  day,  so  that  preaching  to  them,  and  praying  with 
them  every  day,  he  once  in  a  week  served  them  all.  But  this  in  a  little 
while  gave  such  offence,  that  a  violent  obstruction  was  given  thereunto; 
and  though  his  flock,  particularly  his  dear  young  men,  (as  he  called  them,) 
did  pray  without  ceasing,  and  not  without  fasting,  for  his  release;  and 
humble  applications  were  also  made  unto  the  judges  at  the  assizes  for  it, 
yet  no  release  could  be  granted  him,  without  his  giving  security  to  depart 
the  land  within  a  little  time  then  limited  unto  him. 

It  was  not  long  before  a  wrath  unto  the  uttermost  came  upon  the  city 
which  had  thus  persecuted  this  faithful  minister  of  God;  and  that  person 
particularly  who  had  been  the  chief  instrument  of  his  persecution  was  (as 
we  have  been  told)  within  a  while,  upon  other  accounts,  himself  run  into 
prison,  where  he  cried  out  with  horror  of  the  wrongs  done  by  him  to  Mr. 
Baily,  and  then  running  distracted,  he  died  miserably.  But  New-England, 
a  country  originally  a  retreat  for  persecuted  non-conformists,  hereupon 
afforded  unto  our  Baily  an  opportunity  of  labouring  near  fourteen  3^ears 
more  in  the  work  which  he  loved  above  all  things  in  the  world;  the  work 
of  "turning  the  souls  of  men  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  Satan  to 
God:"  wherein  for  some  time  his  younger  and  godly  and  sweet  natured 
brother,  who  came  over  with  him,  was  his  comfortable  companion  and 
assistant;  until  he  got  the  start  of  him  in  his  departure  to  the  glories  of 
the  better  world.  They  were  indeed  Fratrum  dulce  par^ — a  David  and  a 
Jonathan.  Death,  which  for  a  while  parted  them,  has  now  again  brought 
them  together.  This  Mr.  Thomas  Bail}'  died  January  21,  1689,  as  this 
his  brother  and  colleague  notes  in  his  diary:  "He  died  well,  which  is  a 
great  word;  so  sweetly  as  I  never  saw  the  like  before!  But  as  for  this 
elder  brother,  he  was  a  man  of  great  holiness,  and  of  so  tender  a  con- 
science, that  if  he  had  been  at  any  time  innocently  chearful  in  the  company 
of  his  friends,  it  cost  him  afterwards  abundance  of  sad  reflection,  through 
fear  lest,  ere  he  had  been  aware,  he  might  have  "grieved  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  Christ."     A  savoury  book  of  his  about  "  The  Chief  End  of  Man^''  pub- 

•  A  charming  pair  of  brothers. 


g20  MAGNALIA    CHRISTI    AMERICANA; 

lislied  among  us,  lias  fully  described  unto  us  that  savour  of  spirit  which 
was  in  his  daily  walk  maintained : 

Sic  Oculos,  Sic  ille  manus,  Sic  ora  ferebat.* 

The  desire  of  this  holy  man  was  (as  himself  expressed  it)  to  get  up  unto 
three  things:  to  patience  under  the  calamities  of  life;  to  impatience  under 
the  infinnities  of  life;  and  to  earnest  longings  for  the  next  life. 

And  his  desire  at  another  time  he  thus  expressed:  "Oh!  that  I  might 
not  be  of  the  number  of  them  that  live  without  love,  speak  without  feeling, 
and  act  without  life!  Oh!  that  God  would  make  me  his  humble  and 
upright  and  faithful  servant!" 

From  this  holy  temper  it  was,  that  when  some  kind  presents  were  made 
unto  him,  he  wrote  in  his  diary  thereupon,  "I  have  my  wages  quickly; 
but,  Oh!  that  God  may  not  put  me  off  with  a  reward  here!  Oh!  that 
God  may  be  my  reward ! " 

We  will  more  particularly  note  a  few  notable,  wherein  the  holiness 
which  irradiated  him  will  be  described  unto  us. 

We  might  begin  with  observing,  that  the  holy  word  of  God  was  very 
dear  to  him,  as  indeed  it  is  to  every  holy  man.  Hence,  I  find  this  passage 
in  his  diary,  January  11 : 

"I  finished  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  my  family  (as  formerly).  Oh!  it  is  a  dear  book; 
it  is  always  new.  In  the  beginning  of  every  chapter  it  is  good  to  say,  'Lord,  open  my  eyes, 
that  I  may  see  wonders  out  of  thy  law;'  and  when  we  shut  it  up  to  say,  'I  have  seen  an 
end  of  all  perfection,  but  thy  law  is  exceeding  broad.'  Oh!  how  terrible  are  the  threatnings; 
how  precious  are  the  promises;  how  serious  are  the  precepts;  how  deep  are  the  prophecies 
of  this  book !  but  we  will  pass  on  to  some  further  observations." 

What  is  holiness  but  a  dedication  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  This  holy 
man  was  often  breathing  in  himself,  and  pressing  on  others,  that  great 
point  of  dedicating  every  thing  to  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Thus  in  his 
diary  there  frequently  occur  such  strains  as  these: 

"Oh!  that  I  may  glorifio  God  with  all  I  am  or  have;  even  with  all  the  faculties  of  my 
Boul,  nil  the  members  of  my  body,  and  in  all  the  places  and  relations  that  I  stand  in,  as  man, 
master,  minister,  husband,  kinsman,  and  neighbour.  Oh!  I  stand  in  need  both  of  a  justify- 
ing Christ  and  a  sanctifying  Christ.  When  shall  I  sensibly  find  a  Christ  swaying  his  scepter 
in  my  soul!" 

Thus  whatever  house  he  came  to  live  in,  it  came  under  a  dedication; 
and  once  upon  a  remove,  he  wrote  this  passage  in  his  diary:  "I  could  not 
but  leave  my  old  house  with  a  prayer  in  every  room  of  it  for  pardoning 
mercy." 

But  it  was  particularly  expressed,  when  one  of  his  children  was  to  be 
baptized.     He  thus  wrote  upon  it: 

"I  spent  some  time  in  offering  up  my  self  and  my  child  unto  the  Lord,  and  in  taking  hold 
of  the  covenant  for  my  self  and  him.     It  is  actually  to  be  done  to-morrow  [in  baptism].     I 
•  Such  was  his  glance,  hia  gesture,  and  his  look. 


OE,    THE    HISTOKY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  621 

prayed  hard  this  day,  all  this  day,  that  I  might  be  able  in  much  ftiith,  and  love,  and  new- 
covenant  obedience  to  do  it  to-morrow.  It  is  not  easy,  though  common,  to  offer  a  child  unto 
God  in  baptism.  Oh !  that's  a  sweet  word, '  I  will  be  a  God  to  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee.' 
No  marvel  Abraham  fell  on  his  face  at  the  hearing  of  it!" 

Hence,  when  he  parted  with  the  greatest  enjoyment  he  had  in  this 
world,  he  thus  wrote  upon  it  in  his  diary: 

"If  I  can  but  exchange  outward  comforts  for  inward  graces,  it  is  well  enough:  Oh,  for  an 
heart  to  'glorify  God  in  the  fire!'" 

From  this  holiness  proceeded  that  watchfulness  which  discovered  a  sin- 
gular fear  of  God  in  his  whole  conversation.  I  find  him  entring  in  his 
diary  such  passages  as  these: 

At  one  time. — "I  did  not  watch  my  tongue  so  as  I  ought;  which  cost  me  much  trouble 
afterwards,  and  made  me  walk  heavily.     It  is  a  mad  thing  to  sin!" 

At  another  time. — "I  spoke  two  unadvised  words  to-day.  Though  there  was  no  great 
harm  in  them,  yet  I  was  rebuked  by  my  conscience  for  them.  Let  the  Lord  forgive  them; 
and  for  the  future  set  a  watch  before  the  door  of  my  lips.  Let  my  thoughts  and  words  be 
acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord !" 

At  another  time. — "That  is  a  serious  word,  methinks,  in  Eph.  v.  30:  I  have  grieved  the 
Holy  Spirit  by  my  unedifying  communication.  Oh,  that  in  speaking  I  might  administer 
grace  to  the  hearer!     Oh,  that  honey  and  milk  were  under  my  tongue  continually." 

At  another  time. — "I  was  too  forgetful  of  God,  and  exceeding  in  tobacco.  The  Lord  par- 
don that,  and  all  other  sins,  and  heal  this  nature,  and  humble  this  heart." 

At  another  time. — "This  day  I  have  been  more  chearful  than  I  have  been  of  a  long  time. 
It  hath  afflicted  me  since,  fearing  it  was  not  suitable.  Oh!  I  ought  to  walk  in  the  midst  of 
my  house  in  a  perfect  way.  I  ought  every  day  to  be  writing  copies;  and  to  leave  a  stock 
behind  me  that  others  may  trade  for  God  withal  when  I  am  dead." 

And  behold,  you  see  this  day  that  he  did  so.  And  as  holy  men  use  to 
be  full  of  hearty  prayers  and  wishes  for  the  good  of  other  men,  thus  this 
holy  man  has  filled  many  places  in  his  diaries  with  his  prayers  for  the 
welfare  of  those  with  whom  he  was  concerned;  from  whence  we  may 
gather  how  full  his  heart  was  of  blessings  for  his  neighbours.  Once  par- 
ticularly I  find  him  thus  writing: 

"I  desired  to  know  of  Dr.  O.  what  I  was  indebted  to  him  for  those  many  rich  things  I  have 
had  from  him:  he  told  me,  nothing;  [which  was  a  great  favour!]  only  desired  my  prayers 
for  him.  Oh,  that  I  could  pray!  Whenever  I  can  pray,  I  will  heartily  say  to  God  in  the  name 
of  Christ  for  him, 'The  Lord  bless  him  indeed!  let  thy  hand  be  with  him,  and  keep  him  from 
all  evil,  that  it  may  not  grieve  him.'" 

Moreover,  it  was  not  only  among  the  great  signs,  but  also  among  the 
great  means  of  his  holiness,  that  he  was  very  solicitous,  as  well  in  his 
preparation  for  the  table  of  the  Lord,  as  in  his  observation  of  what  com- 
munion he  enjoyed  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  table.  His  diary 
abounds  with  passages  of  this  importance:  the  expressions  of  a  careful  soul. 
The  last  time  of  being  at  the  Lord's  table,  he  wrote  the  ensuing  passages: 


g22  MAGNALIA    ClIRISTI    AMERICANA; 

"I  was  encouraged  to  carry  my  late  bad  frame  to  tlie  cross  of  Christ,  and  to  bewail  there 
my  late  prayeriossncss  and  untliankfulncss.  Of  late  it  hath  troubled  me  to  think  how  little 
I  have  admired  Christ  for  bringing  me  out  of  some  late  plunges  of  temptation.  I  now  come 
to  him  for  two  things;  namely,  for  pardon,  and  also  for  double  power;  boUa  to  receive  him 
and  to  shew  forth  his  praises." 

Let  me  add:  sometimes,  as  he  was  able,  lie  would  set  apart  half  a  day 
for  extraordinary  prayers,  he  still  did  so  when  there  were  any  extraor- 
dinary cares  upon  him.     Thus  he  records  in  his  diaries: 

At  one  time. — ^"  Being  of  late  in  so  ill  a  frame,  I  spent  some  time  to  seek  the  fair  face  of 
Jesus  Christ;  and  I  did,  on  purpose,  address  my  self  to  him,  who  is  the  most  admirable  Saviour. 
I  left  my  self  with  him;  my  mind,  heart,  mouth;  especially  my  conscience.  Oh,  how  many 
wonders  are  to  be  wrought  in  me!  I  know  tlie  loving  and  wonder-working  Jesus  can  do 
them  all." 

At  another  time. — ^"I  spent  some  time  alone  in  prayer,  from  eight  to  three.  I  was  much 
tired.  Oh!  that  I  might  wait  for  returns,  and  never  more  to  turn  to  folly.  I  cannot  tell  how 
God  should  admit  me  near  him,  considering  how  I  have  grieved  his  Spirit.  Having  prayed  in 
the  morning  in  the  family,  I  retired;  and  first  sought  at  large  unto  God  for  help  to  go  through 
tiie  day:  especially  begging  repentance,  and  not  only  so,  but  faith;  that  I  might  not  rest  in 
the  bare  work;  that  Satan  might  get  no  advantage  after  it;  that  I  might  have  reason  to 
desire  more  such  days.  Then,  after  a  little  meditation  and  breathing,  I  went  tu  prayer  again, 
only  to  confess  my  sin  before  God,  and  to  set  my  soul  as  before  the  Lord;  labouring  to 
judge  and  loath  my  self  for  all  my  sin  from  first  to  last.  God  helped  a  little;  but  Oh!  that 
my  heart  was  broken  in  pieces,  and  humbled  to  the  dust.  After  a  little  more  meditation,  I 
went  to  prayer  in  way  of  petition,  and  that  at  large.  Oh!  Lord,  hear  me,  and  give  me  the 
wisdom  that  I  want.  I  hope  God  will  hear,  pity,  pardon,  and  help  me.  After  a  little  more 
meditation,  I  fell  to  praise  and  bless  God  for  my  mercies,  by  sea  and  land ;  but  was  some- 
what short  in  this  part,  for  which  I  am  sorry.  At  last  I  concluded  all  in  praying  for  the 
Cliureh  of  God  in  general,  for  London,  Lanc;:shire,  and  Limrick;  and  for  New-England  also. 
Here  I  brought  all  my  relations  to  the  Lord.  Oh,  Lord,  accept  of  me  and  my  poor  services 
in  Christ.  Oh!  that  I  may  watch  afterward,  and  never  more  be  sensual,  unbelieving,  proud, 
nor  hypocritical.     Lord,  say  Amen,^^ 

And  that  praises,  as  well  as  prayers  might  not  be  forgotten  with  him, 
I  find  him  once  particularly  in  his  diary  thus  expressing  himself: 

"December  15,  1691. — I  resolved,  through  the  grace  and  strength  of  Jesus  Christ,  even 
in  the  midst  of  all  my  sorrows  and  sinkings,  despairings  and  distractions,  to  keep  as  much  of 
this  day  as  I  could  in  thanksgiving;  which  I  did;  but  could  not  go  thorow  with  it  through 
bodily  faintness.  I  spent  five  hours  somewhat  comfortably;  but  after  that  I  flagged.  I 
resolved  to  do  three  things:  First,  to  spend  some  time  in  praising  God  for  his  excellencies- 
God  was  with  me,  I  hope,  in  that  part  of  it,  and  I  spent  my  self  so  much  therein,  that  I 
was  disabled  fur  the  rest.  To  help  it  forward,  God  brought  to  hand  Mr.  Burroughs,  of  the 
nature  of  God;  I  bless  God  for  it.  After  that  I  went  to  prayer;  labouring  to  e.\alt  God; 
(it  was  a  good  time!)  after  that  I  sang  the  148th  Psalm.  SecondJij,  after  that  I  set  my  self 
to  bless  God  for  his  benefits  and  kindnesses  to  me.  But  being  spent,  I  did  not  much;  only 
going  to  prayer,  1  made  mention  of  some  mercies;  such  as  these,  viz:  for  Ciirist;  his  covenant 
of  grace;  and  the  promises  of  it  (some  of  which  were  particularly  mentioned  and  pressed): 
also  my  education ;  my  manifold  preservations  by  land  and  sea  (especially  that  in  Ipswich  Bay) 
and  manifold  tedious  sicknesses  since;  for  the  long  day  of  God's  patience,  notwithstanding 
many  sins;  for  my  comfortable  provisions  all  along;  for  preserviig  iiis  great  name,  that  I 


OK,    THE    HISTOEY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  (323 

have  in  nothing  openly  dishonoured  it;  for  my  success  and  acceptance  in  my  work;  for  my 
dear  wife,  that  I  had  lier  so  long;  and  that  my  brother  and  my  dear  wife  died  both  of  them 
glorifying  of  God;  they  are  in  heaven,  and  I  am  out  of  hell!  that  I  have  liitherto  been  kept 
from  distraction  and  despair,  and  kept  to  my  work;  that  I  have  any  friends  (in  this  strange 
land),  and  any  in  my  family  to  mind  me  and  tend  me;  that  I  have  work  here,  and  oppor- 
tunities of  service;  for  my  sore  crosses  and  losses  of  late  afflictions  and  temptations,  hoping 
they  may  work  for  good.  Thirdly,  to  conclude  all,  with  a  chearful  accepting  of  Christ,  and 
devoting  my  self  to  his  service;  to  do  for  him,  that  had  done  all  this  for  me:  s:iying,  if  God 
would  help  me  to  study,  he  should  have  all  the  glory  of  it," 

Thus  did  he  walk  with  God. — His  ministry  was  very  acceptable  to  the 
people,  whose  good  he  most  aimed  at  wherever  he  came:  great  auditor- 
ies usually  flocking  thereunto,  proclaimed  it.  But  that  he  might  not  be 
lifted  ttjD,  it  seemed  meet  unto  the  wisdom  of  Heaven  to  humble  him  with 
sore  and  long  temptations^  often  recurring  to  huffet  him.  In  his  days,  he 
saw  many  disconsolate  hours;  he  was  filled  with  desponding  jealousies,  lest 
'■'after  he  had  preached  unto  others,  he  should  be  himself  a  cast-away;" 
and  he  often  intreated  those  who  saw  the  distresses  of  his  mind,  "that 
they  would  by  no  means  take  up  any  prejudice  against  the  sweet  and 
good  waj^s  of  religion  from  what  they  saw  of  his  disconsolate  unejisinesses." 

It  may  be,  it  will  be  profitable  unto  some  discouraged  minds,  to  under- 
stand how  he  expresses  himself  on  such  occasions.  In  sermons  on  those 
words,  "lam  oppressed,  undertake  for  me,"  he  much  described  it  unto 
us.     But  in  his  diaries  it  was  thus: 

At  one  time. — "I  was  almost  in  the  suburbs  of  hell  all  day;  a  meer  Magor  Missabib.  I 
saw  death  and  sin  full  of  terror:  I  thought  I  never  sought  the  glory  of  God:  Ah!  what  a 
matchless  wretch  am  I!  Oh!  that  I  could  love  above  all  things,  and  seek  the  glory  of  God, 
and  live  contentedly  on  him  alone!  Oh!  that  I  could  see  the  blood  of  Clu-ist  on  my  soul, 
and  at  the  bottom  of  my  profession.  Oh !  for  a  sight  of  the  mystery  and  majesty  of  the 
grace  and  love  of  Jesus  Christ;  so  tliat  all  excellencies  might  fall  down  before  it!" 

At  another  time. — I  am  in  a  woful  frame;  far  from  saying,  with  Dr.  Avery,  'Here  I  lie,  not 
knowing  what  God  will  do  with  me ;  but  though  I  thus  lie,  God  doth  not  terrify  me,  either 
with  my  sin,  or  with  my  death,  or  with  himself.'" 

At  another  time. — "If  God  should  yet  save  my  soul,  and  his  work  in  my  hand,  it  would 
be  amazing.  There  is  a  may  he!  If  these  inward  troubles  hold,  I  shall  be  forced  to  lay 
down  my  work.  O  Lord,  step  in  for  my  relief!  O  the  worth  of  the  sense  of  God's  love 
in  Christ!" 

At  another  time. — "I  am  oppressed  unto  death,  and  filled  with  the  angry  arrows  of  God: 
it  ariseth  not  at  present  from  any  particular  cause,  but  the  sense  of  my  woful  estate  in  gen- 
eral. Oh!  that  the  issue  may  yet  be  peace,  and  that  I  may  not  fetch  comfort  unto  my  self 
but  hy  faith  in  Jesus  Christ." 

At  another  /me.— "Oh!  that  Jesus  Christ  would  undertake  for  me!  If  God  marvellously 
prevent  not,  I  shall  lay  down  my  work.  O  Lord,  appear!  Oh!  for  one  saving  sight  of  the 
love  and  loveliness  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  wish  I  could  say,  as  my  dear  tutor  Dr.  Harrison  said, 
'That  he  could  not  live  a  day  without  a  fresh  manifestation  of  God  unto  his  soul!'" 

At  another  time. — "The  eclipse  of  the  moon  last  night  made  one  think,  'Oh!  that  I  could 
mourn  bitterly,  who  have  sinned  ray  self  into  darkness!'  How  is  the  earth  interposing! 
Lord,  lemove  it.     Let  the  Son  of  Righteousness  in  his  glory  and  strength  yet  bo  seen  by  me!" 


(524  MAGNALIA    CIIKISTI    AMEKICANA; 

At  another  time. — "I  have  much  reason  to  bless  God  for  reLuking  of  Satan.  I  have  been 
many  n  time  ready  to  give  up  all,  and  lay  down  my  ministry,  thinking  that  God  had  utterly 
forsaken  me,  and  hid  Jesus  Christ  from  me;  wliich  I  would  justify  him  in.  But  by  the  con- 
sideration of  the  brazen  serpent,  I  was  somewhat  recovered." 

At  another  time. — "I  was  now  supported  by  the  thoughts  of  a  precious  Jesus.  I  should 
for  ever  sink,  but  for  him!  When  I  look  backward  or  forward,  upward  or  downward,  I  die, 
I  sink ;  but  when  I  look  at  the  sweet  Jesus,  I  live.  I  may  resolve,  with  Dr.  Preston,  (O  that 
I  could  I)  saying,  'I  have  often  tryed  God,  and  now  I'U  trust  him.'  It  is  a  good  resolution; 
Lord,  help  me  to  it !" 

At  another  time. — "I  would  gladly  think  'that  God  is  my  father.'  And,  if  so,  Oh!  what 
glory  is  due  to  the  riches  of  free  grace!  Oh!  how  glorious  is  that  grace,  and  how  will  it 
sliine  tlirnngh  all  eternity !  If  ever  I  see  my  self  safe  at  last,  I  must  for  ever  cry  out,  '  I  am 
wonderfully  saved!'" 

In  fine,  one  thing  that  much  relieved  him  in  his  internal  troubles  was 
what  he  had  occasion  (thus)  to  write  in  his  diary,  a  little  before  his  end; 

"I  do  more  see  into  the  great  mystery  of  our  justification  by  faith,  meerly  of  grace. 
There  is  no  respect  in  it,  unto  this  or  that;  but  Jesus  Christ  having  wrought  out  a  redemp- 
tion for  us,  and  by  his  active  and  passive  obedience  procured  a  sufficient  righteousness,  and 
making  a  tender  of  it  in  the  gospel,  it  becomes  mine  by  my  accepting  of  it,  and  relying  on  it 
alone  for  salvation.     And  shall  I  not  accept  of  it?     God  forbid! 

"I  see  (saith  he)  tiiere  are  two  things  wherein  I  can't  easily  exceed,  viz:  in  ascribing  to 
the  grace  of  God  the  freeness  and  richness  of  it  in  man's  salvation;  and  in  ascribing  to  the 
righteousness  of  Ciu'ist  in  man's  justification. 

At  length,  dismal  pains  of  the  gout,  with  a  complication  of  other 
maladies,  confined  him  for  a  quarter  of  a  year  together.  Under  the  pains 
of  his  confinement,  he  took  an  extraordinary  contentment  in  the  fifty-third 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  represents  the  sorrows  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
whereby  all  our  sorrows  are  sanctified:  and  he  would  often  roll  over  those 
words  of  our  Saviour,  elsewhere  occurring,  "They  pierced  my  hands  and 
my  feet."  When  the  remainders  of  his  flock,  which  waited  on  him  to 
New-England,  visited  him,  his  usual  and  solemn  charge  to  them  was,  "I 
charge  you,  that  I  find  you  all  safe  at  last!"  My  brethren,  God  make  the 
charge  of  your  dead  pastor  abide  upon  you.  For  some  time  in  his  last 
sickness,  his  heavenly  soul  was  harrassed  with  terrible  discouragements; 
under  all  of  which,  it  was  yet  a  common  expression  with  him,  "The  Master 
hath  done  all  things  well!"  But  at  last  he  arrived  unto  a  blessed  satisfac- 
tion, that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  made  his  peace  in  Heaven,  and  that 
he  was  going  into  eternal  peace.  Yea,  at  the  worst,  he  would  say,  "That 
his  fear  was  not  so  much  about  the  end  of  all,  as  about  Avhat  he  might 
meet  withal  in  the  way  to  that  end."  He  had  begun  to  prepare  a  sermon 
for  our  South-church,  upon  those  words,  "Who  is  this  that  comes  up  from 
the  wilderness,  leaning  on  her  beloved?"  and  he  now  spoke  of  it,  as 
expressing  his  own  condition;  "Thus  am  I  going,"  said  he,  "out  of  the 
wilderness  of  all  my  temptations,  leaning  on  my  blessed  Jesus!"  When 
his  affectionate  friends  were  weeping  about  him,  he  bestowed  this  rebuke 
upon  them:  "Away  with  your  idols!  away  with  your  idols!"     It  was  not 


OR,    THE    HISTORY    OF    NEW-ENGLAND.  625 

very  ]ong  before  he  fell  sick,  that  he  wrote  this  passage  in  his  diary:  "I 
was  affected  with  what  I  read  of  Mr,  Shewel  of  Coventry,  who  died  in  the 
j>ulpit.  'Lord,  let  not  me  die  meanly,  but  in  dying  bring  much  glory  to 
tlit^e.'"  And  now  it  shall  be  so!  At  last,  just  as  he  was  going  to  expire, 
he  seemed  as  if  he  had  some  extraordinary  apprehensions  of  the  glory  in 
wliich  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  above  enthroned:  he  strove  to  speak  unto 
his  vertuous  consort,  and  anon  spoke  thus  much:  "Oh!  what  shall  I  say? 
He  is  altogether  lovely!"  His  worthy  sister-in-law  then  coming  to  him, 
lie  said,  "Oh!  all  our  praises  of  him  here,  are  poor  and  low  things!"  and 
then  added,  "His  glorious  angels  are  come  for  me!"  upon  the  saying 
whereof  he  closed  his  own  eyes,  about  the  time  when  he  still  opened  his 
Bible  for  his  publick  labours — on  the  Lord's  day,  about  three  in  the  after- 
noon— and  he  never  opened  them  any  more. 

This  was  he  whom  you  are  now  going  to  bury;  but,  I  pray  you,  bury 
not  with  him  all  the  holy  counsels  and  warnings  that  we  have  heard  from 
him ;  remember  how  you  have  received  and  heard. 

He  was  one  who  took  much  notice  of  what  was  from  the  oracles  of  God, 
spoken  to  him  in  the  sermons  of  other  men.  He  has  much  replenished 
his  diaries  with  remarks  of  this  importance:  "I  have  heard  a  good  word 
to-day!"  And  he  would  often  decline  going  to  feasts,  whereto  his  friends 
invited  him,  that  he  might  go  to  j^fivate  tneetings  in  some  other  parts  of  the 
town,  where  he  might  at  the  same  iiraQ  feast  on  the  word  of  God.  Thus, 
more  particularly: 

At  one  time. — "I  heard  a  very  good  word:  'Are  ye  not  carnal?' — Ah,  Lord,  I  am  carnal. 
The  Lord  give  me  his  spirit  to  make  me  spiritual!  I  was  in  many  things  justly  reproved: 
let  me  take  it,  and  be  wrought  into  the  likeness  of  this  good  word." 

At  another  time. — "To-day  I  heard  a  most  precious  word,  with  which  I  was  much  edified 
and  refreshed,  viz:  'Christ  is  all.'  Oh!  that  I  might  never  forget  it!  Oh!  that  it  might  be 
written  upon  the  table  of  my  heart!  Let  my  soul  feed  upon  it  for  ever.  It  was  very  sea- 
sonable. Though  it  was  a  day  most  intolerably  cold;  so  cold,  that  there  w.as  little  writing 
it;  yet  it  heartily  warmed  me.  I  needed  a  Christ.  Oh!  that  I  could  get  him,  and  keep  him 
for  ever!  I  would  make  him  my  aU,  and  count  him  my  all.  I  need  a  whole  Christ:  Oh! 
that  I  may  prize  a  whole  Christ,  and  improve  a  whole  Christ.  I  have  of  late  thought  that  this 
may  be  one  evidence  of  my  right  unto  glory,  that  Christ  is  more  precious  to  me  than  ever." 

What  I  say  upon  it  is,  imitate  him  in  a  point  so  imitable.  This  preacher 
is  well  worthy  to  be  imitated,  as  he  was  an  hearer. 

You  can  all  testify,  that  he  was  none  of  those  cold  preachers,  whereof 
one  complains.  Verba  vitce  in  quorundum  Doctorum  Labiis,  quantum  ad  Vir- 
tutem  et  efficaciam,  Moriuntur:  Adeo  enim  tepide,  adeo  remisse,  verba  Dei 
annunciant,  ut  Extincta  in  Labiis  Eorwin  penitus  videantur ;  unde  Sicut  ipsi 
Frigidi  sunt  et  Extincti,  sic  Frigidos  et  Extinctos  relinquunt,  et  utinam  nan 
facerent  Auditores.* 

*  The  words  of  life  die  on  the  lips  of  some  teachers,  so  far  as  all  their  virtue  and  efflcncy  are  concerned:  for 
in  such  a  lukewarm,  listless  manner  do  they  announce  Divine  truth,  that  it  seems  to  have  fallen  lifeless  on  their 
v.-iy  tongues;  so  that,  as  they  are  themselves  cold  and  lifeless,  they  leave  their  hearers  cold  and  lifeless.  Would 
that  they  did  not  make  their  hearers  sometimes  permanently  sol 

YoL.  L— 40 


626  MAGNALIA    CIIRISTI    AMERICANA. 

For  his  preacliing,  he  particularly  prescribed  unto  himself,  according 
to  a  memorandum  which  I  found  thus  entred  in  his  diary: 

"Old  Mr.  Thomas  Shepheard,  when  on  his  death-bed,  said  unto  the  young  ministers  about 
him,  'tliat  their  work  was  great,  and  called  for  great  seriousness.'  For  his  own  part,  he  told 
them  three  things.  First,  that  the  studying  of  every  sermon  cost  him  tears;  he  wept  in  thu 
studying  of  every  sermon.  Secondly,  before  he  preached  any  sermon,  he  got  good  by  it 
himself  Thirdly,  he  always  went  up  into  the  pulpit,  as  if  he  were  to  give  up  his  accounts 
unto  his  Master.  '  Oh !  that  my  soul  [adds  our  Baily  ]  may  remember  and  practice  accordingly !' " 

To  this  his  preaching,  when  he  saw  God  gave  any  success,  he  would 
still  in  his  private  papers  take  as  thankful  notice  as  if  great  riches  had 
been  heaped  in  upon  him.  And  yet  he  would  add  (such  passages  I  some- 
times find): 

"Let  my  soul  rejoice.  But,  Lord,  keep  me  from  pride.  I  desire  to  be  humbled  for  it. 
Do  I  not  know  that  God  makes  use  of  whom  he  pleases,  and  usually  of  the  weakest'^  'No 
flesh  shall  glory.'" 

But  if  the  word  preached  by  this  lively  dispenser  of  it  live  not  in  our 
lives,  after  he  is  dead,  he  will  himself  be,  which  he  often  told  you  he 
feared  he  should  be  in  the  day  of  God,  a  witness  against  many  of  you. 

That  we  may  then  meet  him  with  joy,  "Let  us  remember  them  who 
have  spoken  to  us  the  word  of  God,  and  follow  their  faith,  considering  the 
end  of  their  conversation." — But  be  thou  sensible,  O  all  my  country  of 
New-England,  how  much  thou  art  weakened  by  the  departure  of  such 
blessings  to  the  world  of  the  blessed ! 

Thy  Baily  could  sometimes  write  such  passages  as  this  (I  find)  in  his 
reserved  papers: 

"There  was  a  day  of  prayer.  God  was  with  me  in  pr.ayer,  helping  me  to  plead  with  him 
an  hour  and  half /or  this  poor  land,  and  in  some  measure  to  believe  for  it,  I  hope  God  will 
hear  and  help." 

Such  an  one  taking  flight  from  thee,  let  thy  lamentations  thereupon 
be  heard:  "My  Father,  my  Father!" 


THE   END   OF  VOL.   L 


B. 


DATE  DUE 

MkMr 

1^B9 

»■--  -'t-s 

M^"?r 

' 

--   =    Cl      ' 

JUIU. 

,^ 

liii-r-' 

•" 

1 

DEMCO  38-297 

